Jo Knits!

12 hats project!

If you receive Clara's newsletter each week you probably read about her yarn reviews, more so, you might even noticed a few simple words that have always intrigued me. I can't count the number of times I've read this and each time I thought to myself, how odd, can people really do this? Well yes, it can be done. What exactly? Knitting by touch or not fixating your needles at each stitch you are working on. Sure some of you might think, why is this so amazing, especially since you most likely knit without having your eyes glued to the needles. I, on the other hand have almost always looked at my project as it progresses. Well, no more, I am now at a point where I too, can knit just by touch, it's amazing. I first starting simply by forcing myself to read a knitter's blog and knit a few stitches without ever setting my eyes on the stitches. Then I'd watch tv and count the stitches of a full row while resisting the innate urge to check on what I was doing. Of course, I still look at my work tons of times but I don't feel like a slave to my knitting anymore. I can knit without looking (ok maybe not on the Shedir hat!) LOL!

Today as we were at a home appliances store a guy walks up to me says the name of three schools, I laugh and tell him he has two right, my elementary and high school names. He says his family name and I reply with his first name, it was odd, it was funny, we haven't seen each other nor spoke in 10 to 15 years, still he knew exactly who I was. One day we were buying fresh produce at a store and the cashier looked at me and told me my name to my surprise we were never in the same class at school but still she remembered me from 10 years ago. I must have one of those faces people can't forget, that or my amazin' smile! haha!

Who doesn't like holiday decorations, for me, snowflakes are the best and I can never tire myself at seeing them as decorations. Here a couple have decorated their home with 25000 lightbulbs, the pictures are from the backyard and the side of the building, there are lights at the front also and a sign that invits people to walk to their backyard. It is magical to see all those lights in one place, they are so bright it's festive, it's beautiful. The shed has even been transformed as Santa's workshop with a moving train and elves. The owners proudly talk to everyone and it's a pleasure to meet people that have worked so hard to make this a special place to visit. Last year a few kids from the Children's Wish Foundation got to visit this special place so this year the donations the owners are getting will be donated to the kids.

One fun thing about Zoe now being in school is seeing her acquire new knowledge and bring that home. Today she brought back a letter, when I asked what it was about she responded it was a paper about how we can help people that have no food to eat. She said we could help out with food and toys for kids. Charity is important to me and to see my kids involved in helping out others makes my heart happy. When we were having bad times we were lucky enough to receive help and even though it's not much we all know every little bit helps when in need. So although there are places where you can donate money online or in real life, I prefer to give something with meaning to us. The kids carefully choose foods other kids would enjoy and toys that might bring smiles to smaller kids and carefully put them into bags to bring to school/community center. The joys it brings them is absolutely beautiful. I am proud to have kids that have such a big heart.

As my little way to help the world I am going to repeat a project I did last year. Starting December 1st, I am going to knit 12 little hats for charity, I have tons of yarn that is just begging to be knitted. Got time to crunch a small project in your hectic schedule? Why not join me in an easy, fun and satisfying project. It'll use up some stash for the new year yarn purchases.

Here's the cutie and his new haircut, he even got to get it styled with gel for the 1st time. Lucas has always gotten a buzz cut since he was born, this is the first time he gets a styled haircut. He looks different to us, older, I'm not ready for that. LOL!

hugs,

Irish

I have started an irish hiking scarf for Carl. I am using up some yarn that is from our last Toronto yarn shopping, it's called Maya (50% Llama/50% wool)from the Classic Elite family. I think I need to keep one cable project going at all times, it is such a pleasure to look at and knit, never boring to work on such a project. Also I am exploring combined knitting to knit the scarf, since this method is best when knitting flat this project is perfect for it. :) I keep wanting to knit continental but since I knit quickest english-style I never stick to it. Combined knitting is very appealing to me, it uses the left hand and the knit and purl stitches are ever so easy, almost effortless too. Thanks to Annie for sharing her version of this method to everyone. :)

