Tuesday 30 June 2015

Not what I call yarn

A little while ago I ordered something from Amazon, it was $22.56 and shipping was $5.  This meant that if I could find something that was at least $2.44 but less than $5 I would save money because I'd make the free shipping threshold.

I found something that claimed to be yarn, it was $3.96 so I'd be saving money over paying for shipping so I went with it.

It is beautiful variegated cotton thread.  It would be stunning if used to hand-quilt on a white background.  It is not yarn.

I sort of want to find something to quilt.

Thursday 25 June 2015

I will finish what I start

One of my favourite things to knit is sweaters.  I don't know why I find them so particularly satisfying.  It might be the combination of being a bigger project with being something that gets taken around and everyone gets to see (unlike, say, an afghan).  In any event I have plans to make at least three sweaters this year, two for Ada and one for Caleb.  Ada gets two because she'll grow out of the first one before winter's over.

I was thinking I might be able to use yarn in the stash for one of her sweaters, which is significant because my stash is leftovers, I never just happen to have project-quantities of stuff sitting around.  This is mostly due to limited storage and a budget that's enough for me to make everything I want but not much more so I'm pretty careful to buy yarn as I need it, otherwise I'd end up wanting to make something but only having yarn that doesn't work for that particular project.

In any event I checked the stash and have enough for both of her sweaters.  I've started designing them and am about to swatch and it's all I can do to keep working on the stocking, which I am pretty enchanted by, but there's that siren song of starting something new that keeps calling.  

Monday 22 June 2015

Not knitting but awesome

I was at the grocery store the other day and the woman behind me asked how old Ada is.  I told her and she smiled and said, "oooh, that's pretty close to Princess Charlotte.  You look really good!  And you don't have a team of stylists!"

Best compliment ever.

Friday 19 June 2015

Shipping or Yarn

I just ordered something on amazon.  It was almost $25, which is their threshold for free shipping.  The shipping was going to be $5, and I only needed to add something that was $2.44 to get free shipping.

I found a ball of cotton yarn for 3.95.  It looks pretty on the internet, and it's a dollar less than the shipping would have cost so even if it's terrible yarn it's still saved me a dollar and I'm sure someone can use it for crafts if it is truly awful.

I'm quite curious about what it will be like.

Tuesday 16 June 2015

Nothing short of awesome

Last week my husband needed to get anaesthesia for a minor procedure (he's totally fine).  They told him he might get a little silly, he says he did not get silly.  However, I have been informed that the nurse who was with him has been thoroughly informed all about the knitting patterns I design and sell (names, the fact that they're really pretty, descriptions, the fact that they're really pretty, people have actually bought them, the fact that they're really pretty...), as well as what Ravelry is and how it works.

I love him so so so much.

Thursday 11 June 2015

Coming along

Ada's stocking is about half way to the heel. I was hoping I would get it done quickly enough to get a photo of her in it but that's not going to happen.  She was small enough at birth but I wanted to wait until after she was born because we didn't find out if we were having a boy or a girl beforehand and I really liked the idea of purple for a girl.  I'm really pleased with it and think it will really look good as partof a set.  I'm using Cascade 220, which I've used for enough projects that I have lots of little leftovers so I'm hoping between what I have already and what will be left over from this project that there will be enough for a little sweater.  I think it's reasonable, we shall see.

I want to make two sweaters for her this winter (3-6m and 6-12m sizes) and one for Caleb (2T).  I'm really looking forward to making  some of the sweater ideas I have, and the challenge of writing a pattern in different sizes which will be new to me.

Monday 8 June 2015

I love that man

Joshua doesn't knit, but he listens to me talk about knitting and is the IT department for all things involving this blog and getting the patterns into a nice looking PDF for download.

For Ada's stocking I'd made the chart some time ago in a program that's no longer supported since our OS was updated.  I had a screen shot but at some point before it's published I knew I'd have to re-chart it in something that's compatible with what's running on the computer now.  It wasn't a big deal, it would take about 15 minutes tops and I could knit it with just the screenshot so I hadn't given it a great deal of thought.

The other night I had just fed Ada and put her down, and Joshua was doing something in his study.  I asked him if he was coming to bed, and he said he would in a minute.  I asked him what he was doing and got the most awesome reply.

"I'm working on a knitting pattern."

He was charting Ada's pattern out in numbers.  He'd even come up with a name for it.

I love that man.

Wednesday 3 June 2015

Christmas stockings

Yesterday my Christmas stocking patterns were raffled off to some of the donors to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's ride to Montreal from Toronto.  She and her team are raising money for palliative care for those with AIDS and it's exciting to be part of something like this, even in such a small way.  I'm a fan of the fact that when we all do little things they can really add up.

In other Christmas stocking news I am making a purple stocking for our lovely little girl who recently arrived.  We named her Ada and are absolutely smitten.  Caleb is especially in love with her and wants to see her first thing in the morning and is forever giving her kisses and wanting to hold her, it's about the sweetest thing I've ever seen even if he does almost squish her constantly.  Pictures of the stocking (and the little girl it's for) will follow when things are less nuts.

Tuesday 2 June 2015

Not Very Summery

Every so often I look at my patterns, the ones I have for sale and the ones I'm working on, and think the same thing.  There's nothing summery.  Part of me (the part that likes reading business books) immediately jumps in at these moments and informs me that I should do something about this.  Sometimes I think about it, but I always come back to the same thing.

I like winter knits.  No one needs summer patterns designed by someone who's only designing them for the sake of having all seasons represented in her pattern collection.  So, for the time being, my patterns will continue to be not very summery, and I'm okay with that.