For a few years now, I’ve thought about making an advent calendar out of fabric that I can fill up myself. Mainly because I really dislike the advent calendar chocolate in the ones you buy from the stores, but I do like the idea of a countdown to Christmas. My friend Lucy and I decided to just do it this year. We bought the front fabric bit online, then yesterday we went to a fabric shop to get wadding and the backing fabric. Now, the front bit comes with instructions that are fairly straightforward. Cut here, tack here, topseam these bits. Then it says: “Back the calendar with fabric. We recommend you use wadding to give more body.”

Bwuh?

As Lucy said, that’s like one of the technical challenges from the Great British Bake Off (which we both watch): “Make the jam.”

We thought it best to leave it for now and to Google a lot while we regroup. I have an idea of how to try it out, but I don’t actually know if it’ll work or not. At least with sewing (just like with knitting) it can always be ripped out if the mistakes really bother me. And my calendar has a few wonky seams. I’m calling it special. It’s my first one and I feel having a reminder of how far I’ve come in sewing will be a good thing. This is assuming that I’ll keep sewing of course. ;)

As for knitting, my Agnes sweater is finally done! No photos yet as I just finished seaming it five minutes before I started writing this. Haven’t even tried it on yet. Well, not the completely finished sweater anyway. I did try on the body of the sweater after I’d seamed it up to double-check that it was fine before I started knitting the sleeves. All I’ve got OTN is the Kelsey Mitts from Knitscene Fall 2012. I really like this issue. Too bad it’s not possible to subscribe to it. That would be the one magazine I’d seriously consider subscribing to.

One of my favourite designs to date (shh, don’t tell the others!), the Tea Rose Shawlette is now available as a Ravelry download. It first made its debut in the Smell the Roses club run by The Unique Sheep back in April. It uses just under 150g of yarn and is worked from the top down. Two sections of the lace have patterning on both sides, so this does require some attention, but there are simpler sections in between for a bit of a breather. The garter stitch edging is then knit on so there are no tight bind-offs to worry about. Stretch it to your heart’s content!

It is being modelled by one of my oldest friends (we’ve been best friends since we were like 10 years old!). We finally decided to just do this thing and actually meet up instead of always missing each other by about a month when visiting Finland. She lives in Ireland now so it’s fairly easy for us to travel to see each other. So she and another friend of ours came over for the weekend. I think it’s been about four years since we got together. But it didn’t feel like it at all when we got together. We’re just so comfortable around each other that instead of waiting to be offered food or drink, we just wander into the kitchen and make it ourselves. Even if we’ve never been in that particular house before. It’s rare to find that nowadays I think. We spent the weekend watching movies, shopping, eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts and feeding ducks at the park. The ducks can be a bit unnerving. They come right up to you if they’re hungry and before you realize it, you’re surrounded by ducks and geese. I’ve never been attacked (*knocks on wood*), but I wouldn’t put it past them.

My dress for my co-worker’s wedding came today! I took a risk and went one size down from what I’d usually get. I’ve been losing weight recently and most of my current clothes are fairly baggy. But it came today and I tried it on and it fits! Thrilled to bits. I might even buy another from that shop in a different colour and print.

I don’t really talk about my weight online. I’ve always been on the heavy/chubby side. Yes, I exercise but it’s never really resulted in weight loss. I actually gained weight when I did the 30 Day Shred the first time. I don’t know if that was muscle or what, but the numbers on the scale went up a bit. Back in June my knee really started to hurt whenever I ran. Sometimes even when I was just walking to work. So I had to stop running to give it a rest. I don’t have a gym membership. I don’t like working out with others around me. I prefer to go for hikes and runs by myself with only my iPod as company. But my knee put a halt to that three months ago. For the first time, I decided to start counting calories. I figured that it couldn’t hurt and I needed to figure out a way to maintain my weight while being more sedentary. After a month of resting my knee, I can finally go on short runs again. Not running the full distance I used to, but it’s still better than not running at all. I love the feeling of flying I get on the final stretch of sprinting that I do. It helps that it’s a slight downhill. ;) Three months later, I’ve lost over 20 lbs. And I fit into a dress size I didn’t think I’d ever wear.

