The Creative Castle

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-10-08T07:43:00.001-05:00

Just wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving Day, for today is our Canadian celebration. I thought it would be interesting to share some of the history of the date & will do so now. This was taken from a charity site that can be found here.

"The first and original Thanksgiving comes from Canada. In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October.

Unlike the American tradition of remembering Pilgrims and settling in the New World, Canadians give thanks for a successful harvest.

The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an English explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. He did not succeed but he did establish a settlement in Canada.

In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. This is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving, and the first Thanksgiving to have taken place in North America.

Other settlers arrived and continued these ceremonies. He was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him - Frobisher Bay.

At the same time, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, also held huge feasts of thanks. They even formed 'The Order of Good Cheer' and gladly shared their food with their Native-Canadian neighbours.

After the Seven Year's War ended in 1763 handing over Canada to the British, the citizens of Halifax held a special day of Thanksgiving. During the American Revolution, American refugees who remained loyal (United Empire Loyalists) to Great Britain were exiled from the United States and came to Canada.

They brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada. There are a few similarities between the two Thanksgivings such as the cornucopia and the pumpkin pie.

But, unlike the US holiday, Thanksgiving in Canada is a much more muted event. In the USA the holiday is almost as important as Christmas for families getting together for the holiday. In Canada, this is not the case.

Eventually in 1879, the Canadian Parliament declared November 6th a day of Thanksgiving and a national holiday in Canada.

Over the years many dates were used for Thanksgiving, the most popular was the 3rd Monday in October. After World War I, both Armistice Day and Thanksgiving were celebrated on the Monday of the week in which November 11th occurred.

Ten years later, in 1931, the two days became separate holidays and Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day. Finally, on January 31st, 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed... "A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed ... to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October."

The first Thanksgiving Day in Canada after Confederation was observed on April 5, 1872 to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness.

Before then, thanksgiving days were observed beginning in 1799 but did not occur every year. Starting in 1879 Thanksgiving Day was observed every year but the date was proclaimed annually and changed year to year. The theme of the Thanksgiving holiday also changed year to year to reflect an important event to be thankful for.

In the early years it was for an abundant harvest and occasionally for a special anniversary. After the First World War it was for Armistice Day and more recently and including today it has been a day of general thanksgiving."

Enjoy & be grateful. Peace out, Boop

Distraction

2007-10-03T19:51:00.000-05:00

While airing out, cleaning, & disinfecting the house is probably note worthy, it certainly isn't something that I care to take pictures of or focus my writing on. Thus I have decided to just let you look at some pictures of a recent gift that I made for a friend. I used white perle cotton for the knitting of the beaded necklace & then hand painted it with lumiere paints once it was finished.

Now that everyone in the house seems to be on the mend from that nasty flu that we all had, I should feel more like blogging.
Peace out, Boop

Continental Knitting

2007-09-05T23:46:00.000-05:00

I know I've touched on this before (likely a year ago), but I'm making this entry for those who were at my "Switching to Continental Knitting" class tonight.

The Utube video is in the entry below. It is excellent! You will refer to it again & again. You can even pause it to get your fingers in position if need be.

The book that we discussed is this one & I've put the link below. Amazon.ca is (by far) the cheapest way to get knit books (or any other kind for that matter) online. If you spend $39- or more (which isn't hard especially if you set up a wishlist), you get free shipping.

I had so much fun at the class tonight. Everyone was extremely nice to deal with. I hope they weren't just putting on a show because I got the impression that they were enjoying themselves. Okay, so not the knitting part, but the jokes, etc.
This group is also very tricky. They tried to convince me that I couldn't post their pic because they were in the witness protection program, but I took my chances, they look like fast runners, lol.

The most important thing is to relax & practice. It will definitely feel awkward at first because you're retraining your fingers & brain. This will pass & you will love the results. It's so much faster & easier on your joints & hands. You might be cursing me now, but you'll be thanking me later, lol.
Best of luck & don't forget that you can email if you have any questions or concerns.

Peace out, Boop

Continental knitting demo

2007-09-05T11:05:00.001-05:00

Flamingo? Aaack.

2007-09-04T12:02:00.000-05:00

It's only because of my son that I would ever knit a pink flamingo. (The fact that his grandmother bought the pattern & yarn might have swayed me too). Anyway, last week was Joseph's B-Day. Among other things, he loves flamingos. I have no idea where this originated from, but perhaps from one of 2 visits to the African Lion Safari. Regardless, the kid goes gaga for them.

So, the knit flamingo was born. The pattern is from a Bernat Pattern Booklet 530130. It's called "Gertrude the Flamingo" & is rated Intermediate. It uses 2 balls of Bernat Baby Boucle, & 1 ball each of Bernat Satin ebony & Sea Shell.

Fairly easy pattern, but I loath Boucle & in this case it had to be doubled (great, I now hate it twice as much). I'm sure that had I been knitting it in a silk boucle instead, I would have fell madly in love, but something about the acrylic one drives me to the next level of insanity. This was no small feet either (no pun intended). The thing is 20" tall & 21" wide not including the legs & those feet :)

Joseph however, was delighted. So in fact, that he claimed that this was now his 2nd favourite stuffy in the whole world. He explained that it could never take the place of his 1st one since he's had "Chocolate" (a large beanie pal chocolate lab) most of his life & he thought I would understand this (which of course I did).

This child is very special. Nicest male I've ever met (yes, even including his father) because he says things like "you make the bestest pizza in the world", "You deserve it mommy 'cause you work so hard", "could you knit ......... for me" & last week's "Come see the beautiful cloud formation". The kid obviously has taste, is sensitive & pays attention to detail. Who wouldn't love a guy like this? This was his 9th B-Day, but I hope he never changes. Gives me hope for the male race, lol.

