Jo Knits!

new year's eve.

(Create your own fireworks on this site!)

A quick entry to wish you all a great new year's eve. We won't be doing much, just eat some good food, wake up the kids so they can see the ball drop and light up the 2004 sign. It's a tradition, even if we are watching something else at 5 to midnight I HAVE to start watching the show from Time Square. We kiss and hug everyone (something that will feel very odd this particular year), then snack and go to bed! Oh wild people, we are SO wild!

Be safe, have fun and share your knitting progress in the new year. ;)

hugs,

pre-new year's eve

Yesterday, went shopping in the crafting isle of Walmart's. Those little Christmas kits are always tempting but I resist when having to pay full price for them, once the prices drop, then I splurge. ;) They had some acrylic yarn on sale but resisted that, though even dh thought the blue colorway was nice. Maybe a kid's sweater would end up being made if I did get one of those huge balls. I gave my mom a kit to make little crystals, hopefully they'll be easy that she enjoys making them. LOL!

On my way home found the latest Knit It! magazine, I didn't even looked through it before purchasing the issue. I just know it'll be a nice read, even if it's just for the articles. Starting reading and right on page 10, I liked all the 3 things mentioned. One was about a kit sold at Knitting To Go (their packaging is simply the cutest and made me want to know more about them). Second thing was a mention about the Weekend Knitting book (which I have thanks to a great friend! and which includes great patterns and a few extras), third is a little card featured on the page, it was a little yarn basket on it and is just the cutest ever. Anyway I have the Canadian version of Knit It, not sure what it means so your page 10, might be different from mine! ;) I read about the Knit Cafe in West Hollywood, oh my goodness, I can only dream about going to sip tea and knit in a place like that. It must be heaven on earth for the local knitters. Maybe I should start something similar in Montreal and then invite Veronik Avery in for workshops! teehee! ;) Wait she makes good coffee, maybe we could be partners and create the Jo and V coffee 'knittery', ok that needs work. ;) So back to the mag, there's at least 2 patterns, I'd love to knit for myself and I haven't even gotten to half of the issue. Knit It is one of those magazines that you either like or don't, I do and am excited that I got to buy it. :)

Working on my topsecret sweater shhhh! ;) Finished the 1st ball of the 4 it requires, am about halfway from needing to start the sleeves, didn't knit yesterday but will get back to that shortly. Taking the subway will give me some time to knit. Might buy the Stitch n' Bitch book today if it is available at the book store.

So what's everyone doing for New Year's Eve?

hugs,

circus fun!

Last night was a VERY special evening, for a few days the kids were counting down each night before that particular evening. What was so special about it? We were going to the circus, the Super Circus in fact. Hey, if they call it Super it must be really good, right? I don't want to hear about animal exploitation or anything about that. We went because we received 4 tickets that were worth around 160$ together and this was an outing that we could never afford to go at. We were seated in the red section, maybe 15 rows from the very first row at ground level and in the middle of the scene. Nobody had better seats I tell ya. ;) My mom, the kids and I, spent a terrific evening, I took my mom along instead of dh beause she was so excited for the kids to see the circus. When I got the call we'd get tickets from a friend, I thought we'd have 2, he then added that nope, we'd get FOUR tickets. By that time my mom was crying and said how blessed we were for having good friends think of us to share said tickets. If you read back in my entries you'll see we've been having a tough few weeks and Christmas didn't seem like it would be happy for us. Things change in a mysterious way. Last night, we forgot about everything for the next 2 hours and lived magic. We saw motocycles on wires, trapeze acts, clowns, horses, dogs, elephants, tigers and Cesar the big lion, also Caillou, who was the main attraction for many kids. ;) Two hours was a loooong show but both kids did very well, thankfully they had a nap in the afternoon, the show started at 7pm and by the time we got home it was past 10pm. Luckily the kids were in hurry to go to sleep. ;) I was looking at the seats we had and truely felt blessed, I also noticed the seats that were waaaaaay up in the back and I know that the kids there lived a magical evening too.There's one thing I'll always remember from that show though, when there was two motorcycles in a metal cage ball, Lucas said WOW! Both my mom and I looked at each other and went UH OH! ROFL! ;)

I forgot to share a little story that happened on Christmas day. A car parked in front of our house so being curious we check who is in it. Well..... uh.... it's a guy with a big red coat. A lady gets out of the car and helps the man to put on his beard and hat. Well by then we're telling the kids to come see in the window. Santa's in front of the house!!! We open our door and the kids scream Merry Christmas SANTAAAAAAAAA!!! The guy looks up and ho ho ho! The lady cracked up, she thought it was hillarious, the guy was totally unprepared to see the kids but played along. Our kids thought this was just the greatest to see Santa parked in front of our house. We told them he probably was going to brunch with some very special kids. I think that Santa will be telling that story of kids waving at him for a while. It was just the cutest thing that could have happened on that special day. :)

Oh oh oh, someone's been working on her new project and hasn't blogged about it yet. Guess I just might finish the year with a BANG! after all. I am knitting my very first sweater ever. :) I am terrified by sweaters so hopefully this will help me change my mind about them. ;) The yarn was a gift from my mom, I've been talking about a certain pattern for a while and on boxing day I went to choose the color I wanted. It's really nice since the sweater knits up quickly on a 3 stitch per inch gauge. The color I bought is called Storm Hues, not sure it's a good thing! LOL! ;) The pattern was created by Kate and was featured in the very first issue of Knitty. The pattern is named TopSecret sweater, which is why I haven't posted about it sooner, shhhhhh it's the 'top secret sweater'! LOL! ;)

So maybe from now on I'll work on little charity projects and treat myself to nice sweaters or similar projects. After all *I* deserve it. Why do I keep on thinking yarn is too expensive, if I knit for myself a project I like then it's not too expensive, right? ;)