From Blog photos

I’ve been wanting to knit a sweater for awhile now. The thrill from the shrug wore off fairly quickly. So, a few weeks ago I decided to buy Interweave Knits Fall 2012 and Knitscene Fall 2012 because of the sweater patterns. I also bought Knitscene Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 since they were on sale (20% off if KS Fall 2012 was bought at the same time). Again, mainly because of the sweaters.

And I’ve cast on! The first sweater is the Agnes sweater by Ruth Garcia-Alcantud from Knitscene Fall 2012. (It’s the cover sweater.) I’m using Sublime Yarns Cashmere Merino Silk DK in the color Tease on 4.5mm Signature circs. The back is almost ready for the armhole shaping and I only cast on two days ago. I love how fast DK knits up. I keep forgetting because I’m so used to working with 4-ply and laceweight.

Once Agnes is done, the next sweater will be either Petit Four by Heather Zoppetti from IK Fall 2012 or Lepidoptera by Anne Kuo Lukito from KS Fall 2011. It really depends on what I feel like knitting and if I can find the right yarn. I’ve already got three skeins of Malabrigo lace that could work for the Lepidoptera cardigan, but I think I need one more skein. Then there’s also the fact that Malabrigo is a single ply yarn and the yarn used in the pattern is a two-ply so I don’t know how well Malabrigo would wear. Slightly concerned with pilling.

The Citrus Cusp socks are done (photos will be going on Ravelry soon)! The colorway is just so happy that it makes me smile whenever I see them. When it gets slightly cooler I can start wearing them. I want to be sockless for as long as I can, because when I start to wear socks again, it means summer is officially over. And I don’t want it to be over just yet.

I’m still working on the mystery shawl by Janine Le Cras. The final clue came out last Friday and I’m two rounds into it so far. I have come across some issues with the pattern so far. Nothing major, but for instance where it says to transition don’t work for me. I delayed the first two transitions as much as I dared and I still had to start the final transition early. And I ran out of #3 before the transition was complete. I do believe I have enough yarn to complete the shawl so it’s not a major deal. Another was a mistake in the chart key. Again, not major but I’m glad the written instructions were there to double-check it against. I’m slightly concerned about the size too. So far it seems a bit on the small side. Hopefully blocking will do its magic and make it grow to a decent size. I’d be further along I think if I wasn’t so distracted by the sweater. And if I loved the yarn more. The colours are fabulous and I’m really happy I went with the colourway I picked. It’s not too busy that the lace pattern gets obscured. But Ling (70/30 merino/silk) isn’t as soft as Eos (50/50 merino/silk). It’s just not calling to me.

Onto cooking! I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it before, but I got The Skinny French Kitchen by Harry Eastwood as a birthday present from O. Almost everything I’ve tried so far has been fabulous. The ones that weren’t fabulous were good, but not mind-blowing. If you’re interested in photos of my meals, I try to remember to post them to Twitter. The plan is to try at least one new recipe a week. I’ve already made Turkey Cordon-Bleu, French Onion Soup, and Emmental Gougeres among others. Tonight, it’ll be Sole Meuniere. Well, almost. Asda didn’t have any sole available when we did our weekly shop this morning, so I’m having haddock instead. Next week, I’m going to try Confit de Canard. Hopefully.

From Blog photos

I finally have photos of my GLS. I took the Safire pattern by Hilary Smith Callis (free Ravelry download btw), modified it to suit my gauge and then added patterning to the sleeves. Even though it’s a teeny tiny sweater/cardigan (I’m planning on wearing it over strappy tops to work), it took me over a month to knit it. I think a part of it was because of all the mods I made and that I kept trying it on to see when it’ll fit. I also tried to use up as much of the yarn as possible so I had to keep weighing the remainder to see when to stop knitting the body and when to start the sleeves. There are more detailed photos on my Ravelry project page.

