Friday already ...

... not complaining , mind you . I 'm always happy to see the weekend . This has been a busy week . I had a couple of doctor's appointments , hairdresser appointment ( that always takes most of the morning) , had lunch out and babysat Jessey one afternoon . We've had beautiful weather , a little on the cool side , but fine for enjoying the outdoors.

I've just realized that this month marks the second anniversary of my blogging experiment . This has been such an enriching experience . I've "met" other knitters , albeit only virtually , learned so much more about the craft , been introduced to a myriad of fibers and yarns , and discovered online knit shops where I can indulge my obsession from time to time , joined Ravelry which is such a huge resource. I thank everyone who's stopped by and commented . I feel like you've become friends and always appreciate your feedback . That's what keeps me continuing on with this experiment .

Well that being said , you might be wondering what's up with the knitting . I'm still at it with sweater #2 , hoping to have it completed by early next week . Slap me , but I've cast on for a pair of socks . I HAD to to , because I'm in the SAM knitalong and I really don't want to fall behind . That's my story and I'm sticking to it .

Hope you have a great weekend . Wish me luck , I'm going dress shopping again ....

Coming up for air

Lately knitting has taken over my life . I've been knitting away like crazy and all I have to show for it is this ...

Yup , just this sweater . It's still without buttons because Chantal wants to choose them . As for the matching pants , they are now history . I'd got down to the division for the legs when we had Jessey try them on . Mom wasn't happy with them and decided to forget about having matching knit pants . She's looking to purchase something more to her taste. Suits me because having to knit two of these sets in such a short time was wreaking havoc with my love of knitting . Lesson learned . Currently working on sweater #2 . I made some modifications to the pattern as written so #2 should be off the needles much sooner .

I took a little break last weekend to go shopping . I haven't done that in ages . I'm starting the search for an outfit for Max and Stef's wedding . So many of the dresses for these occasions have all kinds of glitz and glitter , so not my style ! And the prices give me sticker shock . Oh well still have a few months before the big day . Men have it so easy , rent a tux and you're done .

The kids were over for brunch on Saturday , because of other obligations for Easter Sunday . I made them each an Easter basket and off course had to get something extra for Jessey . Here he is enjoying his gift from Omi and Grandpa . He 's 6 months old now and teething , so everything goes in his mouth . We bought an exersaucer thingy which we'll keep here so that he'll have it when he's over . He jumps like crazy when he's in it ; makes me laugh .

Anyway back to the sweatshop and sweater #2 .

The best laid plans

I've had my butt kicked with the baby jacket . I'm seriously behind with this project . At this point I'd hoped to be working on the matching pants ! Witness the progress as of this morning ...

The instructions for this pattern leave something to be desired . The real problems began with the attempt to attach the sleeves on the circular needles . There are 247 stitches on the needle at that point and the underarm gap was only three stitches wide , meaning that working the first few rows was a nightmare of kinked cable , dropped stitches , frogging back when the pattern didn't match up . You name it went wrong . I think I'm on the right track now , but keeping fingers crossed that everything lines up in the proper place. On the plus side having to do this for a second smaller sized jacket I should have all the kinks worked out , so progress should be quicker .

We had the most gorgeous weather here this past weekend . I dug out a lawn chair and sat outside for a bit on Saturday . Unbelievable for the end of March ! We turned off the lights for Earth Hour and read by candlelight . Apparently here in Quebec energy consumption only went down by 5 % during that time, which is not as good as some other provinces . Maybe next year we'll do better .

Off to have lunch with Shirley and then bring Bingo to the groomer . I'll have a brand new pup when I get him back .

A new WIP

Late last week Chantal gave us the date for Jessey's christening . It will be on Mother's day May 10th , in the afternoon. She asked me if I could knit an outfit for him , hoping that I had enough time to also knit one for her BF Monika's baby who's also being christened that day . No pressure there , six weeks to knit two outfits ! I wouldn't normally consider knitting the second outfit , but Monika will be Jessey's godmother .




Here's what we decided upon , the jacket , pants and a hat , knit in a fine white cotton . This is how much I got done after about 10 hours or so of knitting this weekend . I'm just about at the yoke and will cast on for the first sleeve today . It's pretty much all knit on 2,oo /2,5 mm circulars . At least there won't be a lot of sewing /finishing when the knitting is completed .





The plan is to have the jacket done this week with the pants at least cast on . In between I'll also be working on the green baby sweater , just to get a break from white cotton . Keeping fingers crossed that all goes as planned with this special knit project ...

Spring & other things

It really feels like Spring is not far off . We've had glorious weather and the snow is melting away . Yay !

Last week wasn't too productive knitting wise . I've started on the sweater for Shirley's expected grandson . Yes , they're having a boy . Shirley got the news on Saturday evening . Her son lives in BC and they had an ultrasound done in Edmonton where Robyn's family are . Shirley was able to see the ultrasound being performed via the Internet . How amazing is that !

Other than that there's not much exciting going on here . I've started on our income taxes , a most depressing task , since you see in black and white how much money the taxman taketh . We've been lucky because in the last few years we've not owed more and got a refund . The reason being that more comes off Mike's payslip for Quebec taxes . It's always hard to scrape the money together when you owe them so we decided awhile ago to pay more right at source . It leaves less take home pay but at least we're done with it at tax time .

Mike and I went out to dinner on Saturday night , sort of unexpectedly . We'd intended to go see " The International " but I messed up on the theatre showing so we made lemonade out of lemons and went out Cafe Maurizio . This is a tiny Italian restaurant not far from the cineplex that we discovered quite by accident last year . The food is delicious , not too pricey and the desserts are HEAVENLY . I'll try to get the movie right next time , wink wink ....

Tickled Pink toddler socks ...

... fresh off the needles . I can't believe there's till yarn left ! Maybe there 's enough for some wee baby socks .

We had such nice weather this weekend that the knitting was put aside to enjoy the fresh air . It really felt like spring might be just around the corner .Today it's back to winter, with cooler temps and snow , so back to knitting . I'm anxious to gift these mother /daughter socks while it's still cool enough to wear them .

Aside from enjoying the weather we spent part of Saturday costing out the downstairs bathroom renovation planned for this spring/summer . Our bathroom downstairs is badly in need of an overhaul . The federal government renovation tax credit (part of their economic stimulus package ) was an added incentive to get going on this project . I guess I have to thank Stephen Harper for at least one thing , much as I can't stand the man or his party . Max will be helping Mike with a good part of the work . The plan is to have it all done before Max's wedding so we can accommodate out of town guests . Can't wait to get going !

Casey was over early Saturday morning with Jessey . He wanted to give Chantal a chance to sleep in . Bonus visit with the little man ! Yesterday they were all here for Sunday brunch . It's nice to have them all together , it makes my week !

A new month

Well it's a new month and there are some knits off the needles and something new on them too . I'll call these the strawberry waffle socks (the pattern is a waffle rib) . These are intended for Shirley's daughter and the smaller ones will be for her granddaughter , Emma . The yarn is Lorna's Laces "Tickled Pink " .

There was quite a bit of yarn left from Dana's socks , so I decided to knit a toddler sized pair for Emma . Just in case I ran out of the Lorna's Laces , I searched the stash and found a single ball of hot pink sock yarn . Perfect solution , cuff , heels and toes in the Lorna's Laces and the rest of the sock in hot pink . Pink is not my colour, so it's a mystery to me how I had some in the stash and only one ball to boot. Another pair down and knitting continues ....