Hugs, hoping you are all having safe and truely memorable holiday. :)

boxing day

Christmas was a blast in the house. Around supper time on Christmas eve daddy even made it home, the kids were ecstatic, it had been so long since they had seen him. He arrived with supper in his hands, we ate chinese food and while checking my blog entries from last Christmas I noticed we had chinese on the 25th. LOL! Guess we'll have to keep this as a new tradition, it was such a not planned thing too. Anyway, we had a great time, the kids loved all their gifts, not many but the ones they got, they loved. Both of them skated most of the day in the house and even played with other toys, ate lunch and almost went to sleep with their skates on. LOL! Do you think they liked that gift? ;)

Knitting wise I am bored, been working on a baby ribbed hat and it's just so not inspiring me. I'm like in a knitting slump, I want to knit so much but just don't know what. Started to realize that knitting for myself isn't what makes me want to knit. Each time I finish a project for me, I take forever to weave in the ends, felt it or eventually make use of it. What's wrong with this? Most people are so happy to complete a project and show it off. Me, I just take it off the needles and store it somewhere. Still haven't worn the Coronet hat yet, well it still needs to be blocked but I don't feel like blocking it. LOL! I did LOVE to knit with Lamb's Pride though, so that was nice the find that out. I'm starting to know which yarns I like and which I don't it takes time and money to figure that out and of course I always want to know NOW and there's not many yarn choices available to me locally. SIGH! I really miss Romni Wools in Toronto, they are having a great big yarn sale on the 27th, wished I was in town to be brave the crowds. ;)

Maybe I should order that felted helmet hat pattern from Fiber Trends for Lucas, then again the boy has like 3 hats always, does he really need more? ;) Zoe would happily steal the Coronet hat from me but I'm hoping to find pink wool to knit one for her in a smaller size. At least I'm lucky the kids love knitted items, each time I knit they ask if it's for them. I should make them a sweater, I bet they would love it! :) I hate the fact that I can't just go to a friendly yarn store and browse through it all, find the exact yarn I'm looking for and start a new project. They never do have the yarns I want, the ones I see on everyone else's blogs, the ones I see recommended for so many patterns. Ugh! Ok, maybe I'm just down after all. LOL!

Enough ramblings for today, might go out and just watch the people go crazy over sales today. LOL! Not needed anything will make it so less stressful too. ;) Could always use some grommets for the yet-to-be-felted booga bag. Sheesh! Why do I knit if I never complete projects, I don't get it. Maybe it's tine to learn that knitting machine, just a change of 'hobby' might be good for a while. I could get back to sewing also, never make use of my serger after buying it and learning to knit a month later. Sewing a needle holder would be practical since I never seem to find all my dpn's in the same place. ;)

hugs,

Christmas yippee!

Kids opening their special gift from Santa, who woke them up from their deep sleep.

Same said kids thinking "what do you mean, we now have to go back to sleep?" HA! They'll be up for a while but think that waking up is so much fun. LOL!

Party goes on.

christmas eve

Zoe and I have been invited to go to the movies, we went to see Blizzard. and it was a perfect little movie for Zoe. They talk about figure skating in it, not just that but you can expect hearing little kids wanting to start skating after seeing it! ;) Zoe's godmother was treating us and in return I was responsible for the treats we be ate. LOL!

The movie was shot in Toronto and beautiful old Quebec city, which is "almost" local to us being 3 hours away. It was so nice to see the Chateau de Frontenac on the big screen and to hear a few jokes about Quebec. Well, not sure if the original english version has those same jokes but the movie was dubbed in province so they included a few 'inside jokes' that a french from France movie wouldn't include.

Anyway last day of shopping day to get everything done, surprisingly enough almost no crowds in the stores I went too. The supermarket was the most packed and I went there at the very end of the day, still I only had to wait for a person in front of me. No loooong lines like I thought. Went to pick up my "famous" cinnamon rolls for Christmas and New Year's day aka a package from Pillsbury. LOL! ;) Today I went to my favorite 2nd hand store: Value Village and found the most amazingly perfect gifts for the kids. The won't even care if they aren't new as they are new to them. On top of that, *I* found a pair of jeans and a knitted red hooded sweater, soooooooo nice. :)

Started a new charity hat, minty green and it'll be a ribbed hat. This morning I felt more down than I felt in a very long time , tonight is the total opposite. So many things are happening at the same time right now, hopefully for the best, I don't know but My hopes are back up instead of deep down like this morning. I won't tell more just to not jinx it. The hat is coming along well though, might finish it before Christmas gets here! ;)

Wishing you all a very safe and loving Christmas day. By the way here's a neat website for kids, follow Santa around the world: Norad tracks Santa!

Coronet success

The kids had a Christmas party at the daycare today, it was a lot of fun. There was a clown/magician the kept them singing and dancing, parents got into it too. LOL! Kids get to go to daycare before Christmas so FINALLY I'll have time to finish our holiday preparations. Need to buy food because on wednesday stores are closed. Sheesh! ;) Things are looking happier here, haven't bought a tree after all but the kids think that Santa is the greatest person these days. Lucky them, they got to see him twice in a few days, they ran to say goodbye when he left the party today.

A part from the party, I did some knitting and completed the Coronet hat (sorry for the bad hat pic but I thought the kid was cute!). ;) I am pleased with it and shall try to block it, I have never blocked anything yet. LOL! Zoe asked if I was giving her the hat, SILLY child!!! The kids keep on stealing hats I have been knitting, you can notice the red hat Lucas is wearing in the picture below, it was charity hat #3. I am very tempted into knitting the small size Coronet for Zoe, I think she'd love it, also need to find some pink wool for her, she requested the color. lol!