I can’t remember what I was knitting the last time I talked about it on here. So to recap from June: - Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl KAL by Wendy Johnson (WendyKnits) out of some pretty purple-y merino/silk yarn I bought from Chicago. - Knit a pair of mittens which will be a free download eventually; need to get it tested first. - Then there’s the shrug I just talked about. - I cast on a pair of Cusp socks (Cookie A) in some really happy orange yarn (luxe soles base, Citrus colorway) from Stitches’N’Rows. One sock done, second sock has about two inches done? It’s so nice to be knitting socks again. It’s been about nine months since the last time I knit socks! But my sock bin is overflowing, so I feel like I should wear some down before knitting more. - And finally, I’ve got the Spirit of Guernsey mystery KAL going right now. It’s a laceweight circular shawl. I’m using Ling (wool/silk) in Black Day Lily (black-ish purple to pinkish-yellow) and I decided to go with the beads too. They’re a pretty pale pink. I started out with #1, which is the darkest skein. Clue 4 came out on Friday. I’ve done eight rounds of the first repeat. These rounds take a really long time! I think we’re at over 700 sts per round now. So I seriously doubt that I’ll be done with the clue before the next one comes out.

I’ve also got some secret knitting going on and planning some more. Watch this space. ;)

Well, we got back from Scotland on Wednesday. Technically we got to Sheffield at about 3pm but we went over to O’s parents for the afternoon/evening. See, O got Stark Trek TNG episodes on blu-ray and wanted to share. We also needed to drop off our car there so that O’s dad could go take it to the garage the next morning (one of the windows broke, as in the electrical mechanism thing broke so it was stuck in the up position). Repairing it was pricey, which has led me to the conclusion that our car is female. Attention-seeking, high-maintenance and, excuse my French, a bit of a bitch.

But! We did get to go to Edinburgh. The drive there was nice. I know my dad would love the drive. All full of curves and up and down. Almost like a roller coaster. The only annoying bit was that when on the single carriageways, there aren’t many places to pass other vehicles because of how much the road twists and turns. So if you’re stuck behind a slow driver, then you’re stuck for quite awhile. The views however were fabulous. We stayed a dinky B&B for three nights. The only thing that it really had going for it was the location. The room itself was adequate, but I wouldn’t stay there again for various reasons. One of the more amusing aspects of the place was that someone kept altering the negative guestbook entries into positives. When we arrived someone had written “Poor attitude, 0 stars” and by the time we left, it read “Good attitude, 2 stars.” Then there was a comment that had been completely scribbled out. Guess there weren’t enough words to transform into positives with that one…

Edinburgh itself is lovely (go see Picasa/Google+ for more photos; there’s a link at the bottom to the Picasa album). We saw a lot of the tourist sights like the Castle, the zoo and the Edinburgh Dungeons (one of the cannibals snuck up on me and made me shriek which was slightly embarrassing). It rained all day on Monday when we went to the zoo, but the next day was nice. We also went to two museums and found a really nice inexpensive restaurant (City Restaurant). I also came home with a really nice print by Matylda Konecka I ran across in one of the galleries.

On the way back, we stopped by Heddon-on-the-Wall to see Hadrian’s Wall. I know it isn’t tall, but I was still surprised at how wide it is. We then stopped by a small place called Dingle Dell Deli for lunch. They had really nice sandwiches and I also picked up a jar of homemade raspberry jam.

I’m glad we got to go, but I’m even more glad to be home.

Edinburgh Trip

Oh dear. June has just flown by. Lots of things happened.

Two of my sisters came to visit. Had loads of fun. Miss them. But I’ll get to see them at Christmas.

WOOLFEST (this will get its own post eventually).

We’ve booked our trip to SCOTLAND (don’t ask why I’m typing some stuff in all caps. Some words/events just require it to be so.) So excited. There will be pictures when we get back.

Been shopping in the sales. Bought lots of girly stuff during some amazing deals. First it was Body Shop stuff for 1/3 of the price, today it was jewellery and two tops from Dorothy Perkins for about a third of the price too! 