Peace out, Boop

Einstein

2007-08-26T17:02:00.000-05:00

Einstein:
The facts: home-schooled, lived from March 14, 1879 - April 18, 1955, German, Jewish, had cool crazy hair, won many awards, etc.

Unfortunately, (although even more brilliant) I'm not talking about that Einstein. In fact, I'm talking about a great (see the similarities) knit sweater pattern. Perfect in that it's very neatly constructed, easy to follow instructions, totally do-able 1st sweater pattern for beginners & you will feel super smart once you've completed it.

It's from The Knitting Experience Book 1: The Knit Stitch by Sally Melville

Sweater Specs:

less than 5 x 150g balls (or 11 x 50g balls of Lopi or another bulky weight)
hand-spun 100% wool dyed in a khaki green.
took a reasonable amount of time
was a nice relaxing knit (perfect for obligatory T.V. watching with hubby in evenings or at appts.)
straight forward, no nonsense pattern in garter stitch with the only decreases being in the sleeves
only 2 seams (one at the top of each arm) to sew up to finish. (You pick up stitches to knit the various parts throughout)
5 buttons (I was given some wood toggle ones from Faye's stash)

I loved making this sweater. The only modifications that I made were that I didn't switch to the smaller needles when I had 11 rows to finish in each sleeve. I cont'd with the same size needles & only decreased down to 18 rather than 15 stitches & made it to the length I wanted. I actually had done it according to the pattern first, but didn't like the look, frogged it back & finished the way I discussed above. I like to roll the sleeves a bit & if you followed the pattern it would have turned out too tight & bunched for this look.
The total cost of this project was $15- including tax. I had gotten the yarn from a vendor at the last spin-in I attended in Port Hope at an incredible $15- for 5lbs of hand-spun (she was clearing out last years stock). The wooden toggles were a gift from my friend Faye's stash (yes, the same Faye who got me started with quails, lol.)

Anyway, got to go finish a flamingo, peace out, Boop

The Yarn Harlot

2007-08-22T16:22:00.000-05:00

Yup, back we trekked to Aurora again this year. I convinced MA & Irene to go with me. Jack (not trusting my night driving skills since the motion of the car tends to make me fall asleep & who is MA's hubby) drove us all to Aurora last night to see Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka The Yarn Harlot) do another one of her awesome talks.

If you haven't gotten the opportunity then you're definitely missing out on something special. She is witty, intelligent, approachable & the farthest thing from pretentious ever there was. Motivational & inspirational, she makes you feel welcome & worthy regardless if colour, race or social economic level. A refreshing change to the norm.
(Pic of Steph asking us knitters to unite for the cause, lol.)

I suppose I could be viewed as a Harlot groupie, but for the most part, I think Steph realizes that I'm harmless, I just don't get out a whole heck of a lot & I'm a little obsessed with the whole knitting thing in general.

I also decided to take my (new-to-me) Blythe doll "Lydia". And, as luck would have it, was able to show Steph what a Blythe was (I'm hoping she's a better person for being enlightened, but she may just think I've crossed that fine weirdo line, lol). Erin (my friend in T.O. who I bought Lydia off of), was more than thrilled that Lydia got to meet such "Knitting Royalty"; her words.

Anyway, I have a ton of things to show/talk/blog about & really need to set aside some time to do so. Until then, peace out, Boop

Come join the Misery;midnight deadline

2007-07-06T11:04:00.001-05:00

Just in case some of you don't (& I'd find that hard to believe) read "The Yarn Harlot", she's at it again. Total enabler. In her defense she says that it wasn't her fault.

Upon checking out the links to said "can't do without knit-a-long", I find myself weak at the knees. I have no right to be contemplating this adventure since I am washing & spinning fleece, knitting Christmas prezzies, convinced myself & Lynne that we needed to start the "Einstein Jacket" now instead of later & have thus casted on yesterday, etc. Before I know it though, I am joining; sigh.

It's the Mystery Stole 3 on Pink Lemon Twist's Blog. You have until midnight tonight in case you want to join me & the now 6080 others (yup you read correctly) as of 12:08pm today.

Peace out, Boop

Knit on my dear friends.

2007-06-28T17:49:00.000-05:00

So, just to catch everyone up, I've been incredibly busy with the hobby farm. I've gotten another alpaca (a Suri type which can be read about here), hatched my 1st batch of Japanese quails (which I'll blog about shortly), have done some spinning, had our monthly CQ'teer meeting & lots of knitting.
I've been practicing my spinning on some Lincoln lamb fibre that I got off of Lynne on shearing day. It's from "Ava" who I just love. She is one sweet sheep. This is a long wool variety that is strong, mixes with mohair wonderfully & is sought after by dollmakers for use in wigs & Santa's beards.
It is different from regular fleece & slightly more difficult to spin because it's tough & more hair like (imho). Once you get the knack of it though it's great. I was quite pleased with how it turned out & can't wait until it's plied. The 1st pic is (from left to right): washed fleece, carded fleece & spun Lincoln. 2nd pic is a close-up of the spun fibre.
I have finished the "Monkey Socks"! Just for the record, I had mine finished before the Harlot, so it is I who is the trendsetter for her, lol. Both of us however, realized afterwards that they would have turned out a lot nicer if we hadn't used self-patterning yarn; great minds really do think a like (or perhaps just make the same mistakes, lol).
Amongst the finished knits are also some Christmas ones. I will only show part photos so the surprise isn't ruined; the pics are of 2 things modular & something with cables; nuff said.

CQ'teer meeting went well. 3 new members, 2 members that just came back from vacations: 1 to Japan & the other to the East Coast. Very nice & interesting stories from both, lots of show & share, chocolate, coffee, ATC's & a cool accordion paper booklet that Faye taught us for program this month.
I'll give you some time to absorb all the eye-candy & then I'll post again soon.

