Done and Done

Daily, I make lists for myself. Things that have to be done, things that should be done and things that I would like to do. I keep a small notebook for myself with all things listed. Just about anything can make it to the list, from the perpetual, "laundry", to the less likely, "lose weight". As projects are accomplished (or abandoned) they are crossed off the list, until the list is an unreadable mess of scratches, then I tear the page from the book, destroy the old page (or pages), and start fresh with a new page and a new list. I always find the tearing up of the old list a small, cathartic experience. Three or four times a year I start a new notebook which is very cathartic. I feel a sense of progression and moving forward.

The downside, I've realised, is that because there is always a list of what needs to be done, and no clear list of what's been finished, I've often found myself feeling that I'm running in circles and accomplishing nothing.

So...recently, I started, not one new notebook, but three!

I have a "book of to do" notebook - all the things I'd like to do, a "whenever", "no-time-line", "I-have-the-rest-of-my-life-and-if-nothing-gets-done-no-one-will-care" list of projects.

I have my regular notebook of things that I'm actually working on, a "book of doing" - laundry and grass mowing will make that list, as well as which ever project I happen to be tackling - the garden is a current favourite.

And I've started a "book of done". Not everything will make it into this notebook, but I think having a tangible list that I can hold and read and say "ah, yes, so that's what I've been doing all this time" will put to rest the feeling that nothing is happening.

The first thing to make the list was a re-covering of an old office chair.



It use to be fuzzy, grey and tired. Now it's bright and spiffy, and makes me very happy!

Also finished, but not making the list of done, is the simple ribbed scarf started way back in April. It didn't make the list because it's on my Ravelry page, where all my knitting projects reside.



Also making the list, is a new dress for Kiltie!



Kiltie is one of my Sasha Dolls, her new dress is made from one of Nigel's old shirts. This is the first time Kiltie's been out of her original clothes, you can see her here.

I've made new togs for both of the other Sasha dolls too. Here's Baby Gregor Sasha, Mum bought him for me on a trip to Scotland back in 1976 (or there-abouts).



I knit him some undergarments out of white crochet cotton on fine needles. He's had other clothes in the past, but I've no idea what happened to them. He's here in his original togs.

Marina Sasha also has a new outfit knit from the same white crochet cotton. I wound off some length of the yarn and dyed it in a strong tea bath to make the undergarments. Knickers...



petticoat...



and dress...



The knitted clothes didn't make it into the new notebook either, since they're also on my Ravelry page, but Marina's outfit was a major work, for the dress front you cast on 192 stitches, and that's just the front, it's the same for the back, and then the petticoat has 160-ish stitches for front, and then again for the back. Wheeeee.....

She looks lovely though! Here she is in her original clothes which she's never removed.

The major work is the back garden, which is almost, completely finished...



a path of crushed granite leading to the air conditioner...



the not-yet-finished trellis against the garage...



a bed of hydrangeas...



crushed granite under the spruce trees...



a raised bed with a few tiny plants...



the south side of the deck with railing...



and, the north side with trellis, clematis and impatiens.

Now , we wait for the plants to grow.

Dolls and Weeds

I've managed to lose track of time again.

Is anyone else having this problem? Is it age? Am I really so over-the-hill that I'm rolling fast enough to make six weeks feel like one?

Apparently, yes.

Things do, however, get done. I finished off the Blackbird Shawl



It's really very pretty, and black as can be. I'm glad to be finished knitting with black, at least for now. I still have plans to work my way through all my black yarn, but have changed my mind about spending an entire year knitting with nothing but black. I've come up with a new series of projects that is sure to test my attention span.

I've decided that various dolls in the house require new togs. Thankfully, I don't have all that many dolls (at least, I don't think I do).

First up, and most naked of the bunch, was my Armand Marseille Dream Baby, a bisque head doll with blue glass sleep eyes made around the 1920's. This doll has a cloth body and composition hands. Elly finds him "creepy". I think he's very sweet, in fact, I think he looks quite a lot like Elly did as a baby.