Meet the Super Torpedo, our bright orange transportation sleigh. In Montreal with it's constant badly cleaned sidewalks, a sleigh/sled/tobbogan is the best way to get someone with kids. We brought our sleigh to a restaurant, shopping stores, I don't care if I look silly with it, the kids are a lot less tired when sliding along the snow instead of s-l-o-wl-y walking through it. Don't even think of taking a stroller out, you spend more time lifting the stroller over snowbanks than pushing it.

Wishing you all safe holidays. :)

Coronet

Started a Coronet hat from the latest issue of Knitty. It's my 1st time knitting with Lamb's Pride and it is a PLEASURE, this yarn is so soft, it's really nice to work with it. Once again, bummer we don't actually have this particular yarn in Montreal yarn stores but hey that's not new. If I have enough yarn I might try to knit mittens with either a cable going down in the front or to stay in the same idea as Coronet, a cable cuffed mitten. :)

I've been looking through the older issues of Knitty and it's nice to see that there are many projects I would like to do. How many have done the fuzzy feet and Suki bag? Isn't it amazing that these patterns were free also. That their designers got to see many bloggers knit up the design they created, also both projects were my 1st experiences in felting. I love it, haven't felted much since but I just like the fact that felting hides all the little quirks that might happen while you knit. LOL! I'm sure other patterns from Knitty were popular but those are the two that I made and remember how excited we were knitting them :)

Anyway, it's snowing out and the kids are eager to go play with their shovels.
hugs,

p/s: I also finished another hat but this one's a surprise so can't show it off just yet.

happier days

Last night was Zoe's Christmas party and the rink, it was a lot of fun. The kids sang songs and played games instead of their usual lessons on the ice, they called for Santa and Lucas was also (screaming at the top of his lungs!!!), he sure is living the Christmas of his dreams this year. Then.... Santa appeared!!!! Lucas couldn't take his eyes off of him, Santa, Santa, Santa (well père noël! for him) The hour-long party was the greatest part of my day, it was so nice to see both kids enjoying themselves so much. Even the trainers were in a happy mood it truely was a party atmosphere. Each kid got to sit on Santa's knees and received a gift, say what? We didn't think they would give gift to the kids. WOW! We were so excited for Zoe to get a present, WAIT! she got TWO!!! Her teacher also gave her a gift, her teacher is such a good person. Zoe came off the ice to see what was hiding under the giftwrap. She was all so excited, no worries in the world, it was like magic to her eyes. I almost got teary eyed seeing her beaming like that. From Santa she received an art supply set and from her teacher she received two BIG holiday themed coloring books and a big box of crayons. Each skater got a small coloring book, juice and a small box of Smarties to keep the kids hyper. LOL! ;) Lucas also received some juice and Smarties, which I thought was cute since he comes to see Zoe skate each week, he is his #1 fan. :)

Another mom sitting besides us received coloring books for her 3 kids that don't take skating lessons and suggested we ask if Lucas could get one. So we had Zoe go ask! What are kids for? teehee! So her teacher gets a book, looks through it and puts it back, she talks to one of the skating club directors, then hops on the ice and goes to talk to another director. Uh oh! I sure feel like a dork having asked for a coloring book, guess I am just a greedy person... Zoe's teacher comes back and has us bring Lucas down to her. WHY?

She takes Lucas in her arms, goes back on the ice, we can see she's talking to him and he is replying to her, she's so sweet I tell ya. Well, Lucas got to sit on Santa's knees!!! He was too happy for words, this is like living a dream for him. He talked to Santa and got to touch his beard (he keeps telling us it was soft!), I was SO happy and proud for Lucas. Here we are at his sister's skating lesson and he is almost like part of the skating club and they take extra time to make this little boy happy. Oh wait, they EVEN gave him a gift!!! He came back walking on the ice, with a little help back to us. You should have seen the big huge grin on his face!!! All he wanted to do now was open that big box from Santa, Santa is soooooooooo nice he says. Lucas received a 20 piece farm set but seeing him open the wrapping paper was almost more fun than seeing what was inside. All the excitement in his eyes was amazing! Gosh how I love my kids and truely am lucky to have them, I had so many good emotions tonight it felt good, like all things could be brighter after all.

Anyway, we rented the kids a Christmas movie as an extra special, you don't meet a skating Santa everyday! ;) Our local movie rental place has a special contest, today they will pick 3 winners to give them dvd players, maybe it'll be my lucky day. ;) I really love our skating club, they really make sure kids have fun in the lessons, Zoe's trainer is truely what makes her wants to come back and learn more about skating each and every lesson. Funny thing also, Zoe is really good at skating too, it's just one of those things that you never knew. This fall she asked for ballet classes and to play hockey, I suggested having her 'dance' on skates, she thought that was neat and that's how this whole skating story started for us. Oh and soon enough she'll be at the Olympics, yeeeeeeeeeessssssssss she will! LOL! ;)

Wishing you all a great last weekend before Christmas.

religion

Felt one, knit too! Saw this book yesterday and it is really an interesting book. Many patterns were tempting to make also. LOL! You just have to see the felted over mitt they have, it's just the cutest. I might get the book and the knitting for children from melanie falick, to complete my deal with crafter's choice. Luckily I still have six months before needing to buy 2 books. I can wait and save for a while before ordering. ;)

A last happy note, today is Zoe's christmas party at the skating lessons, apparently Santa can skate! That should be fun for the kids, we're giving her teacher a certificate to go the the movies and it comes with snacks for her to enjoy. Hope she likes it, didn't make her a felted bag after all.

Wish I had the energy to write more but right now I feel dead inside. :( By the way, I've been reading everyone's blog on my blogroll but just can't find the motivation to comment on them. Just don't think I am not reading 'cause I am!!!

---I might delete this part later on, so read it quickly- ;)

I have never been one to be deep in religion though when life turns into getting uglier by the day, I like to think higher powers will try to help. Right now it is really hard to see that our lives will be brighter. So anyway, a friend suggested I read the daily bread and yesterday's entry was *(God) comforts us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble. —2 Corinthians 1:4* You have no idea how much it touched home to me.