Peace out, Boop

Is that a pig on your lap?

2007-06-04T11:34:00.001-05:00

Why yes it is & I'm happy to see you, lol. This is what I go through when trying to knit at night. The pic isn't perfect, but hubby took it; nuf said. Daffodil (my pot belly puzzle pig) is on my lap. The other black & white blob behind my neck is my Jack Russell "Pudgy".
I am working on a pair of Monkey socks which are almost done & I will post about later. I have also finished a Moebius wrap. This was a dead easy free pattern from a Bernat yarn label.
Isabelle (my mannequin of 20 years) is modeling the wrap. It took 3 x 50g balls of Bernats "Lux effects"; very fast & uncomplicated. I did however, cast on 40 stitches rather than the suggested 30 because I wanted it to come down my arm further. I didn't think the 30 would cut it and I'm really glad that I added the extra 10. I used the "tan effects" colourway.
I did try to find the link to the free pattern on the Bernat site, but the yarn has been discont'd of course. Here's the pattern anyway:

Moebius Wrap
-one size
-40" x 14"
-10mm (US 15) needles
-bernat lux effects 3 x 50g balls
guage: 8 sts. & 9 rows= 4" stocking st.

Cast on: 30 sts.
Row 1: (RS) K2. *P2.K2. Rep. from * to end of row.
Row2: (WS) P2. *K2.P2. Rep. from * to end of row.

Rep. last 2 rows until work from beg. measures 40" ending with RS facing for next row. Cast off in pattern.

Finishing: twist work once lengthwise. Sew cast on & cast off edges tog. keeping the twist to achieve the moebius shape.

Enjoy. Peace out, Boop

Who Knew

2007-06-03T19:38:00.000-05:00

Since we've been busy the past few weeks putting up fencing for the lambs & alpaca, I decided to ask Mark how to use the lawn tractor. We were building the fence together (all 400ft of it) but he was digging the 25 post holes (by hand) himself. I was feeling badly for not being able to help with the digging so I thought perhaps he could show me how to use the tractor. He had his doubts, but showed me anyway.

I must say that I've never had so much fun. It was like horseback riding, but with control. The tractor has 7 speeds. Mark suggested I start at 2 & perhaps move it to 3 or 4 when I was feeling more confident. Our property is also hilly (quite hilly actually). Anyway, I decided to see what the 7th gear was like. OMG, the tractor took off like a bat out of h#ll. I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to pee myself & all I could say as Mark watched me fly across the yard was "eeeehaww", lol.

Mark usually does the lawns over 2 days, but I stayed on that sucker until it was done! Needless to say, Mark had trouble getting me off the thing & dinner was late that night.

Not sure why he complained so about cutting the lawn as I found it quite therapeutic. Women just don't get a lot of "me" time where as with this you can sit there driving aimlessly around thinking & completely alone. Gosh, I can't even use the bathroom without one of the kids or animals barging in to see what I'm doing, but this lawn cutting thing was bliss. I didn't even care about the freshly cut grass allergy that I have because with the hat & sunglasses nobody could my watery eyes; next time I'll take the allergy pill before I start the cutting.

Peace out, Boop

Splash

2007-05-10T19:25:00.000-05:00

Not exactly the kind you do whilst swimming, but thought I'd show you my little alpaca named "Splash". I bought him from a friend of a friend a couple of weeks ago, shortly after the lambs (which he is absolutely smitten with).

Splash is a last year baby & about 10 months old. His colouring (although he looks brown in the picture) is mahogany. The sun bleaches their fleece (as it does with sheep) so the colour on top is not the true colour of their fleece. His actually has a purple tinge to it & is quite lovely. Splash will be sheared this year, but the lambs will likely wait until next Spring.

*picture by my friend Lynne Holtrust; photographer*

He is a wonderful addition to what is growing into a small fibre hobby farm. Although not broke to the halter yet, he has a nice personality & will accept hugs from Joseph & I (as if he had a choice with me around, lol). Anyway, full story at "The Funky Lamb" once again.

Peace out, Boop

Castle Critter Additions

2007-05-07T21:03:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I bought my 1st 2 lambs off of a spinning friend. Luna is a Romney X & Blizzy is a Dorset/Charlet. Both have wonderful dispositions & are well-liked by all of the other Castle Critters.

Luna is above sporting the red collar & Blizzy is below wearing the green one. For the full story as the how, when, where & why, please go to "The Funky Lamb" where I discuss everything that has to do with my fibre biz in full detail.
Peace out, Boop

You spin me right round baby..........

2007-04-13T07:58:00.000-05:00

This is the result of 2yrs. worth of research. As a small girl we would go visit a friend of my parent's whose whole family collected antiques. My favourite thing to do was to sit at her spinning wheel & get it to spin. Aunt Peggy would then hand me the carders & let me brush out the lamb's fleece. She didn't spin herself, but did have a small amount of fibre on hand for displaying along with the wheel.

I then would dream of what it would be like to learn to spin. A few years ago, I found out that one of our Quilt Guild members was a spinner; this motivated me to start pondering the topic once again.

At first I was shocked to find out the cost of the wheels & therefore knew that I had better be sure of what I wanted before I made a purchase. Every once in a while I would search the internet for wheels, spinning info. etc. The urge to get one got so strong last Christmas that I finally broke down, throwing caution to the wind & making my purchase on a newly acquired credit card (no lectures please).

I had decided on the Kromski Sonata for a number of reasons, the final being a review that I read on CraftyGrrrl.ca. She had just boughten one herself & talked about a deal that Coppermoose had going where you got the $120- bag for free when you ordered the wheel. It was still on when I checked the site so I ordered it.