After an evening of knitting with friends, old and new, I realised that the world is smaller than we think sometimes. We kept noticing that people knew each other or had connections between them without knowing. Then this weekend we went at a skating competition to encourage a few skaters from the kids skating club. One night the competition ended pretty late so we offered Lucas's fave coach a ride home, she's a young teen and as a mom I'd rather her to get home safely. ;) To our surprise we learned she lived on our street, she babysits a girl that lives two houses from us, she used to be babysat by our next door neighbor. Amazing! I thought, then when we dropped her off I mentionned that I knew someone living close by, you must know XYZ, well..... it's my mom she answers. Oh dear! LOL! The world just ended up a tad smaller once again. ;)

I also noticed something this weekend, though I have dwelling over this for a few weeks. I'm getting old, no I know that 27 years old is still young don't worry. What I mean is that even if in my mind and that I look 20yo, I know I am ages away from that when a teenager talks to me. Some of the skating coaches make me feel so old, one in particular never seems to look us in the eye, it's funny as Zoe doesn't really like her either. We try to tell her that she is most likely really nice and all, it's just odd. Then there's a wonderful skater that is 13yo and loves that we encorage the kids to skate, she skates about 25 hours a week and I really admire her for all the time to dedicates to her sport. We've had breakfast a few times with her and she's just a gem, her parents can be proud of how they have brought up their daugther. She's a sweetheart with our kids too. Anyway, it's funny how she doesn't make me feel like a dinosaur but then a 17yo can make me feel like I'm as old as a fossil. LOL!

Our Christmas shopping is mostly done, Carl and I have been shopping at craft shows to pick out a few original and handmade gifts for our loved ones. Next week we might go to two other shows again, then there's Montreal's annual craft show. I like original one of a kind handmade creations, it's like knitting, no two projects are exatly alike. :)

Shedir, finally!

The Shedir hat is finally done and I just might block it also. Now that's something I don't do everyday. LOL! It was a fun hat to knit although I was getting tired of the cable repeats after not working on it for about a week. Next time, yes I invision making it again, I'll knit it all at once (well over a few days) when you're in it, it sorta knits itself quickly.I used Zara yarn for it and really loved knitting with this yarn, I'd love to make one using the recommended Calmer yarn too.

Here's what you get when a 3 year old says take a pic mom! He's in the happy arms of daddy getting ready for last night's skating lesson. After the lesson the head coach came to talk to us, Zoe is doing a tad too well right now. LOL! She's almost done with the CanSkate program, she's about to receive her 5th badge. We need to seriously think about getting her into private lessons if she wants to learn more from now on. Already Zoe is starting to learn about jumps. Oh dear... we never expected her to do so well. Oye!

Oohlala! Lucas just came in the door, he got a new haircut today. What a cutie, I just might show off tomorrow! As for others non-knitting news, we got a call today from our boss on the Walmart inventories contract, I was offered the best job position for the tour! teehee!

hugs,

buttons

When you see the huge button over the door of this place you know you have reached Rix Rax in Montreal. Third time's a charm and we finally made it inside the store today. While Zoe was on her lunchtime we went with her to choose the buttons to beautify her kitty hat. I was surprised at the dry service we got from the seller, maybe we came at a bad time as the store had a few people inside. She seemed stressed out and sure didn't make us want to come back. When I asked about buttons that looked like eyes, she looked at us in shock. Oh those can be found in crafting stores, I don't carry craft stuff. Hmmm... ok... We left with 3 buttons anyway because I felt Zoe had waited long enough for us to get them, a buck each button, let's say I won't be going back for a while.

So here's what the hat shall look like when it's done. I want to add pompoms on the ties also and need to knit those ears. I am now tempted to knit Lucas a brown teddy bear hat using the same pattern and fudging the ears. Today though I might work on my Shedir hat, I've lost complete interest in it but then I realized I only have one pattern repeat to knit before decreasing, I'll survive. LOL! I might knit an irish hiking scarf to complete the set, although the cable pattern isn't the same it's cables, ok? LOL!

Last night we went near the airport and went to see the airplanes land and lift off. Once again we waved and said Bon voyage to those who were lifting off. I wonder where they were going, was it biz related or just vacations? I love planes! Note the handknitted mittens Lucas is wearing, the hat was bought 4$CDN at that price it's not worth knitting it. LOL!

hugs,

Number 4!