2 days ago i wanted to share the news that we might get married in the new year. today i think we are on the verge of breaking up, possibly before the happiest day of the year (Christmas). Either that or I will need to be admitted for a big depression. I have so much bottled up inside that I feel like I am a volcano, I just hope no one is around me when I erupt because it could get very hurtful to the ones I love the most. I hurt so much inside it's almost unbereable. I am lost, I don't know what to do anymore concerning the men whom I loved for the past 6 years. So I started looking into religion because right now, I need something to make me believe that we.... wait, *I* can be happy about life again. Don't worry, I won't turn this blog into a religious one. ;)
---

If you feel like it, I wouldn't mind if a few would have good thoughts for our family. This is a really hard time for us and right now, I do not see the sun at the end of this ordeal.

more for charity

Finally the 3rd hat is done, I've been working on it only at Zoe's skating lessons (which she has tonight!) and it wasn't moving very quickly. Went to the mommy & coffee group this morning, hadn't been in around 2 months. I seem to have picked up some speed while knitting continental. I am so proud, it's really going well. I just need to work more on purling, which is why you can see some purling 'design' on this hat. I think I'll do more on the next hat which peach very shinny acrylic hat. LOL! I might make a few ribbing hats also, those can fit a greater head size.

Since I am truely enjoying knitting for others more than myself, these hats are perfect. I think I will keep on making charity knitting a main focus on my next knitting projects. I wouldn't knit socks for charities as I find those too long to make but hats are quick easy and fun to make. If anyone feels like unloading some yarn (whatever kind, I can find someone who would appreciate it, either local hospitals for acrylics or afghans for afghans for wools), I would gladly knit items for charity but don't have that much yarn to give away.

Tomorrow I'm going shopping with Veronik (Avery but you knew that right!) It's always fun to go shopping with her, we talk a whole lot about knitting (I slip in my latest knitting questions in the conversation each time). LOL! We check out knitted items and I learn how things are made, why some items look ugly or why they never look good on people other than the plastic mannequin wearing it. Too much of you suprise (I'm so sure), I will be looking at hats. ;) Though I am in love with the kits offered at the Bea Ellis Knitwear website and the fact that it would be a great opportunity to learn fair isle. If I see something that I like tomorrow, I might jump on it or not. If I were to order a hat kit from Bea Ellis, which one do you prefer? This year I really have a 'thing' for snowflakes, I would either go with blue and white or red and white colors.

Simple pleasures are what make us happy, yesterday a smiley cookie was what make the day. My mom stopped by a local bakery shop and brought these home, the kids ate lunch as fast as they cook and got to bite into these silly cookies. None left for today but I think that simply means we should start baking cookies! ;)

hugs,

I hate hats.

The hat that was never meant to be I took a pic with needles still in, that's the funny part on the top. 3 hats have I started knitting using Noro Kureyon, not one ended being a keeper. So I still am wearing an ugly red fleece winter hat to keep me warm, of course I hate that hat also but at least it fits me! Maybe I should simply knit booga bags until I used up my whole Kureyon yarn because that yarn is hating me right now. Yeah sure, swatching really IS important and checking your gauge is a smart idea. Who ever said I was smart though. ACK! Off to knit baby hats, at least those I seem to be able to actually knit correctly. SHEESH!

Went to Walmart on sunday and wasn't I ever surprised to see a knitting machine in the crafting section. I forget it's name, it wasn't the ultimate knitting machine but was manufactured by Bond America. Maybe we'll hear more about machine knitting, since I have one but just haven't took the time to learn, it would be nice.

In fact, got the latest issue of Family Circle Easy Knitting (Winter 2003/04) and they have an article on machine knitting. LOL! If you don't like this magazine then this particular issue won't rock your world but I liked a few things in it, like the notions articular (funny since there's been talk about knitting notions on blogs lately). I really enjoyed the baby patterns in the page smart starts pages, sweet classic patterns that just want to be knit up as quickly as possible. :) There are 2 hat patterns I like also but I wouldn't do them with Kureyon. LOL!

Since I can't seem to knit anything I like recently, I went shopping to find myself a mathing set of hat, scarf mittens, I want them to be knitted of course but then feel foolish for paying the prices they ask when I should be capable of doing the same items on my own. Might go shopping today again anyways 'cause I just love to torture myself! LOL!

Happy news!!! My friend Theresa from Little Turtle Knits has had baby Gregory Christian saturday evening december 13. He was, 4lbs, 15 oz, 18 inches long, baby was born at 32 weeks and 4 days. Theresa says she is doing well, and the baby is a fighter. Sending my love to the whole family.

hugs,

Snowflakes all around!

It's been snowing constantly since yesterday and finally we have a white carpet covering the yellowing grass. It's starting to look a lot like the holidays will be white after all. :) First thing the kids said this morning is, can we go shovel, can we go for a sleigh ride!? ACK! Just one second please, mommy had insomnia half of the night and I didn't drink any coffee yet. Snow is magical for kids they just instantly love to see it.

Watched last night's Survival final, I have missed like half of the shows this season so wasn't really into it. I am SO happy Jon didn't win though! LOL! The dead grandma stunt just was too much, sure it was strategy but that went a tad far. It was cute when we did see his living and young (oh my goodness!) grandma in the audience. I thought it was very thoughtful that the show producers had called her when they had learned the news while taping. Can you just imagined how stunned they were. Anyway, I'm bummed they didn't tell us where the next season would be though, it'll be an all-star season which might be interesting. Seeing again some of those players we loved to hate, seeing if they can outwit, outplay and outlast everyone else a second time around.

