Hey! Look!

There have been projects finished and started this week. Most important, I finally finished that Union Jack slipover that was driving me bananas. It looks kinda' cute, but I don't want to see it (or hear it) for a good long while. It's a very cute pattern, and if I work it again it will be in wool and not bamboo (too shiny and slippy) and I'd work it in the subtle colour way that Martin Storey had designed for it instead of my less than brilliant notion that I needed something bold and gaudy to wrap myself in. Let's move on...

Yesterday was my niece Thea's birthday (Happy Birthday Thea!). She's twelve now and requested speakers for her IPod. I couldn't resist adding a little handmade something to the parcel.



A little mousie from a pattern by Scottish designer Ysolda Teague. I love, love, love her designs, and bought her book Whimsical Little Knits a while back. It's a fantastic little book, full of adorable patterns. She sent it out as a series of downloads and also as a small paperback. I knit this wee mouse with the leftover bits of Garnstudio Alpaca Drops from the Deep in the Forest Mittens I finished back in March.

I'm feeling the need to knit lots more of these little mice....we shall see....

Work continues on the Loch Ness Monster,



what will I do with these things? I don't know.

Two weeks back, when I had my nasty slip and fall and sprained my ankle, I started this Bias Shawl pattern from Handmaiden yarns. I had the kit in my stash of yarn and fished it out before heading off to the hospital for x-rays. That's was a stroke of brilliance on my part, since I had to wait more than six hours to be seen.



Looks pretty good though.

Also up on the needles is a baby cardi for a little one due in June - my sister's brother-in-law's first born. I'm feeling certain that they're expecting a boy, and since I know they're fond of earth tones, I'm working it up in shades of olive and yellow-green.



And there's more...I didn't title this post Hey! Look! because of all the fantastic projects, no, no, no.

Nigel just shouted out to me, "Hey! Look! It's snowing!"

Just when we all thought it was safe to get out and do some yard work...

Flood

Thought I should post a few obligatory shots of the high water we're experiencing here in Winnipeg.



You're going to have to just believe me when I say that the river was running extremely fast. Loads of people had stopped their cars just to get out and look...





There is some great footage here if you want to see more.

Old Lady on the Stairs

I finished the Kauni wrap mentioned in my last post. It's blocked, folded and put away for the Autumn. The colours are deep and saturated, perfect for Autumn, so it can wait 'til then.



The Kauni yarn knit up nicely, though it's 100% wool, so I'll have to be careful not to wash it in the machine. Did I ever mention I made that mistake twice this past Autumn. It's true, first with the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, finished back in early 2008, and then later the same season with the Big Needle Wrap I made while in Dublin. Ack! That's right, I managed to throw each one into the washing machine on separate occasions. I plan on salvaging the buttons from the cardi, but all that knitting is lost.

I often got compliments when I wore the wrap, so I thought I'd be clever and take advantage of a sale on at Wolseley Wardrobe and I picked up another hank of the Silk Blend by Manos del Uruguay in the same lovely purple colourway. I didn't realise at the time, however, that the hank of Silk Blend I bought in Dublin was packaged for the European market in 100 grams hanks, unlike the North American Silk Blend, which is packaged in 50 grams hank. I guess it's back to the shop while the sale is still on.

Crochet class is finished now. Last week we made granny squares.



I was completely thrilled with how mine turned out - I know, I thrill easily.

During the week (that means at home and all by myself) I made a cotton dishcloth from double crochet.



It's not perfect, and I chose the most awful shade of mud-grey, but it's functional, and COMPLETED!!!!

This week we made a three dimensional heart.



It's not quite done yet. I need to embroider on a face and stuff it with fiberfill, but the pattern utilises increasing, decreasing and working in the round.

I've struggled and struggled for years to figure out crochet, and now I finally have the rudiments sussed. Hooray!



Work continues on the Union Jack Slipover I started last Autumn. I had promised myself I wouldn't start any other knitting projects until I'd finished this one. It's worked in intarsia, and all the bobbins clacking away while I knit has been driving me a little cuckoo.



So I snapped yesterday and started a small project. A little Loch Ness Monster. They're small, right?



On the upside, my cold has gone, Ian's teeth are healing nicely and Elly has been told she should be off her crutches in a week (the knee isn't broken after all), on the downside (literally), I managed a nasty slip on the stairs myself and have a badly swollen ankle. Happily, I can still knit. And crochet.

I've been wondering if Elly taught herself any fancy maneuvers on the crutches like these:

Girl on the Stairs

Locals will recognise this as yesterday's cruelness. March came in like a lion and left the same way. I'll not speak of it anymore.

On the needles, I've been making a quick and easy scarf using Kauni Effektgarn in colourway EQ. I used this pattern as a general guide, though I had to knit a lot more rows as this yarn is finer than the ones in the pattern.



This colourway works up into a rainbow repeat of colours - yellow / orange / red / purple / blue / green, and then back to yellow. I've finished all the knitting and am working a slip-stitch crochet edge (yes, I'm putting my crochet knowledge to use!). It's a nice bright, cheerful project - just what I need at the moment. I'll show it again when it's all done.

I've been continuing my battle with this cold, it's taken hold and doesn't seem to want to leave. My throat is terrible, and I can scarcely speak in the mornings.

Worse off, however is Ian. He's been spending his first week of spring break recuperating. He went in for surgery yesterday to remove two extra teeth. When he had his braces put on earlier this year, the orthodontist noticed a shadowy looking ghost of a tooth on the x-ray and after a CT scan it was found that there were two, which is a bit unusual (the Orthodontist calls him "the chosen one"). We made a trip to the dental surgeon yesterday (Dr. Blight - hee, hee), and now they're all gone.

Worse off still, is Elly. She went out Saturday night to celebrate her 22ND birthday, got a little tipsy and fell down a flight of stairs, cracking her kneecap. Now she's in a brace and on crutches. She's still planning to visit Liverpool this week-end and Paris the next. I suppose she should be happy she's not here and trying to scale snowbanks and ice ruts.

Here's one for you Elly (be patient, this one takes a while to load):