I'd decided as soon as I saw him that he was a boy, and so (finally) made him a bonnet and gown from an old blue linen tablecloth that I'd thrifted a few years ago. I was careful to utilise the hardanger edges for the hem of bonnet, gown and sleeves. The bonnet is a shade on the small side, but he hasn't complained yet.

Isn't he sweet?

I also made linens for the old wicker pram I bought a while back, seen in this blog post.



I made a pillow, mattress and mattress cover from new materials, and made a blanket and pillowslip from two vintage heavy, beige linen hand towels, also thrifted a while back. I added a smattering of embellishment with brown and white polka dot ribbon and two cream coloured satin motifs.

Lucky doll!

That sweet face is still lacking a name though. I'd thought of calling him Armand, but that may be a tad unimaginative. Any suggestions? Perhaps an older name that isn't gender specific; Marion, Beverly,... maybe not... hmmm...Georgie?

I have plans to clothe other dolls through the summer, perhaps I'll show and tell them as I work my way through the naked/shabbily-dressed ones.

In other events, the deck is finally underway. This was suppose to be done last summer, but the good weather ran out before our contractor could squeeze us in, so it had to wait until now.



This year's weather hasn't been as co-operative as we would have liked, so it's not finished yet. All we really need now are two days with no rain.

Soon...

And what else is coming along fast and furious?

Well, it's all those dandelions on the front lawn.



I'm having a terrible time deciding what to do with them. I keep going to the shops and picking up the big bottle of weed killer , debating, deciding against chemicals, putting it down, coming home, and then regretting not buying the stuff as soon as I pull into the front drive. We even had one of those big lawn chemical companies come out and give us an estimate ($389, thank you very much). I find it easy to love dandelions when they're in their "golden flower head" stage (as in the photo), as opposed to the "straggly puff-ball" stage, which is how they're looking today.

Perhaps this fabric will change my mind...



It is pretty, yes?

My 200th Post!

Look at that, I finished those socks! I quite enjoyed knitting these, the pattern zips along quickly - just interesting enough to keep me engaged, but not so complicated as to require thinking.

There are definitely different kinds of knitters in the world, some seem to like the "easier the better" road, while others want each successive project to be more challenging than the last. I place myself firmly in the centre, choosing projects based entirely on my mood at the time, and more than willing to abandon said project if the mood takes me. I've done an awful lot of abandoning lately - projects that never make a blog appearance. For a few months now, I've been mourning the lose of my "knitting mojo", but I've come to realise that's not been the situation, that, in fact, I had lost my "mojo", as in for everything. I was dragging myself through the day feeling completely lost, but all is better now. Over the last two or three weeks I've done a complete scouring of the house (except for those continually appearing doggie foot prints coming in at the back door), I purged shelves, cabinets, dressers and filing cabinet and sent lots and lots off to charity and the shredders, and re-organised most every nook and cranny. The static that was running through my brain has ceased and a calmness has taken over.

Feels good.

I'm celebrating by setting aside all my other knitting projects and starting something new.



I started my first ever KAL - that's a knit-a-long, for those who don't know. A few people connected to Wolseley Wool started this one, and I jumped right in. We're working on the Rock Island Shawl by Jared Flood, a shawl pattern designed to be worked in either lace-weight or fingering-weight yarn. I'm working this in lace-weight Zephyr merino-silk blend in colourway Dianthus, an intense hot magenta. I've had this yarn for a few years now and thought it might be just the ticket for this pattern. I'm enjoying this very much, especially the part where I've set aside all the other projects first.

I'd like to take this opportunity to make an announcement... I'm not going to buy anymore new yarn for the next six months.

I know, I know.

I've done this before. What I really need to do is not buy anymore yarn until I've used everything I already have, which would make me at least 180 years old.

I've added an awful lot of yarn to the stash in the last few months, there's just always so many good sales this time of year...

want to see the last hank of yarn that made it into the house, just under the wire?

From the very wonderful Fyberspates in Oxfordshire...



their very wonderful Royal Wedding Yarn...



a stunning sapphire blue alpaca-merino-silk lace weight with silver thread running through...