Remembered why I don’t wear a lot of blue nail polish. My fingers look like I’m slowing turning into a Smurf.

I’ve become addicted to www.jigidi.com. Free online jigsaw puzzles. ‘Nuff said.

I seem to have two beetroots growing outdoors. Not sure how they’re still alive since I planted them last year and then just forgot about them. Very impressed with their hardiness.

Also been reading a lot. Currently reading Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. Dying with laughter.

As for knitting, the Green Leaf Shrug (a variation of the Safire pattern; I added lace to the sleeves) is finally done. PSA: Sewing on buttons is a pain in the neck. I’m also participating in WendyKnits’ Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl KAL. Using yarn I bought while in Chicago two years ago. And The Unique Sheep’s Spirit of Guernsey KAL is about to start (Black Day Lily on Ling with beads from EarthFaire). Can’t wait!

And I’ll leave you for now with a convo from my work today:

L: “Guess what’s the smallest country in the world.” C shrugs. L: “Vatican city.” T: “Isn’t that where Batman’s from?”

From Blog photos

The pink blob I showed a photo of last time? Turned into a pink reindeer! It was for my team lead at work who loves pink and reindeer (I get horrified looks whenever I mention how tasty elk is). So it was her birthday this week and she got the reindeer and a silk scarf that was dyed by Laura from The Unique Sheep. She loved both gifts and totally wasn’t expecting the reindeer. I’d adamantly told her that she wasn’t getting a knitted reindeer. Which was true. This one was crocheted. :D

I’ve finally finished my Jaden sweater. Just in time for the fabulous summer weather which of course means it’s way too warm to wear it now. Over 25C for the last week! Love it, but at the same time I wish the UK had predictable weather. Would make getting dressed in the morning a lot easier. So for now, Jaden’s going to wait until it cools down a bit again (which won’t be too long, I’m sure). I tried a few sts of the crab stitch for the neckline, but with Lucy’s input, we decided that it wouldn’t really work with the rest of the sweater. So I only did two rounds of single crochet (decreasing a few sts on the second round to firm up the neckline a bit).

I’ve been working on the FrankenBlanket of DOOM. The longer I work on it, the more descriptive the name gets. Used to be the Granny Square Throw, then FrankenBlanket and now it’s the FrankenBlanket of DOOM. The latest addition is because it feels like it’ll be doomsday before I ever get this thing done. I’m at 60% complete now with the square count (640/1050). Then there’s going to be all of the joining to do…

As for what I’m knitting now? Endpaper Mitts in blue and yellow. They’re turning out really nice so far, but I’m getting kinda bored with the pattern already (haven’t even made it to the thumb separation yet!). It’s nice, kinda-mindless knitting but not mindless enough for me to not look at it all the time. So I really need to be listening to audiobooks or TV shows that don’t require me to see the screen all the time.

Two of my sisters are coming to visit next month! So excited. Don’t know what shenanigans we’ll get up to, but I’m sure that whatever we do it’ll be fun. So if you don’t hear from me for the next two weeks, it’ll be because they’re here. Not sure how much knitting I’ll get done though…

Can you guess what this will be?

It’s great for using up leftovers. It’ll be one funky… well, you’ll see next time when I’ve got photos of the FO. It’s also a great reminder for me why I don’t crochet that much. Because the gauge has to be super tight on these to make sure the stuffing won’t poke out, it really hurts my hands. Especially if the fibres don’t have a lot of give in them (like the alpaca that I’ve used for a part of it). I love the finished product, but I just don’t want to deal with the stiff fingers and cramps I get while making it. So I’ll just stick to knitting for the most part.

Jaden’s pieces are all complete and blocked. I had every intention of starting the seaming this weekend, but things got in the way. Plus I couldn’t decide how I wanted to start the seaming, so I’m leaving it for next weekend. In the meantime, I’ve started a lace scarf out of some very pretty pale lilac sillk laceweight. My own pattern and once it’s done and tested and all that jazz, I’ll be putting it up on Ravelry as a free download.