The saddest part of it all? I STILL haven't finished my hat! LOL! I expected it would happen while watching the show but these teeny tiny needles are killing, it's taking SO long. No wonder my favorite sizes are 4,5-5mm/7-8US needles. THEN I can start to work on the mittens, hopefully they won't use the smaller needles or I'm not doing them. I hope I'll lilke the hat in the end! LOL! I keeps on happening to me, to not like a project by the time I finish it, what's up with that?

Better go start coffee, get the shovels out, take a half-hour to bundle up the kids, freeze our arses outside and them finally come back inside for hot chocolate! ;) Then, run to Value Village because it's the 50% off sale today and I am NOT missing that, need more than 2 pairs of jeans to actually fit me.

p/s: Wishing the Toronto party knitters a blast tonight! Wish I could come also, my mom even joked that I should just hop on the train and enjoy the evening in TO but I thinks that's a tad far out for even me. ;) I am so happy that Village Yarns is throwing a party to celebrate Knitty, what a great yarn store! Hope we'll hear all about it tomorrow. :)
hugs,

bad day

Bad day, the kids are so hyper and I am so tired from this cold.

Still going at it on my Furlana hat but it's knitting slowly on 3,25mm/3US needles, it is taking so long for anything to happen. Hopefully I will start the decrease of my hat tonight. That's being very optimistic I still need to do quite some stockinette first.

For those who are interested, Live Journal is now free for all to use, no need to get an invite code. I started a blog there but it has nothing to do with knitting, it's my escape blog. I write things there that I feel don't go with a knitting blog. So maybe for once I'll stick to writing more about my works in progress instead of anything else. ;)

I've got a cold, started last night, I am tired, miserable. Tomorrow I was suppose to go to the taping of a tv game show all afternoon. With dh away, I can't go, my mom babysat the kids all day on friday, so I won't ask her to do so again, anyway she was suppose to come with me while he would've spent some much needed time with the kids. Also maybe the constant blowing my nose would be slightly disruptive! ;) The kids daycare benefiting from this tv show, they are assured to make at least 1000$. We (the members of the daycare's board) have been asked to get people to scratch and donate our little apples on lottery-like cards. ICK! If I were rich, I'd scratch all the apples and get it over with but instead I have 3 cards to get donations from and no one to ask too. It's not like I'm going to knock on doors in this freezing cold and ask people to give me their money so close to the holidays. Anyway I would be too shy to even go up and ask them. The other members of the board are having them scratched by family members around the holidays. We do not have family visit us for christmas/new year's. Ugh! Sure I'm happy to help the daycare but this is just such an additional weight on my shoulders to have these cards all cleared and money collected for them. One things for sure, this is my last year on the board! LOL! Next year, I can 'graduate' to be a parent on my kid school board. ;)

Just to show that some days are better, here's me with my little 1st class continental breakfast on the train last month. Note the niiiice sweater (60% lambswool), that's the one I got from Old Navy (a store not found in Quebec).

atchoo!

hat for me!

I like knitting textures, wait everyone likes knitting textures that is the basis of knitting. What I mean, is I like to knit in ways that almost make you forget it's knitting. LOL! I just starting a linen stitch hat, it is really nice but long to knit as I change yarn each after each round. I don't know why but I find changing yarns slows me down so much. Anyway, this is the Furlana hat and mitts pattern from the Fall '03 issue of Interweave Knits. It's the second time that I like designs from the particular designer, Rebecca Harris. I talked a while back about the colorwork hat/mittens combo she also did in this same IK issue. It's my first time working the linen stitch and I really like it, it looks just like I was weaving the fabric. Since I would love to learn more about weaving, I think it's just so nice to knit and have a weaving result. ;) By the way, if you are interested in making this hat and mitts set, do know that their has been corrections made for the mittens patterns. Always a good idea to look that up before starting a pattern. ;)

So to start this said hat, I had to rip out the oops hat I did by trying to follow the Brioche hat from Weekend Knitting. If I had took the time to actually read the notes included with the pattern, you would see a brioche hat success. I frog and lean. ;) Just a note though, Noro Kureyon is a pain to undo, the wool just sticks together as soon as you knit it. Since I believe Kureyon is not meant to be spoiled I have ripped it no less. I am about 1 inch into my hat, hopefully I will have it done by the next snowfall. ;)

This is a picture of the oops I created in trying the brioche stitch. If anyone wants to know how I achieved this let me know. I will right dumb-proof directions as I am not a pattern writter and usually don't understand regular patterns. LOL!

Of course once again, I have set myself back on my hats for charity goal but again I still convince myself tha tI still have time. If we do go away before the end of the month, I will have nothing to do a part from knitting. Small acrylic left over balls travel so well in a suitcase, they take no space at all. ;) I'm thinking on Christmas day I should just give out my hats to people I meet on the street (well those with babies) but they might wonder, who's that crazy tourist giving hats away? LOL! I can just see myself, yes Mister the Officer, I*I* knitted the hat and thought it would be fun to give them away on Christmas day to people walking around. No, I am not from the area, no I do not give hats on the street in Montreal, noooooooooooooo I didn't come to the West coast to give away hats, we have other reasons.

Oh and this has been on my mind, do many people delete some comments on their blogs? I know that you can do whatever you please on your blog but this isn't the 1st time that I notice my own comments were deleted. Ok, so maybe my insights are lame. LOL! I am the basic, 'Wow! looks great, I want to knit that next' kind of commenter. I just like to leave a little phrase to let people know I came by and read their blog. I don't write mean things, I just don't have it in me to be mean. ;) If I could get away with it, I would just write "Have a nice day" to everyone but I think that would be lame. LOL! Anyway, I know maybe sometimes I click on preview instead of send but then there are times I see my name in the comments and later on it's gone. I would just like it if people told me why they deleted what I wrote. Just irritated, not mad but at least I would like to know which blogs I should avoid leaving my mark at. I simply try to be friendly and think I might get on the nerve of people if I leave comments everyday on the same few blogs! LOL! I don't people thinking I am stalking them.

