Feeling knitty

You would think that since I haven't written in an entire week that I'd have loads to say. But sadly that is far from the truth. But I have been feeling quite knitty in these last few days. I've even been listening to a great new knitting podcast called Cast-On with Brenda Dayne. It's a really good one and I just love her voice. But anyway, I love listening to podcasts while I work down in my sewing room.

This week I was working on Ayla's bolero or shrug if you prefer. It's from the Debbie Bliss book I bought on a whim at Chapters the other day. I've actually taken out quite a few knitting books by her from my local library. I have yet to start on anything but I have a lot of bookmarks. I'm actually thinking of just sticking to the more spring/summer type knits right now as doing a load of winter knits is not going to get me anywhere. Well, I guess I'd be a lot more prepared for winter but it won't be fun showing that off right now.

So back to Ayla's bolero/shrug. It took me a week to knit this up. And not because I'm a slow knitter. Which I am but because it wasn't my only project. I've actually been in the sewing room making some summer dresses for the little princess. So I've been trying to divide my time. It's done up in a worsted weight silky Bernat yarn called Sultana Raisin. I don't really like that fuzzy halo it gives to the finished garment. I could do without it. I bet it will be a mess once it's washed.

About this pattern. I liked it but I must say my work is not without errors. And there are many, thankfully they're not horribly noticeable. If I didn't already have like 100 things saved on Ravelry plus projects from the books I've taken out from the library to cast on then I'd do this again. But sadly I think this will be my one and only shot at it for a long while. Speaking of Ravelry, did I ever mention how much I love that site? I could really spend all day there getting nothing done. I think the next thing I make will be for myself. Ayla seems to be getting the better end of the deal around here.

A knitting first (for me that is)

I always start by saying it will be a short/quick post and then I end up writing a novel. But this time I mean it. I'm so tired but I just had to show you my latest finished project. Last time I mentioned that I was going to try making my first ever knitted garment. The Soulful Hues cap sleeved shirt for Ayla. I ran out to Wal-Mart to get some yarn and the right needles. I hate Wal-Mart but they're good for when you're in a pinch. Their yarn sucks but I didn't trust myself to make this top without messing up horribly so I wanted to try it on crap (ie. acrylic) yarn before turning to something else. In any case I found one that I thought would knit up quite nicely because I was really liking the color tones. I only changed the pattern slightly because I was sure it would be too big by casting on less stiches and shortening some rows. I also made the JCasa non-roll cap sleeve (picture above) and I added a 2x2 ribbing at the bottom. I can't help myself I always have to change patterns even when I don't know what the heck I'm doing.

Unfortunately, after it was all said and done it looks like an army print! Ugh, definitely not what I was expecting at all. I'll have to go check out my local yarn shop that is sadly closing down because the owner passed away and her family is selling it. It's the only yarn shop in all of Red Deer so I'm quite saddened by it. I'll be stuck with Wal-Mart and Michael's but thankfully there's always the internet. I just hate waiting on shipping. I actually found a great online vegan yarn store called Knit for Brains. That's where I bought my bamboo yarn from a few months back. I still haven't knit anything with that because I don't want to ruin it. It's so lovely just to hold. I'll have to buy more soon. I noticed that they've got a great selection on hemp, banana, corn, soy and cotton fibered yarns in addition to the bamboo so check it out if you're interested in that sorta thing.

Oh, and there's one thing I've discovered about acrylic yarn that I really don't like besides the feel of it. It leaves the wearer feeling quite hot! After taking those few quick snaps of Ayla when I went to take it off she was all hot and sweaty from just running around for a minute in the top. I know I shouldn't diss acrylic yarn because it really is good in a pinch which I'm sure I'll find myself in quite often.

Last thing in this quick novel I'm writing. I went to Chapter's today... well we really went to Starbucks for Alex to get a coffee but I got called out to the knitting section of the store, I swear. So while I was shopping, er browsing, I saw this book, Essential Kids by Debbie Bliss. I've never heard of her but it's 20 patterns for children ages 2 to 5. Right up my alley! I can't wait to get started. Did I mention that I really love knitting in the round, very addictive. I see some hats in my future. Now why couldn't I have discovered this love when it was still technically winter?