It is my pleasure to share with you all that Zoe has received her 4th badge in figure skating on saturday. (Check out her new long-sleeved t-shirt we got to celebrate.) This badge is called Edges and is given to skaters who master edge development skills. e.g. forward glide on curve, two feet to one foot, turning on curve backward to forward. Woohoo! She can also do the airplane. LOL! Zoe now has 4 of the 6 badges, the 7th is a pre-preliminary badge and is for skaters that want to go to skills tests after aka private lessons. It's amazing to see that our daughter has achieved two thirds of the skating program at 5 years old, when some kids only start to learn to skate around 6-7yo. She is now talking about learning a routine though.... uh oh! Can you believe she can still tell me the routine she had to do at the Montreal Games last april? She can tell me the steps and all, it's incredible how much memory she has, it's funny 'cause I remember her routine so vividly. What can I say her 1st gold medal will always have a special place in my heart.

The kitty hat is really fun to make, especially for a kid, not that there's anything wrong for any adults knitting it for themself either. LOL! We will be embellishing her's with buttons for eyes and I'll embroider some whiskers per her request. We stopped by Montreal's great button store called Rix Rax but sadly it was closed, we will try to go this week and Zoe can choose her buttons among the five hundred thousand buttons they have in store.

p/s: I just installed the CloseComments plugin all on my own. WOOHOO! Hey, it's a big thing to me. lol! With the MT Blacklist installed too, I'm going to get you spammers.

hugs,

new skates

It is my pleasure to present to you my new skate (don't worry I did buy two)! As you must know by now (oh you all being regular readers of this current blog.) LOL! Both of my kids take figure skating lessons, they participate in a program called CanSkate by Skate Canada. Well, I'm afraid I don't skate too well and owned hockey skates which are quite different from the skates my own kids have. So we went on the hunt of some cheap used skates but I ended up instead with a brand new pair of recreational skates with the stamp from Sale & Pelletier. The seller at the store did warn me about no garantees I'd fall less using these skates but that didn't scare me off, the additional 20$ off rebate convinced me I could survive on these new skates. The kids were ecstatic at the idea of going to the ice rink on a non-lesson day. They both played coach to me for the hour we were on the ice. I fell a FEW times trying to learn how to break/stop. I can skate not too badly but I can't stop! LOL! The kids showed off their talents to others and had a blast just skating freely and giving me words of encouragement about me falling all over the place.

I can't wait to get up in the morning and see how sore I will be. It was so much fun though, the kids were beaming, Lucas had a smile the whole time. He'd make me follow him around the ice, he was being my personal coach and Zoe was so cute to see skating in jeans, she usually wears her little skating uniform but today she was proud to be skating like the bigger kids. Good thing they both were their bicycle helmets as they did fall at times, maybe I'm rubbing off on them. lol! Saturday morning we'll be sitting on the benches while the kids get their lesson, I am really eager to get back on the ice and try to learn how to stop while skating. I hope I achieve that soon, the kids made me jump and I tried spinning too but.... that didn't go too well. ;) It felt really good to do some exercise though, especially since we aren't working right now, I'm planning to go skate a few times next week, I doubt the kids will complain. ;)

Still re-knitting Zoe's blue hat, I love this yarn it is so soft. I should have it done by the end of the weekend. Then I will be back to finishing my red Shedir hat which I am eager to wear and show off, just to get to say hey, I MADE this hat!

Have a blast this weekend. :)

Frogging the kitty

Well this blue work in progress is a hat for Miss Zoe, after meeting her teacher yesterday we brought her along to the yarn store for her choice of yarn to knit a hat. She's really into pink & purple but she didn't find the perfect combo of those two colors in the soft yarns we saw. I think seeing a picture of Tali (a new "friend" she never met!) wearing a blue hat influenced her choice just a teensy weensy bit. We got Debbie Bliss alpaca silk yarn and it is like buttah, oh SO lovely to knit with. As usual I just casted on and started the project, I was just about to start the decreases when I thought it might be smart to try it it on the recipient's head. LOL! She was sleeping when I did most of the knitting, well now I get to frog it and start over so it will actually fit for the whole season. teehee! I'll never learn. ;)