Lucas after a hard day, cucumbers on his eyes and relaxing. This boy loves getting the spa treatment!

hat for Zoe

Smaller needles + more stitches = not a smaller hat! Who said I was smart? Since I am knitting all these stockinette hats, what better time to brush up on doing it the continental knitting way. I am not knitting very fast but maybe it'll help my hands get used to this knitting style. I am a tad stubborn and keep coming back to continental, if it can help my wrists, I will try anything. Now this new hat fits Zoe. ACK! How many babies have a head the size of a 4yo? No need to worry, this pink and purple hat shall end up being her's but that's still 10 hats away from my goal for charity. Though with the holidays I won't have much more to do other than knit so I could catch up on my knitting by then! LOL!

The knit stitch in continental is pretty easy, it's the purling that I always seem to have trouble with, it's just not as smooth. My purling is pretty awful and loose. Guess I should make a few SMALL projects in reverse stockinette, by the end I should get the purls down! LOL!

Just got the KnitPicks latest newsletter last night, lots of yarn on sale. I noticed the Classic Elite Lush yarn is 25% off, you might want to look into it if you are going to knit the Nakiska headband pattern from the latest Knitty issue (the real red color would look SO nice in my head). Then for those who like to knit socks there a fun yarn with nice stripes at 10% off, what I liked about it was the fact that it came in 100grams ball. So only one ball needed to complete a pair of socks. :) The Aquamarine and Brick colorways are pretty tempting. Also lucky Americans get free shipping when they hit the 30$ purchase mark. I might sound like I work for them but don't, why isn't there any free shipping available from Canadian yarn shops? No fair!

Back to the baby hats, this time must follow pattern! 10 to go, I can do it!!!

Happy Birthday Kate!

I can't believe it's Kate's birthday today and she didn't say anything about it! Luckily Kathy has spilled the beans! Hope you have a great day and get to knit tons! LOL!

winter knitty

2 down and 10 more to go. My goal of 12 hats to for charity is a fun goal. I feel like I am doing something good and I like having to knit quickly. Maybe I should reward my self in the end. Hummm.... what should I get? LOL! I really like the cheery colors of the 2nd hat, pastels are cute but bold colors really come out when you put them on a small baby.

After the 1st roll brim hat, Lucas asked if I had made it for him, then after the vibrant blue/green hat, he begged me to knit him a hat too. Poor guy only 2 years old and begs for a handknit hat! LOL! ;) So what's a mom to do? Stop everything and knit her boy a hat. I didn't have enough wool (want him to be warm too) to knit his hat all in one color. So I chose left overs of the cable hats I previously made and thankfully he's only 2. I had JUST enough yarn to finish the i-cord knot! Can you notice the little 'design' in there at the color changes!? Slip stitch patterns is something that I think is really knit, easier than two color knitting but just as nice, well at least to me. I wanted to try something more complicated but wasn't sure about the yarn amount I had. I think I should look more into slip stitch patterns, I really like to work them. :) Lucas has asked that his baby Max (pictured in the previous post) gets a hat too. He loves to sleep with a bed full of teddy bears and dolls, by the time he falls asleep we take most of them off his bed and leave him sleeping with Max.

Hey the new issue of is out. Once again, there are many lovely designs. I took my time to read the whole issue before posting today, it was pure pleasure to have a cup of coffee and read it all. First thing, I LOVE the advertizing spots. It made me discover new shops that are really interesting. Amy's feature on flying with your knitting couldn't have come at a better time. Check out the headband she designed, isn't it just the cutest!? I will have to knit a few for Zoe!!!! I love working cables so this is just the best. :)

Chris has also designed a great hat/mittens combo and since I LOVE felting items this is also a very tempting project! :) I am so proud to see Chris design, never doubted she wouldn't be successful with it. She is already changing regular patterns to suit her needs, very inspiring. Why is it that everyone else is designing but not me!? HA! I tell ya, some things are going to change with the new year just around the corner. ~Jo~ is going to rebel and DESIGN something! LOL!

Kate designed a neat coat, Anticipation! I LOVE that coat so much, my mom saw the design and said "WOW! That's just like you!" As in, it would look perfect on me! LOL! So yeah.... big wool is a tad out of budget but that coat truely is beautiful!!! :) Oh AND I'm not just saying that because I recently met Kate!

Montreal was hit with it's first snowfall this weekend, it's beautiful out, it's starting to look a lot like Christmas! ;)
hugs,

music

Thanks to Kate for sharing her lovely pattern, now a little newborn/preemie will keeps it's head warm sporting this cute hat. :) Next time, I'll use the recommended yarn and they will knit up even quicker. I have given myself a little goal, I want to knit up 12 hats by the end of december. You know to go with the 12 days of Christmas theme. My way of celebrating Christmas for it's true meaning. I probably won't be knitting much other projects this month but I think these little hats will be more valuable to the recipients than anything I would knit to give.

Yesterday I went to an artisan exhibit, each year around the holidays there's an exhibit where artists from all over Canada come and sell their crafts, it's like an upper scale craft fair maybe. LOL! Just without the 'fair' feel to it. So anyway, I did see some knitted items but of course no yarn for sale. It's sad 'cause probably people would pick up knitting if they had a kit available to them at those kind of exhibit. After all knitting is the cool thing these days. Anyway, I got some great gift ideas for the kids, yes I did buy them gifts back in august but what can I say. I am weak when it comes to cute stuff! LOL! No willpower but luckily budget helps not being able to buy on the spur of the moment. The exhibit is still on for 2 weeks, I really think the kids would like to receive a Tamboa wooden xylophone and a drum. The sounds are really soft and they are the kind of toys that do not require batteries. ;) There's always music playing here and between Zoe 'skating' us a performance and Lucas dancing around the place, I think they would find it neat if they were the ones making the music! ;) Buying from artisans is a great way to encourage them to keep on creating too. Who knows, maybe one day I will be presenting my own knitting designs there. Ok, yes I am a tad dreaming here.

hugs,

skater sweaters

Went catalog shopping this morning, all the knitting/crafting catalogs we get stay in the livingroom and we all like to 'shop' in them from time to time. This morning Carl was looking through the Mary Maxim catalog. LOL! He liked the woodwokring patterns they sell and I noticed the skating related sweater kits they sell. Since I notice that I get a quite few hits of people looking for skating sweaters, I thought I'd share the sweaters I liked. :)

click on the pictures to be redirected to the correct page where you can purchase the kit.