It only took 2 wks. to arrive & when it did, I dragged my Flu-like body down to the Post Office to pick it up. In Pj's, winter coat, no make-up & armed with a box of kleenex & Ny-Quil, Mary (the post master) was there to greet me & she totally understood. She's a sewer & mail-order junkie & said she would have done the exact same thing. Pictured below is the pkg. just taken out of the box.

The wheel is attractive, smooth & I love it. There's probably some better ones out there, but for the price & compactness (not to mention the bag), I am very happy.

The picture below is of my first handspun. I got the roving from Lane's End. Lynn (lanesend "AT" cycor "DOT" ca) didn't have a lot of dyed ones to choose from because she hadn't done her dying for the new season yet, but I did manage to get this green one & the pink/purple/blue one below. They're both 30 Mohair/70 Cotswold blends; very nice to work with.

The next picture is a handspun containing Angelina Fibres. I am a distributor for them here & just had to try blending some into a roving. Not wanting to mess with the dying pattern, I broke off the bits in colour sequence, carded in the Angelina & then put back in the sequence to be spun. A lot of work, but the results were lovely. I think the sparkle is probably difficult to see from the picture, but trust me it's wonderful.

Anyway, part 2 coming soon. Peace out, Boop

"The Cure" & other stuff

2007-04-11T11:16:00.000-05:00

This is a pillow that I designed & made last month for a dear friend who is going through breast cancer. I am happy to say, she is going to beat this thing. We are all still sending her our thoughts & prayers (because the rest of the treatment is upcoming), but we're all very optimistic & like "The Harlot" would confirm: "never underestimate the power of knitters"(especially when they're on your side).
The basic idea came from a book called Creative Kindness by Nancy Zieman with Gail Brown. The shape had been thought of by a nurse who realized how perfectly this would fit under the arm & add support to the areas where it was needed most.

I got our machine knitting group to sign pieces of cotton (with a pigma pen) so I could heat set them & sew them on the back as a reminder to the recipient of how much we all cared.

This scarf project came from the same machine knitting group (I believe that it was Shirley that did program that month). It is done on the LK150 with sports weight yarn; tuck stitch butterfly pattern.
Well, hope this is good enough for now. I have a couple of big blog entries coming up on spinning. Until then:

Peace out, Boop

Been Hacked

2007-04-04T08:39:00.000-05:00

No pics this post 'cause well, it just wouldn't be appropriate. Yesterday I received a message from a confused & worried mother (my own) wondering if I had checked the comments section on my own personal web site (not this blog). Most wouldn't check the link, but it is under the "home base" tab on the blog's right hand side.

Needless to say, upon following my own link, & checking out the comments on the knitting poll & site, I was disturbed to find out that I had been hacked (badly). Fortunately we have word moderation on the Blog (& this is the very reason we do), but the web site itself does not.

There were a total of 39 comments (20 for the poll & 19 for the site in general) describing (in albeit way too much detail) ways to enhance, embrace, excite, etc. all of your body parts & those of anybody else in your life for that matter.

It wouldn't even allow me to sign in & admin the site until I went to my actual web host & cleared the data from there. Once deleted though, it only took a few hours until they were right back at it. The only thing I could find out about the culprits (since their IP addy wasn't real) was that they were Chinese & most likely doing this from overseas. Although I'm sure this would attract a new & different sort of client base, I decided it was best to take the official site off-line for the time being.

The blog itself appears to be fine. If you're one of those who would like to comment, but just doesn't want to go through the word verification process, I apologize, but for now this is definitely something that I won't change; obviously it's needed, lol.

Peace out, Boop

Mod Knits

2007-03-22T08:02:00.000-05:00

So, I've been working on something called modular knitting. I've always found the concept interesting, but what got my attention was the technique taught in

the Modular Knits book by Iris Schreier. The idea being that you used short rows to achieve this geometrical look instead of doing all of the pieces separately & then sewing them together in the end. Seems brilliant, no?

The book has received high praise (5 star average on the 4 reviews done on Amazon.ca). There's even a Yahoo group here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/multidirectional/

As far as the book goes, the pics are beautiful as are the patterns. At the beginning of the book they go through how to knit the various geometrical shapes & then refer to these pages during the patterns later in the book. Sometimes you're only doing part of a triangle or such & this can get a bit confusing. Or if you're like me & photocopy the pattern so it travels better & cuts down on the weight of your knitting bag (mine has been called pandoras box), this can be a problem when you forget to copy the basic instructions as well. All in all though, it's a good read.

I jumped right in (as I usually do) & started the zigzag scarf on pg. 45. It turn out beautiful even though the finishing triangle instructions were a bit dodgy.
I also made a matching hat from The Knitter's Bible: knitted accessories book by Claire Crompton. This book is a great one. A bit of everything from modular to lace & mittens to shawls. Made a few modifications (added a band inside the hat, with looser fit & button on top), but instructions were very clear.

Samantha just loves this set & has had many requests from her classmates to make them one as well (not happening unless they're paying though, I do enough charity work, lol).

Peace out, Boop

Shake your booties

2007-03-02T20:42:00.000-05:00

So, my high school friend of many years just had her 1st child. My own kids are 11 & 8 so she was a bit of a late starter. In fact, she's 36 (aka Hockey Sioux). Her new son Liam is a sweetie, but I'm honestly happy it's her & not me. I cannot imagine starting a family at this point in my life. I guess you could argue both sides as she chose to do her traveling & such first, but I'm tired just thinking about it.
Mom & I sent a bunch of stuff, but I decided that booties were in order. (I mean, who can resist booties?) I would have made them into skates if not for the danger factor, but these would have to suffice.

The pattern itself was different than other bootie patterns I've done. It was easy to follow & such, but different it was. Started at the back of the heel to the toe, then the top of the foot & then the ribbed cuff. Once it's done however, it really does become a bootie, lol.