(My kindergarden report card, 5 years old)

We got to meet our daughter's teacher yesterday and it was a great meeting, the 10 minutes lasted a half hour and we enjoyed every single minute of it. Why? Because Zoe is doing so well, that's what makes it so fun. Her integration to school has been passed with success, never has she been trouble in the classroom though she does love to talk. LOL! I wonder where she gets that from... We got to learn how Zoe is proud to help a non-french speaking friend at school. She's a chinese girl that has only been in the country for a few weeks prior to school, apparently Zoe tells her words and her friend repeats them as best as she can. Zoe is always like a ray of sunshine at school, eager to learn, always in a happy mood and just a pleasure to be around. Aaawww! It sure felt great to hear all those things about our oldest, the teacher said how our daughter had that special twinkle in her eyes, she knows that whatever Zoe does in life she'll go far. It felt good to see that yes, we might not be conventional parents or whatever, we are doing somethings right. :) Well the only thing she needs ot work on is the relaxing period of the day. LOL! Not a surprise to us as it has always been something she has trouble with, when you are a ball of energy, you just don't relax you are either wide awake or sleeping, no in-betweens. LOL! Anyway, it was a lot less stressful than I thought and made us feel that our kid was in great hands at school, now the teacher is eager to get Lucas in her class.... in two years. LOL!

So that's about it for today, wishing everyone a safe weekend

sample books

Three pattern books and two sample catalogs (oh and if anyone has the samples from 2003/04 they are willing to give/sell/trade, PLEASE let me know!). Why all of these Bergere de France pattern books all at once!? Well actually I went to the store twice in two days (the same can be said about Ikea but that's not the point), after seeing the latest issue my mom encouraged, begged me to go back and get older issues too. She is such a great support when it comes to my knitting, she still wears the eyelash yarn scarf I made her two years ago as one of my 1st knitting projects. Now that's LOVE! The fun part is that I am interested in a few patterns from each BdeF book so I just got to start on one and I could be busy all winter without needing to buy a single knitting pattern. LOL! The patterns featured are for all ages, babies, childrens and adults, that's the beauty of it, it's an all in one package. Sure it's written in french and even though I live in the Quebec province and we talk 99% of french at home, I never knitted using a french written pattern. That won't stop me from starting though, I have bought a Phildarbook in the past and should get that out also.

BdeF is not new, nor is it for everyone, I became more and more intrigued about their patterns after seeing the many France based knitting bloggers working on patterns that interested me. Kajin also talked about it a few times and since I haven't seen her in a while, it's quicker for me to go to the store than waiting for our next S&B meeting. (Pas de pression Kajin, mais j'ai le droit d'avoir hâte de te revoir!) hihihi!

For the next two days, Zoe is off from school so we get a nice 4 days long weekend all the family together. Being really crazy I'd go out of town but we can't keep the car forever either. ;) We get to meet Zoe's teacher today for her very first report card, which I am eager to see (well that's until Veronik scared me!) LOL! I do think that she's doing quite well at school (my daughter, not Veronik) and her teacher was really nice when we met her at the start of the school year. We've also seen how she's really getting into reading and especially writting, she keeps copying words she notices anywhere and showing them to us. I am SO proud! :)

hugs,

BdeF

Had a car for the day and since we are off from work all week, we didn't have set plans for the day. We first went by Bergère de France to pick up their latest catalog. I always knew about this place but just never took the time to order, that's until I started seeing knitters blogging about the patterns from the company. Of course, this is a small store in a warehouse so they had yarns on sale. ACK! Lucas was the ever so cutie he can be and was being his charming self to the sales lady. It's really funny to see him, he's got a thing for yarn I tell ya. I might even brake down some day and try to knit my first aran sweater for him, he's the smallest one in the family after all. LOL!