I have no allocated project for this bit of loveliness, but one could come along at some point. Fyberspates has a shawl pattern for sale to go with the yarn, designed with hearts and horseshoes (traditional wedding symbols), but I thought it looked a tad unimpressive compared to the yarn, so I took a pass.

Don't start thinking I've gone completely royal wedding cuckoo, but I also snapped up a copy of this at Chapter's...



too funny...



comes complete with cardboard balcony to place all your finished figures on. I love the fact that Charles and Phillip look identical, except Phillip has more medals and tired eyes.

Have you seen this yet?



Love.

A Black Mood

Spring is beginning slowly outside the windows these days. There's still plenty of snow on the ground around here, but the sun is warm and strong and we all know it's only a matter of weeks before there'll be buds on the trees and clean streets - well, I suppose Winnipegers know that clean streets aren't going to happen until late May or early June, still, though....just a matter of time.

I haven't been posting much at all lately, due to a deep, dark ugly mood I found myself in through February and March, oddly, perhaps, I blame my knitting.

I've always had a fondness for dark, bold colours like black and charcoal and aubergine and I have, over the last five or six years, indulged in buying lots of yarn in those colours, often in lace-weight, stashing them away for future projects. Unfortunately, I noticed last year that my eyesight wasn't as good as it was once (I suspect bi-focals are in my future). I had a flash of brilliance, or so I thought, around Christmas, that in the new year I would work through all my darkest shades of lace-weight yarn, starting with the blackest of blacks that I owned, hence my starting of the Blackbird shawl mentioned a few posts ago. In fact, I'd planned on working projects in black yarn of all weights, and also started a fairisle yoke cardigan with black as the body colour. My thinking at the time was that I would work through the dark colours before it's beyond me, and would have lots and lots of my favourite colours to wear while I moved on to knit in other hues.

This was a terrible mistake. Often Winnipeg winters are filled with brilliant blue skies, bright yellow sun and sparkling white snow, making for a visually impressive, though brutally cold, few months - but not this year. This year we had lots of snow, too much, considering the flooding that's expected, which meant many, many overcast days. So, not just brutal, awful, bitter cold, but perpetual dreariness. Blah!

And, on top of this, stitch after stitch of black, black, black...

The Blackbird shawl continues to sit on my desk, slowly, slowly progressing. I know I'm going to love this project when it's finished, and suspect that I will wear it often so I'll continue work on it, but...

that cardi...

After knitting the main body and both sleeves (all in black), I started the fairisle yoke in shades of grays and white, and after knitting and knitting, all the way to nearly the end of the colourwork and nearing the neck, I thought to myself, "I don't like this. I'm never going to wear this. This depresses me."

and...

rrriiipp...



I tore it all out.

It was very liberating, like coming out of a fog.

To rid myself of the "blackness", I immediately pulled a brilliant red 4-ply from the yarn stash and knit a tam, Robin by Kim Hargreaves.



Colour, how I've missed you!

Also started a pair of gloves in teal Dk weight. This pattern is called Nouveau by Tanis Fiber Arts (that's a Ravelry link). These are being worked in the recommended yarn - Tanis Fiber Arts in Yellow Label DK.



More Colour!!!!

Also started, the Diversion sock pattern from Knitty's Winter 2009 issue. I'm not a huge fan of knitted socks, but saw a pair of these on display at Wolseley Wool, and could not be contained in the purchase of the same colourway of yarn and a plan to knit these up immediately. Yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in colourway Sweet Pea.



And then, one last final leap away from the dark; I purchased a hank of Sweet Georgia Merino Silk Lace from Wolseley Wool in colourway Dutch, a very uncharactersitic (for me) orange.



Wowsers! Now that's not black, you have to admit. I don't have an immediate project for this, but I suspect my desire to work with this yarn will make my search brief.

Onwards, springtime!

Where'd I Put Those Buttons?