The pattern is from a book by Zoe Mellor called "adorable knits for tots". There isn't one pattern in this book that I wouldn't consider knitting. Great pictures, well written instructions, modern children knits. Absolutely my fav. kid's knit book for sure & I know I'll get my use out of it.

Also, since the weather was so crappy here today, I thought I'd send you all a nice big cyber mug of Betty Boop's pink hot chocolate. Enjoy.

Peace out, Boop

Felt this; no fulling.

2007-02-22T15:29:00.000-05:00

I've never been overly interested in felting until I decided to make my friend a felted crochet case for Christmas. We had been looking over web sites in the Fall during one of our sew days & came across this great free pattern from Berroco called Kluster.

Of course you have to start by using 100% wool. There are other fibres that will felt, but I'm not going into that now. Also, there's disagreement on what the process is actually called.

According to: Llamapaedia's Fiber Glossary

Fulling -- A finishing process in which the woven or knitted cloth is subjected to moisture, heat and friction causing it to shrink considerably in both directions and become compact and solid. In heavily fulled fabrics both the weave and the yarn are obscured, thus giving the appearance of felt.

Felting -- An ancient technique that produces a non woven sheet of matted material which is most frequently made from wool, hair or fur created by the entanglement of a mass of fibers that takes place when heat, moisture and pressure are combined.

I pretty much made the pattern as it was except that I made it an extra inch in length & 1/2" in width. Sure wish I had taken pics of it after it was done, but thankfully MA took some of it in use (open & closed) so I could copy them. I have got to remember to take the finished project pics before I send them off; sigh.
Anyway, the Berroco site also has a free pattern for a felted knitting needle case (or should I say fulled, lol) called Kable.

Now on to finish the famous fulled clogs; more about that later.
Peace out, Boop

Fingerless in Fenelon

2007-02-18T09:59:00.000-05:00

It's been so dang cold here the past month that I just can't seem to keep warm for any length of time. I sometimes try going back to bed after the kids get on their bus. Not for the sake of sleeping, but just to sit under the electric blanket for a while to get warm. It's also a good way to get my thoughts organized, make my chore list for the day & catch up on my emails.

The basement, where I theoretically have my studio, is so cold that the laundry that I had soaking in a bucket froze solid the other day. Imagine my surprise when I went to change over a load & put the bucket garments in the wash, lol.

So, I got looking through free patterns online whilst doing the obligatory T.V. watching/ hubby bonding time. I figured that some form of fingerless gloves would be advisable if I was going to be productive during this cold snap.

The result was a freebie that I got here:
http://fpea.blogspot.com/2006/08/free-pattern-friday-raging-fingerless.html
You just gotta love the Net.

Peace out & stay warm, Boop

Happy Valentine's Day!

2007-02-14T22:18:00.000-05:00

Hope you all have a nice day. If you want to know more about the history of St. Valentine's Day, just click on the link.

Peace out, Boop

Little Red (actually Turquoise) Beret.....

2007-02-13T09:25:00.000-05:00

Samantha so wanted a Beret to go with the beautiful turquoise cloak that she was gifted last Fall. We immediately fell in love with a pattern in the Winter 2006 Interweave Knits magazine.

It worked up easily on my new Knit-Picks options needles (which I am in total lust with & shall never knit on anything else from this day forward, lol). The pattern makes really neat diamond shapes near the bottom of the hat that appear from the increases & decreases.

And Sam, well she loves it as you can see here.
Peace out, Boop

Just can't get enough sox.

2007-02-08T23:26:00.000-05:00

It's true. I don't think I'll ever tire of making socks. I love them so much that I made up a cheesy poem:
......................................................................................................

Ode to Socks

Socks how I love thee,
I can never get enough.
From the tips of your toes
to the top of your cuffs.

You are my foundation, my past-time, my love.
If I mess you up,
you can always be a glove.

You’re cheery & warm, comforting & true,
Whether solid or stripes, variegated or blue.

How subtle & mysterious or outrageous you can be.
Oh socks I just can’t get enough for you so captivate me.

There are so many ways that we work this land,
Whether on sticks: straight or double, circular, machine or hand.

You are portable and compact;
the perfect travelling buddy.
Plain, textured, bulky,
or a little bit nubby.

How can I express how much you mean to me,
For I just can’t get enough or stop making thee.

by Kym Ranger (aka Boop) Jan.3, 2007.

..............................................................................................

Peace out, Boop

Back to Business: Knitting & Harry Potter

2007-02-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

So, onto more knits. Firstly, I just love illusion knitting. It is worked by knitting (and purling to a chart) 2 rows of colour "A" followed by 2 rows of colour "B" & cont'd in this fashion until you get the size garment that you want. It's kind of like intarsia without the colour changing; all you're doing is knits & purls.
The pattern is achieved by the way the knits & purls are viewed at certain angles. When you look at the garment straight on you only see stripes, but once the angle of view is changed "viola". Isn't this cool?
This particular skull & cross-bones pattern is from a friend's own design. However, there is an alien illusion scarf pattern in the "Stitch 'n' Bitch" book by Debbie Stoller. Also, there's a free "Ravenclaw illusion scarf pattern" on The Leaky Cauldron site for all you Harry Potter fans.

Speaking of which, they announced the title of the last book Jan.1st. It is going to be called: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". A few days ago, J.K. Rowlings announced that the book would be available July 21, 2007. This will come only 8 days after the 5th movie "HP & The Order of the Phoenix" will be out in theatres. I declare July "Harry Potter Month", lol.

Anyway, that's it for now. Peace out, Boop

Happy Blogiversary to Me!!

2007-02-02T09:29:00.000-05:00

Yup, Feb.2nd, 1 year of doing this crazy blog. It has been quite rewarding for the most part. An opportunity to share & be heard.