On a final note to this super short post, Happy Mother’s Day! I wish I could see my mom today, but I did get to speak to her on the phone earlier so that’ll have to do until I see her again. I really hope she likes her present when my sister takes it back with her next month. All I’ve let her know is that it’s done, and she’ll just have to wait a few more weeks to actually see what it is. :D

It’ll be nice to have the extra day to chill. Good thing too since we’ve got so much stuff planned for today. We’re going to go see The Avengers. Then we’re going to go shopping. I say we, but really, it’s me doing the shopping with O tagging along. I’ve seen some really nice dresses in Dorothy Perkins online, so I’m going go try them on before buying. I don’t think I’m very good at judging how something’s going to fit from just photos so I always want to try clothes on before buying them. I’ll try to remember to show pics of what I’ve come home with if I do find something I like that fits.

Still knitting on Jaden. I know. It’s been almost two months. I never knit on anything for two months (ignoring the sock yarn blanket; that’ll still be a WIP in five years from now at the pace that I’m working on it). But I got bored with it, so I only worked on it at knit night for a few weeks while I worked on secret projects at home. I’m back to having that as my only project (again, ignoring the sock yarn blanket) and you know what, I’m actually seeing progress! Funny how that works. I’m on the second sleeve and I’m determined to get it done this weekend. I might even get to block the pieces to get them ready for seaming if I knit fast enough. I’m also wanting to cast on a lace project. I’m going to sign up for the next Unique Sheep KAL but that won’t start until July. I’ll need something to knit in the meantime. Jaden’s not going to take me that long to finish! Besides, Jaden’s my Woolfest sweater and Woolfest is in June…

Well, I completed the 30 Day Shred again. I had fun challenging myself to do the advanced moves. Can’t do them all for the full time alloted, but I’m getting there. But for about a week now, I haven’t really done any exercise. Year end at work really wiped me out on Monday and I’ve just been really tired the rest of the week. I’m feeling the lack of exercise. I’m not as happy as I am after a workout. And I haven’t been sleeping very well this past week. Plus, I want to make sure the results I’ve had so far stick! So I’m definitely going to go back to exercising daily. I just need to decide what I want to do next. I’ve got two DVDs waiting for me: Beginner’s Pilates and Billy Blanks’ Tae-Bo II, so probably one of those.

From Shawls and scarves!

Continuing on from last week’s theme of carpet beetles, I decided to take all of my scarves and shawls outside for a bit while checking for damage. Looks like my neck should never be cold. That photo is actually missing three of my shawls (Secret Garden, Aeolian and Tea Rose). Yeah, I may have a slight issue with accessories. But I’m okay with that. I like having options.

This past week has also been exciting design-wise: Two of my patterns have been released!

Last weekend the second shipment of The Unique Sheep’s Smell The Roses club started arriving in mailboxes. This month was my shawlette: Tea Rose. It’s one of my favourite designs so far because it’s got lace patterning on both sides. It will be available for individual purchase in October 2012.

Two days ago, I released the Mercury shawlette. It’s the first in what I hope will be a complete series of shawls/shawlettes/scarves based on the planets. I already have the yarn ready for the next one (a yummy DK-weight base) and most of the stitch patterns. Now it’s just a matter of working out the math before I can knit it up and get it tested. I used Handmaiden Sea Silk for the sample. Knits up like a dream. It’s so smooth and drapey. And shiny! This is definitely one of my fancier shawlettes. ^_^ I also want to thank my fabulous testers: Jessica, Lucy and Sarah. They caught my ridiculous mistakes and gave really good suggestions on how to make the pattern clearer. I really can’t thank them enough for sticking with it.

I’ve decided to do the 30 Day Shred again. From the beginning. After about six weeks of not doing it, it’s kicking my butt just as much as it did back in January when I first started doing it. But this time I know that I can do it, so I’m trying to do the harder moves when I can. When Jillian Michaels says she wants you to feel like you’re going to die, she’s not kidding. I feel amazing afterwards every time. After I’ve caught my breath that is. And no longer feel like throwing up. ;)