Anyone like Anne Geddes pictures!? I have always loved them and used to have like 30 postcard pictures all over the walls in my room. Now there's only 2 laminated pics from her as decoration. Anyway, she now has an online store that offers lovely items, I LOVE the watches that are for sale. Oooh, what a coincidence I need a watch. ;) Ok, I don't really, well it depends, am I the only one who buys a new watch instead of simply changing the battery? LOL! By the time my battery dies I have been wearing that same watch for at least a year, time to change, right? ;) Long time ago I had a pendant watch that was in the shape of those military tags. Loved having my watch as a necklace instead of a wrist bracelet. They have pendant watched on Anne Geddes website too, though there are regular watches too. So hard to pick just one, my favorites are the Poppy, Waterlily, I like the Sophie also as that was a picture I had for a few months as my desktop wallpaper. :) Speking of wallpapers, you can download a different one every month from this same site. Ok, I love this site, babies are so cute, especially when they are sleeping! LOL! For the holidays I know have the 3 reindeer wallpaper. :)

On another subject, as I said yesterday, we might go visit the west side of Canada before the end of the month. Now I have 2 options that have been discussed in this house as to who might go on the trip. Either A- the whole family goes or B- only dh and I go. This is now making me so nervous as just thinking of leaving the kids for about 2 weeks sounds horrible. I have never slept away from the kids a single night before leaving for 3 days to Toronto, of course when we came back we were so eager to see the kids. At the same time, it was nice to realise that *I* am a person other than just a mom. I felt like an adult that could walk as long as she wanted without any whining. Could order some appetizers before my meal in a restaurant without no one screaming while I eat s-l-o-w-l-y my whole meal. Please tell me I'm not the onle one who has kids like that!? LOL! Just considering the option of leaving with only dh makes me feel SO bad, it is almost unbearable. At the same time I worry about going to new places around the holidays with both kids. What if I loose one (hey it happens to others, it's bound to happen to us someday), they don't even talk enough english to ask for help. Some days I might have to spend many hours with the kids while dh works. Hotel rooms aren't too fun for kids but again, it might depend which hotel we go too, I've seen some even provide playstations! LOL! ;) There's the fact that we might not be home for Christmas that makes me want to bring the kids along, ok also the fact that I LOVE them greatly (do NOT get me wrong). This is after all a business trip, not a family vacation, so I have to think of things I can do with kids in a new city with no help around me. Anyway I still have some time to think about all of this, I do know that in the end, my mom will most likely spend Christmas alone which saddens me immensely. She has been invited to come along but has declined, her choice I accept it too. So what's worst? My mom spending the holidays alone or me missing the joy on my kids faces on Christmas!? For what it's worth if this had happen beofre we went to Toronto, bringing the kids would have been a sure thing but the time away we had in Toronto made me appreciate the time I had being my own person. It was nice to re-discover who Jo is/was without kids around, I also got to see why I fell in love with Carl and that was the best part of our whole trip. My relationship with him has had it's up and down in the last 6 years, it was VERY nice to reconnect while on vacation and see that if the kids weren't there we would most likely still be together.

Now maybe tomorrow I'll throw in a knitting pic in my entry!

Wishing you all a great weekend! :)

burnt brioche

Un-knitting Kureyon is a pain but worth it when knitting with a friend all afternoon. My Denise needles came undone for the very first and second time, while I was in the subway. Then I mixed up the rows of my stitch sequence and knitted for a while before seeing my error. Spent all evening un-doing what I did today. It's ok though, it was a fun day so I don't regret my error, mistakes happen when you are having too much fun knitting with a friend. :)

I am finally posting a pic of my latest work in progress, the brioche hat. Well... actually the hat inspired by the brioche hat featured in the Weekend Knitting book. I knew I wasn't doing too well on the pattern, it just felt like something was off. Indeed I have been knitting the pattern not too well BUT discovered that I really like the error I was doing. In fact both dh and my mom like it too. Just one of those weird things that happen. Maybe my hands are just making me feel obligated to design a hat! LOL! I now know that I don't do yarn overs correctly, I did a double yarn over on my hat. I want to experiment this "new" stitch with other yarns before sharing it's 'recipe', just to make sure it looks good when purposely made. LOL!

For anyone who was worried about my sock cast on that I had ruined, worry no more Veronik showed me that it was hiding under my provisional cast on all along! LOL! Oops, there goes that dork feeling I get from time to time. ;) Hey, I did end my afternoon with an autograph in my Weekend Knitting book, Miss Veronik Avery herself signed it. Teehee, I got her 1st autograph ever, so you know that makes me her biggest fan right? That and she can serve some mighty good coffee in cool mugs!