If I could change anything though, it would be to get everyone to leave comments. Not that I need validation because that's not it. It's more a curiosity thing: to see what others found interesting, helpful, entertaining, useful, etc. Does anyone actually use or look at the links I put on the sidebar?? Does anyone go to the sites or how-to's that I've linked in the blog entry itself?? Has anyone checked out the pictures on Flicker (the funny flashing box on the right side)?? These are all items that take time to put into the blog template itself, but are they of any use?? These are the types of things that bloggers want to know.

How to make a comment: it's quite easy actually. After the blog entry, you will see the word "comment". You just click on that. Then a pop-up box will open showing any previous comments (if there are any) & show a box for you to enter your message. Below that it will ask you to sign in (if you have a google or blog acct) or just leave anonymous. If you're using the anonymous option, you can add who it's from in the body of the message itself. It will then ask you to type in some letters (or numbers) as they appear in the box. This is called "word verification". This isn't some scam to track down your identity, it's so that one doesn't get automatic computer generated comments that can sometimes be inappropriate. So, this is for safety issues, nothing more.

I hope you have enjoyed the past year. I will continue to blog about knitting, crochet, spinning, geocaching (in the good weather), animals, art dolls, polymer clay, altered art, CQ & anything else that strikes my fancy.

Have a great day & we'll talk to you all soon. Peace out, Boop

Dogsled Derby

2007-01-29T08:48:00.000-05:00

So, Saturday we were off to the 6th annual Haliburton Highlands Dogsled Derby. I didn't sleep all that well the night before because I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. Still not wanting to disappoint, I got up early to get everything ready for the trip. Packed snacks, swimsuits (parents were staying at the Pinestone Resort where the event was taking place), snowpants, etc.

We were due to arrive shortly after 10:00am & were on course to do so. Still having the funny feeling I decided to top up the gas tank just in case we were stranded anywhere. Thank goodness I did because then this happened.
Now, we had already run into a few patches of black ice south of Minden & adjusted out of it just fine. I was already doing just the speed limit & even less on any road declines, but this one was a doozy. The car had no grip at all here (& yes, I have snow tires) & once it started to spin the only thing one could do was enjoy the ride & pray. We cleared the ditch & hit the side of the hill with such an impact that it pinched the tire off the rim flattening it (of course we didn't realize this until after it was dug out). In 20 years of driving, I've only spinning I've done was when I was 17 in my 1st storm.

Now of course I had the kids in the back seat. Samantha's reaction was one of fear, but Joe's was somewhat different. After asking them both if they were okay, Joe said,"all I can say is wheeeeeeee! Let's do that again!". Not exactly what I was expecting, but I'm sure it was just his nerves speaking (or at least that's what I'm telling myself because I couldn't bare to have a racecar driver in the family).

Thankfully, Mark had just put one of those emergency snow shovels in the truck a few days ago to which I was able to get & then get out the passenger door to start digging (as you can see the driver's door wouldn't open. A nice lady stopped to ask if I need a cell phone, but I told her that I already had one. I really didn't feel there was any point in calling anyone: Mark was on his way to work & my parents were at the dog races which I found out was only 2 miles up the road from where I was. Besides she was on the way to her son's hockey game; I assured her that we'd be fine. Once she left, I handed the kids a snack, took a couple of blog shots & started digging. I must say that it's amazing the energy one has when they're trying to do something in a hurry. It was the coldest day of the year & I was concerned that someone else was going to hit the same patch & come flying into us before we had a chance to freeze to death, lol.

About 10 mins later an older couple & their adult daughter turned around to help. They had a bunch of snow shovels in the back of their pick-up which was great. The hubby then left the girls with us so he could drive home & get some chains. When he arrived back, I had pretty much gotten under the van cleared while his wife & daughter had finished up the sides. We strapped the chain on & he pulled us up from the ditch only to discover the flat.

By some small miracle, up the road 200m was a tire garage. It was closed, but by another miracle the owner was dropping off some wood for his outdoor wood furnace. The couple left us there & the owner went home to get the shop keys so he could fix the tire. The man returned about 10 mins. later, checked the tires, filled the flat one (which unbelievably was fine) & we were on our way (yes, we continued the journey, I'm stubborn).

We arrived at the Resort 11/2 hrs. later than scheduled, but my parents saw us come in & took us up to their room. This is when I discovered that I was soaked & thankfully was able to borrow some pants. Although they weren't the most flattering & was just happy they were dry, lol.

On a better note, the event was great. If you ever get the chance to see the dog races in person, you should really do so. They will be at the Delta Pinestone Resort again next year. There's also another website called Winterdance that gives you lots of info. on the dogs, sledding, etc. & even has tours. Contrary to popular belief, huskies are not the only type of dogs used. There are whole teams made up of hounds & German Shorthaired Pointers too!

The dogs are run hungry so they get very excited about the race because they know dinner is waiting for them after. The noise they make at the start line is so cool; they bark & yelp & howl. They spectators make lots of funny noises too; the kind I can't describe & have only heard at this type of event. The teams are kept in little straw-lined compartments on the back of pick-ups when not racing. They are absolutely beautiful animals.

Mom & dad treated us to a snack in the hotel after we got there. None of us felt like eating much at the time so they treated us to a proper dinner later as well. The lady who 1st stopped to help me ended up working for the hotel & was so happy to see me. I really hadn't recognized her at first, but she said how she had hated leaving us & was worrying all afternoon so was thrilled to see that we were okay. It was nice to know someone cared :0). The dinner was lovely, mom & I enjoyed some knitting time beforehand & the kids got to have a swim.

The ride home was quite scary because it was like a blizzard from Haliburton until just south of Rosedale, but got better after that. I just drove slow & kept the emergency lights on in case anyone wanted to pass. As it happened though, I was the only nutter on the road crazy enough to be driving in those conditions. We pulled into the driveway & upon getting into the house, the kids each gave me a big hug. We were never so happy to be home.