Well, I found the perfect buttons for the wee baby jacket from my last post. Ordered from Wool-Tyme Canada, they were by Mission Falls and looked like this:



except, the ones I ordered were darker in colour. They were perfect, the size was right and they possessed enough quaint, homeyness to appeal to my knitting pals, and enough sophistication to appeal to everyone else. This is all past tense though because I have no idea what I did with them.

I was certain that I'd put them in the top drawer of the black dresser in the craft room, where I store yarn for upcoming projects along with various other delights. However, they weren't in the drawer when I went to fetch them for this post.

I did find the shawl pin that I bought from Wool-Tyme in the same order (seemed a waste to spend money on shipping for three little buttons, so felt I should "fill out" the order - this is one of my secrets to spending vast quantities of money, if Nigel is curious)



Lovely isn't it? It's shell with an ebony spear. I'll wear it to knit night on Wednesday so the girls can have a gander.

Yes, lovely, but the buttons weren't there...

I did find my darling package of White Stripes buttons (they're a band) Nigel bought me for Christmas one year. I've never opened these - too adorable. You've got to admire a band that doesn't just sell t-shirts and posters.



I looked all over my desk, which is a disaster at the mo'.



There's my Blackbird Shawl from a previous post - languishing, along with a piece of genealogy research - also stalled.



Oooo, a pattern for an apron and 10 skiens of black angora purchased on sale at Wolseley Wool. Angora and aprons - I am turning into a '50's housewife, yes?



Some half finished Alan Dart mice, and some of the yarn for a cardi I just started. I'll show that to you some other time, it's got a silk hem facing - fancy!



My sewing machine, poor neglected thing...



Hmm, are they in the hutch? If you click on this picture you might see Nessie lurking (she's a former whiskey bottle).



I can see the first buttons, later rejected, for the jacket. Also sitting there is a curling rock, also formerly a whiskey bottle (makes me look like a bit of a boozer, doesn't it?)



The craft cupboard... if you know me from ravelry and click on this picture, you might see the black and white felt cat that appears in my ravatar...no buttons though...Hey, also my half finished Lady Grey jacket I was working on! I really should put the lining in that before summer gets here.



Old tins full of buttons, but not the ones I'm looking for...



glass jars full of buttons, also not the right ones. Hard to believe my entire button collection once fit in these jars...



Would I have put then in here?



no...



no...



no...



Oooo, special buttons!



But not the buttons...

These aren't buttons, but at least I know where (some of) my marbles are...



ah, vintage game pieces and dice, so, so charming...but not those Mission Falls buttons.



I will continue to look through March, but if they're not to be found I'll be forced to place another order...possibly with more "filler" merchandise...poor Nigel...

A Question of Buttons

Bunnies!

Recently off the needles are a pair of Bunny Baby Booties for a wee boy who's due at the end of April. The pattern is from Animal Knits by Zoe Mellor, and are knit up in Sirdar Snuggly DK in cream, plus a few other bits and pieces.

Adorable, yes?

I'd never used this pattern before, but I'll definitely count it as a keeper.

Also (almost) finished for the same wee laddie is the Cardigan for Merry. Also worked in the Sirdar Snuggly, this pattern is a variation on the Cardigan for Arwen from Interweave Knits Winter 2008 issue. In order to make Merry, you'll need the Arwen pattern for the reversible cable pattern.



The cardi is still missing it's buttons though. I'm having a hard time deciding between the classic toggles...





and the quainter, sweeter hazelnuts (these are made of plastic).





Nigel and Elly agreed that the toggles were better, but both thought them a tad pale, and the Wednesday knitting group all agreed on the hazelnuts (there were nearly twelve of us in attendance that particular night, so consensus was surprising). Nigel and Elly know the parents of the wee one, and I would certainly agree that they'd probably prefer something classic over quirky, however... I'm still a bit torn. Would anyone else like to weigh-in on the subject?

Which do I choose? Classic, but too pale, or high contrast and quirky...

I could order in dark toggles...

...made of wood...or horn...

...that would involve some Internet shopping...

Oooooo....must go ogle some toggles...