Busy as a bee

You might be wondering when I have time to do all the things I seem to be doing lately. And if I haven't said it before I'll say it now 'when she sleeps!'. Honestly, I can't get anything accomplished when Ayla's awake so everything is either done sometime in the afternoon before Alex leaves for work or late at night while she sleeps. Some days I'm really tired so I'll just go to bed early with her and wake up really late. Other times I'm a night owl that just can't let things rest. This was taken the day before yesterday. She woke up all bright eyed and bushy tailed in the middle of the night. Hence Alex's lack of clothing, but then again he's always that way.
The other night I got it into my head to make an oven mitt because the one we currently have is on it's last legs and I always seem to be burning myself when I use it. So I just looked online for a pattern and whipped this baby up. I love it but it's really snug. I guess I should have used less of a seam allowance than what the pattern recommended. But it still fits and that's all that matters. The next one I make I'll put more batting in it because I can still feel the heat a bit when I use it.

My coworker and I discovered our mutual love for knitting. So this past Saturday she picked me up and we went yarn shopping all over town. We also made a stop at Fabricland where I picked up quite a nice stash of fabrics. I just went to pick up bias tape for my oven mitt but you know fabric is like a drug for me and I couldn't just buy that. It was a lot of fun and we'll definitely be doing it again. But as our real intention was yarn I picked up a few skeins of various things to make dish cloths and scarves for myself and also one for Ayla. I love the colors I chose and I've decided to make a hat and mittens to match but I'll have to go pick up some more yarn for all that. I'm not even sure if it will last for the whole scarf. One thing I noticed about this scarf though, is that the pink yarn was slightly thinner than the red even though it's the same brand and weight. Not sure what happened. So it looks like it's narrowing when it hits the pink, blah! I'll have to be more careful next time.

On Friday, Hillary over at Wee Wonderfuls was asking if anyone wanted to test out her new pattern for gnomes. I think I was the first person to actually read her update and immediately sent her an email to sign myself up for it. I love her work and was so excited to get started on helping her out. Unfortunately, my weekend wasn't very free for crafting or sewing so I only got to it tonight. I'm so glad that I finally did because it turned out wonderfully and I love him! There's also a Mrs. Gnome and I'll be making her shortly. Alex said these would be great gifts for his mom and step dad to add to their collection of houses and ornaments under the Christmas tree and since I was on the fence as to what to get them for Christmas I think I'll be making them one each in the form of Santa and Mrs. Claus of course.

Just thought I'd give a little before and after of my sewing room since I've been in it these past few weeks. The first picture is just after I had bought and set up the shelves to store my fabric. And the second is what it looks like right now. A mess. But I love hanging out in there. Actually, I'll probably be painting one focal wall and decorating it. I picked up some canvas frames and would like to paint something to hang on the walls of course I'll probably only get to that after Christmas.

In my last post I talked about making some manicotti for dinner. Well yesterday I put my hand to it and it turned out wonderfully! I'm not sure if the picture does it justice but it was delicious. I'm so happy I bought Veganomicon! I can't say enough good stuff about it. All the sauces are from that book. I used the Marinara Sauce, Pine Nut Cream, Almesan and Tofu Ricotta recipes to pull this off. Many steps but totally worth it in the end. Next time I'll try the recipes from my Italian cookbook and see how that compares.

I also made the Orange Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies. I hate to sound like a broken record here but these are amazing. You just taste a hint of orange and there's also almond extract in it but you just taste a hint of it as well. I'm sure I'll be making these again one day.

TGIF

Well thank goodness it is Friday again but unfortunately I still do not find myself with anything interesting to report. So what do I do? Ignore blogger and will something interesting or thought provoking to come into my life. Of which nothing does of course. I'll just update with some of the great food I've been indulging in all week for all you food porn fanatics out there (you know who you are!). And do I even need to mention that they're all from Vegan with a Vengeance? I think we all know I have what some might call an unhealthy obsession with it at the moment.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Maple Walnut Cookies (You might be inclined to ask why I have two admittedly large batches of cookies on here in one week. And the honest answer is that I ate off single handedly the first batch of cookies in about 3 days. Yes I'm very ashamed... So ashamed in fact that the second batch has almost gone the way of the first...)
Ethiopian Seitan and Peppers
Green Thai Curry (admittedly not very green)
Brooklyn Pad Thai (Last night's dinner)
Pictures of delicious cupcakes I would like to make from my wonderful cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. It finally arrived in the mail! Unfortunately Chapters forgot to put my other book in the same box so that will be arriving next week. I can't wait!

And last but not least, if you take a look in the picture above you'll see a ball of yarn and part of my current project. I'm knitting a scarf. It's taking awhile as I'm a very slow knitter but it's coming along great. I can't wait to finish it. I got it from this pattern. Easy enough for a beginner, I didn't want to waste good money on yarn in case I didn't finish it or it turned out like crap not unlike my many other knitting projects so this yarn is cheap stuff from Wal-Mart. I'll need two skeins though so I wonder if I'm really saving... Sorry for the blurry pictures, you know how lazy I can really get.