Peace out, Boop

Life saved, knits made.

2007-01-14T15:40:00.001-05:00

Well, as per usual we've saved another critter & welcomed him into "The Creative Castle" household. I can't disclose the exact details or location from where the animal came from (in the courts), but he is safe & doing well.
This is what the wound on his lower back looks like after 41/2 months of rehabilitation. He is absolutely the most affectionate little guy ever. He doesn't make any noises as such except for a gentle low purring. He seems to be adjusting to his new mates well & constantly wants to be cuddled.

I now introduce you to "PJ".
On a different note, I can now post some pics of the Christmas knits. These are some of the knitted (& some crocheted) gifts that went out this year.
Crocheted washcloths with a natural soap bar. Made from Bernat's
cool crochet". Lovely sheen & soft texture, approx. $3.99/ball 50grams. You can make 1 cloth per ball if you work a double strand (one from each end). The edging is optional & uses up any extra you might have effectively.
Knitted catnip mice from the pattern in the "Stitch 'n' Bitch Nation"
Great way to use up ends as each mouse doesn't take a whole lot of yarn. I did i-cords for the tails & attached them on after. Also have plenty of wild catnip that I put in the herb grinder & then serged into muslin squares.
Right now I'm finishing up on the skull illusion scarf which I hope to have done shortly so I can post pics.

Peace out, Boop

Yet another...

2007-01-07T19:57:00.000-05:00

bead-knitted purse necklace. This one was done in iridescent crystal seed beads for my other Sis Donna in Indiana. I had to wait until she emailed me a pic 'cause, being the goof I am, I remembered that I hadn't taken a pic until the darn thing was all packaged up for the post-office; geesh.

I'm also working on the skull illusion scarf which I'm totally fascinated by & will hopefully be finished this week. Pics & explanations to pop up then.

Happy New Year! Boop

Christmas CQ'teers

2006-12-29T22:24:00.000-05:00

We should probably rename ourselves the "Chocolateers" since I think there's more chocolate ate than CQ's made, lol.

Pictured above is Irene's pair of $100- socks. Now I must explain, they didn't start out as $100-. The problem arose when Irene bought a nice ball of "real" sock wool & a great bunch of wood dpn's for her project. Tools in hand, Irene took a sock knitting course from the local yarn shop.

Upon getting home Mini, followed by Micro (Irene's 2 Shitzu's) were put into high fibre alert. Mini by nature (hey she's a gal) realized the quality of said fibres & needles, & took it upon herself to seize an unattended moment. She & Micro undid said started sock & chewed said lovely needles. Back to the yarn shop Irene went to replace her tools.

We've lost track of all the times Irene had to redo her socks & replace her supplies. I honestly can't believe that Mini & Micro survived it either, lol. The fact is that they're finally done & we have proof.
This is a pic. of our Christmas ATC swap. The gals did lovely work as usual.

Peace out, Boop

Santa Claus came to town

2006-12-25T16:12:00.000-05:00

Santa came, we eat, cleaned up & will now crash. It's just after 4:00pm in the afternoon & I'm already back in my PJ's, lol. We had only 8 this year, but had a grand time. Food was delicious, presents were lovely & people were merry.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas as much as we are. We now all sit around relaxing, playing with our gifts, snacking on left-overs & cuddling by the fire with the kids.

Merry Christmas & peace out, Boop

What type of Christmas do you have?

2006-12-23T08:28:00.000-05:00

This just seemed fun & appropriate. I got this one; I'm sure there's no surprises here, lol.

Your Christmas is Most Like: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Each year, you really get into the spirit of Christmas.
Which is much more important to you than nifty presents.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

Peace out, Boop

Oh Mighty Dish Rag

2006-12-17T12:43:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, but I can't stop raving about this little dishcloth pattern. It's got everything you'd want: interest, texture, scrubabilty, durability, etc. It's from the "Mason*Dixon Knitting" book which in itself is a fun & nice read with lots of good old useful utilitarian knits. You just can't go wrong. They're also quick to do up whilst engaging in the nightly "obligatory T.V. watching with hubby" & make a great little hostess gift along with some homemade bake goodies. Enjoy!

Peace out, Boop

Bagged again

2006-12-15T18:54:00.000-05:00

This is just s quick pic. of the Birthday prezzie that I made my mom this past week. She has always wanted one of my bead-knitted purse necklaces & it was her turn. The turquoise colour in the beads showed up quite accurately in the photo. And I think, by her reaction, that she was quite pleased with her gifty.

Now, onto more Christmas knitting as time is running out, lol. Peace out, Boop

The Purple People Eater

2006-12-13T16:21:00.000-05:00

It all happened innocently enough.............

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the grocery store like normal to pick up a few items on my list, one of those being Kleenex. Who knew that it would all begin there; a non-suspecting victim I tell you.

They were all out of the normal pink floral box that I get for my upstairs washroom. I opted for the purple one as it was the closest they had to what I'm used to.

I get the box home & all seemed normal enough until the Vet called to say that I had won a pkg. from a draw that I had been entered in. (It was for the "Farley Foundation" & I had bought some of their bracelets for family members earlier in the month). Anyway, when I went to pick up my prize there were various things in the bag, but what caught my eye was a deep purple water bottle for traveling. At this point I am still unaware of what is going on.

Then, as I mentioned before, I had a B-Day where I got an iPod. I had also received a HBC gift certificate from my parents so I thought I'd drop by Zellers to get a few accessories for it with my gift card. They didn't have very many cases to choose from. Although, I really wanted to knit a cozy, I knew I should pick up something cheap so it would be protected until I had the time. So keeping out a frugal eye, I finally settled on (okay, I had no choice because it was the only one left) a purple one that was on clearance for $3-. About now I'm starting to think that something very purple is going on.