On another subject, dh might need to go on another trip for his job. Just a few weeks ago we went to Toronto, which was a BLAST! This time the biz would have us go too Edmonton and Vancouver, all expenses paid and some extra money to bring the kids along too. So 1st thing I did when I heard that was jump online a check what was happening in those cities. Well Edmonton has the world's largest mall, must go there!!! LOL! The mall includes entertainment such as: an amusement park, a waterpark, ice rink, dolphins, miniature golf course, etc. Of course doing all the activities cost an arm and a leg but if we are to spend Christmas away from home, better find a way to have fun. Though the have hotel rooms that would get anyone pretty excited in staying in at the Fantasyland hotel. You HAVE to click and check out the theme and luxury theme rooms they have! I can only imagine having to stay in the truck room! LOL! ;)

Well if anyone lives or knows about Vancouver and Edmonton, I'd love some good addresses of those areas. I will be making up a list to check out once we go there. Any Red Lobsters in those cities? LOL!

more brioche

Well last night was an interesting TV night. I watched both premiere shows of Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica and the Simple Life. I know the Newlyweds show isn't really new but it is on the channel they were showing it at last night. ;) Also if you missed the Simple Life, you can catch the 2nd part of the premiere on Fox at 8:30pm tonight or check your local listings. I thought Newlyweds was cute because it showed how two people living for the 1st time together can be like, they moved in together after getting married. Makes for some good entertaining the audience. The Simple Life, well now that was pretty funny, take 2 girls that have always been in the spotlights and transport them to farm life for a month. The 2 girls had more trouble leaving their cell phones behind I think. Again, I was laughing a lot through the show, so it did it's job of entertaining.

Then it got me thinking, what if tomorrow I left my life to do something completly different, what if I had to do brain surgery? Ok, not very similar to the shows I watched but how would I feel if my life changed upside down, even just for one month. So I tried to see myself living the Hollywood life for 30 days, first thought, where;s the yarn store but after? I just couldn't go into boutiques with names like Dior, Chanel and whatever. I could never buy clothes that are more than week's worth salary. I would feel ackward and probably couldn't wait to get back into my little quiet life. LOL!

Anyway, if you didn't watch TV last night, then I bet all of this is pretty boring. My brioche hat is coming along very well, though I have no clue if I am doing it right. Actually I have a sense that it's not as the pattern wants you to do it BUT I like it, Carl likes it and so does my mom! LOL! Basically, I might have done an oopsie with the pattern but the end result will be neat. The Kureyon is starting to show through nicely too.

Oh and I am curious, anyone knit up the booga bag using other yarns than Kureyon? I'm thinking frugal gifts might be nice but Kureyon is a tad expensive for someone I barely know. Hey, I am f-r-u-g-al! ;) Tonight is Zoe's skating lesson, can't wait to see what she is learning next. Wednesday and friday nights are always fun nights as we go and encourage Zoe at the rink, I get to knit for a while but mostly just wave back to my girl when she says: "hi mom!" from the ice.

hugs,

hats, hats, hats

What a beautiful day it is outside! The sun is up and so are my spirits, I just love seeing a clear blue sky. :)

Knitted like crazy this weekend on my Kureyon earwarmer cap hat. Reknitted the top twice and when I finally finished darning the ends, I decide that the hat just isn't working for me. Now why is it that I had such difficulty making this hat!? I go check online about Kureyon yarn and it dawns on me. Noro Kureyon is NOT a worsted weight yarn!!! Oh my goodness, no wonder my hat looks like it was knitted too loosely, no wonder it's not as warm as I had expected it. I didn't really check the fabric the yarn was giving as I was sure it was worsted. I just did a swatch and when I hit gauge, I started knitting away. I even knitted right through the hot pink color I usually take out from the ball, never saw it until I have knitted the whole stripe. All was going well, you know when you can't put down a project and wished the kids could feed themselves 'cause your in the "knitting-zone". LOL! Then I stopped made lunch and picked up the project, that's when all went weird on me.

I sure was bummed out when I learned that I didn't know my yarn like I thought. Sure I could try to change a few numbers to make the pattern work for me but I'm just not into knitting math. It just doesn't interest me at all. So now I have a felted mittens pattern where Kureyon yarn won't do any good either. I have bought the yarn and pattern for that specific reason. It's a tad sad but hey, when I was in Toronto and running around Romni Wools, I thought I was the luckiest knitter in the world! ;)

So after my earwarmer hat not working for me (I will however make another one using good old wool worsted to make another one!). LOL! I wanted to start another hat, like NOW! So I check online and see that a few knitters have joined in a Bucket hat knitalong. Great idea, I thought to myself, I had gone bucket hat crazy when I had my miscarriage, had knitted 4 hats in a row. Maybe it was time to knit a felted hat, to make things easier I simply went on the pattern designer's website to see how much yarn was needed to make a hat. I had printed the pattern previously but just didn't felt like looking for it. LOL! Well the website says how the pattern now has 9 sizes to fit just about anyone under the sun. That's weird the pattern I bought had only 3 sizes, most likely why it never fitted me well, as the size Large of my copy would fit 21" and my own head is 22". I emailed her to see if I could get an update of the previous providing the most info's I could about the transaction I had when I first bought said pattern. It was on august 10th, I remember well as I bought it the day before we left for a week on vacation, hey! silly me even blogged about it. Well less than an hour later I got the news that I should have bought the pattern 50 days later, then I could get the new updated version. So I end up with an older version of a pattern that will never fit my head. It's sad as I thought a felted bucket hat would look neat but it just won't happen. This might sound bitchy but it is not, I am disappointed as if I had bought the pattern after Sept. 30, I could get this new version with nine sizes instead of the 3-size copy I have. I do understand that you can't get updates for life after buying a pattern but since this new version has 6 more sizes included I don't believe I should have to buy this same pattern again.

I ended up starting a hat from the latest Weekend Knitting book. Hopefully it'll come out nicely or else I am going to the store a buying a freakin' hat! ROFL! ;) That said, I still have to knit my Kureyon cable scarf but thought a hat would be more practical before knitting a scarf.

Oh and the latest drama happening today is: I found a single white hair sticking out on my head! Oh dear, I'm getting older.

Chart by Veronik Avery, available at KnitList, modified pretty lamely by moi. ;)
p/s: Thanks to Alison for reminding us that today is World AIDS day!

Enjoy your day,
hugs! :)