Well, days went by until whilst coming out of the shower I suddenly had the urge to buy purple towels to match that Kleenex box. It was almost like an out-of-body experience. I stopped suddenly in my thoughts to look in the mirror & check if I had been switched into a different body. Nope, still me. So how could this happen? (I knew we were in desperate need of some bath towels; only had some new ones once in 15 yrs. of marriage, but this couldn't be reason enough, could it?) I certainly had not been tricked into contemplating purple in my life after all these years, could I? I don't think I'm in denial (Would one know if they were?)

Needless to say, I returned home from the Bargain Shop yesterday with a bunch of towels. The only suspects I have in this mystery are a Kleenex box and The Purple People Eater.

Peace out, Boop

Fav. hat

2006-12-09T20:10:00.000-05:00

I just love this hat. I think Ialean made it from the Lindsay Knitting group that I belong to (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, lol). It's so cute & apparently quite erect as well; didn't realize it was sticking straight up until they all started laughing at me.

Been working on knitting for days. Christmas prezzies mostly with the odd B-Day one thrown in just for good measure (or to test my sanity). Will post some pics of those next.

Peace out, Boop

CQ'teer stuff: 1930's ATC's & decoupage plate

2006-12-02T20:05:00.001-05:00

Well, as I mentioned earlier, Wed. was our monthly CQ'teer meeting. Every month we exchange ATC's & this month's theme was the 1930's. I just love how we all interpret things so differently.

This plate is what we made at our meeting. MA had taken a course (on my B-Day in fact to which I only forgive her 'cause well, she's my Sis) a couple of weeks ago. She decided to teach us all what she had learned which was how to make this grand plate.

It's quite nice actually & is very easy to do. You just have to make absolute sure not to touch the plate in the process, lol; we used a cup to place our work on.

1st place some podge on the plate, then the material carefully down on the plate, let set for a few mins. & then carefully (moving from the centre out) use a foam brush to remove any bubbles as you're flattening down the material. Let dry for a bit then carefully trim the excess fabric around the plate's edge. Then add a second coat & let that dry over night.

The plate is great for festive goodies or to place a center piece on, but can't go in the dishwasher; simply wash the top with hot water & dry.Nice, quick little project if you need a hostess gift too.

Peace out, Boop

B-Day Prezzies

2006-11-29T21:48:00.000-05:00

So last week was my B-Day. This proved to be a good one in that I was spoiled rotten. I was taken to the Casino the day before & out to lunch with my inlaws (Teddy's in Oshawa). They also gave me a ton of X-Mas ornaments & a big blow Santa for the house.

The actual day was spent with hubby & the kids. Hubby took me out for Mexican food (my fav.) at Mexicali Rosa's (sister co. of Hernando's Hideaway in T.O.). They even treated me to deep fried ice-cream on the house (highly recommended).

The celebrations cont'd most of the week & ended today with our monthly CQ'teer meeting. The girls brought 2 cakes. One was "death by chocolate" that Irene made form MA's recipe & the other was the PC Decadent truffle cake that MA brought. These were absolutely amazing. Total orgasmic experience (not to be underestimated).

Sue gave me a note pad to which she had stamped & a sock monkey ATC. The whole sock monkey fetish stems from a childhood love for them & a grandmother who made many, but favoured my sistered & therefore I never got one. MA had told Sue that she was making me a pair & so Sue made the ATC to go along with the theme.

MA made the wonderful pair of sock monkeys to which I so love. Irene gave me a really nice silver cow brooch; I tend to call everyone a "cow" which I assure them is a term of endearment although they're sceptical. LOL.

Hubby & the kids gave me a totally rad red retro bagel toaster & the limited edition U2 iPod! U2 has been my fav. rock band since I was 15 so lets just say that we go way back (over 2o yrs. in case you're curious). It has computer etched autographs on the back along with live vidoes that came as an added bonus from the iTunes site.

I was so thrilled with everything that was given & done for me. It was such a nice thing to feel so special & I truly want to thank everyone.

Peace out, Boop

The Grinch

2006-11-26T21:22:00.000-05:00

"The Grinch" is absolutely my fav. animated Christmas movie. I look forward to watching it (at least twice) each year.

Last year (& the one previous), I noticed that one of the stores had this really cool blow-up Grinch. I had missed out the year before, but managed to score 1 of 2 left last year during the Boxing Day sales. This thing measures 7ft in length & I just love it.

Samantha helped me put it up along with the outdoor lights today. I was so proud that we did so without Mark (who will see our efforts late tonight when he gets home from work). Aside from the slue of profanities which escaped me during this endeavour (Sam managed to close my fingers in the ladder while spotting me) & the profuse apologies that followed, it went rather well.

Tonight , after dark, the kids & I went outside to bask in our success & capture some blog shots. Trust me, we don't lead exciting lives & rather than blog about everything else we did
do today (cleaning bathrooms & other mundane chores), I thought I'd save you all the excitement.

Peace out, Boop

The Last Knit

2006-11-22T17:56:00.001-05:00

Although all you obsessive knitters out there will be especially amused by this clip, I still think everyone else will enjoy it.
This is absolutely genius (from an animation junkie's point of view of course). Enjoy.
Peace out, Boop

Welcome one & all

2006-11-06T19:34:00.000-05:00

This is what the new blog will look like. Blogger is in the midst of changing things over to a Google/Blogger site. Apparently, they're very close to completion & once done the old blog will be transferred over to this one. In the mean time some of us are trying out the Beta version to see what things will look like & to help get all of the bugs out.

I must admit that I like the new additions, especially the new element options. I know we're all pretty resistant to change, but I really think this is going to be for the better. So, make sure you bookmark the new site because I hope to have it all changed over shortly.

Happy knitting, quilting & creating.
Peace out, Boop