Then my mom calls from home saying that a package came in the mail for me. It's from Delta, BC aka Elann.com. Oh dear, what am I going to do with all of this yarn!? Luckily I am happy with my order, you never know from seeing colors only online. Of course I still wished I had bought a truckload of Zara just because I really like this yarn. LOL! No need to show you how big the box is or how many balls I got, let's just say I have enough to start a few bigger projects. ;)

After Zoe was done with school for the day, we brought the kids to Ikea, both went to play for an hour at Småland (the fun filled kids play room). Carl and I, got to shop around the boring stuff and once we gt the kids we went toy and kid furniture shopping with them. They had a ball and I resisted not buying everything at the store. LOL!

Mouline Yarns (2679 Notre-Dame Ouest in Montreal) is having a sale!!! 20% off yarns, so now is the time to buy that yarn to make a few holiday gifts for everyone you know. The store is receiving new stock continously, I can't wait to go buy by, yet another time. Sadly there's no stitch & b*tch meetings this week, guess it's time to start having more meetings. There are more knitters locally to meet and you can never tire to talk about knitting. ;)

hugs,

Santa's parade

Saturday morning after the kids skating lesson we went to our first official Santa parade as a family!!! Carl never saw the parade either so it was really special, even my mom joined in as this was a traditional she kept well alive when I was younger. Being the ever so caution or chicken, you decide, we found a spot inside with a great view so the kids could enjoy the parade without freezing their toes off. After we had just spent an hour at the ice rink prior to the parade.

About the kids skating lesson this week, there was a blackout on the ice while the kids were skating. It is when an emergency happens (albeit a small one) that you can see how people react in those conditions. The head coach very calmly directed the kids and other coaches to get off the ice and no one cried or anything. We went to see our own kids to make sure they weren't scared and just joked how this is how the ice looks when it's the skating show. Less than 5 minutes later the lights were back on, the kids skating again and it was simply a small event that I get to blog about. LOL!

At the parade the kids got a full view of the festivities and behaved perfectly, we were in a bookstore after all. ;) After the parade we were going out for lunch when we bumped into Clifford, so the kids ran after him in the bookstore and we got a pic. Clifford was going to be at story time in less than an hour, we went for lunch, got to listen to two stories and went for a walk outside. We stopped by Outfitters and I found a knitting book I wanted half price off. I plan to knit a few projects from the Knit One, Felt Too book soon. I can't believe I got it on special though, it's the second time this store has knitting books. They still offered the Stitch & Bitch book half off also. (V, check out the jeans , she chose the sparkly ones).

Yesterday we worked twice, which was not scheduled but we helpd out a friend and in return we might switch into working in his team full time. What's nice is that we'd get to choose the stores we want to work at aka we choose the hours and locations of stores we go too. As of now we have the whole week off so knitting I shall do but today, Ikea is where I plan to be at. :)

hugs,

Dropping stitches

Last night we watching Raising Helen, a cute movie where one of the highlights were "honey, do we know anyone with a Jaguar?" hubby replies "it must be one of your celebrity friends that is coming to knit with you". ROFLOL! I just cracked up and then knitted like crazy. What happened next wasn't as much fun though, I looked at my knitting and realized that in my excitment. Once again I was paying attention more to the tv than the crossings of my cables, so I dropped a few stitched down a few rows, made it all better and then went to sleep. LOL!

I can't believe I am able to drop stitches and change the direction of cables, did is so neat. Never have I thought that is just two years of knitting I could accomplishment little things like this. After all I never got to learn from a knitter all the secrets of knitting. I even tried the tubular cast on Veronik does but I was stitch off or something so the cast on row is one stitch away from perfection, something I can live with though.

Now let's all send me some mail vibes, I am awaiting three packages, one from the US, one from Canada and one from the suburbs. May my yarn come home safely to me and give me inspiration to knit up great projects.

hugs, have a great weekend, we get to see Santa's parade tomorrow and work sunday.

3 days off

Time to rest, to knit, to play with the kids, time to catch up on everything as we have 72 hours off. Yes, we are still working in inventories, long story short, we like to pay our bills . We really want to go back on the Walmart tour so for now we are sticking around. This does not mean that we will work in inventories no matter what.

The Shedir hat is coming along nicely, not as fast as I'd like but that's simply because I don't have enough time to knit. LOL! I keept hoping to see the mail truck stop by my house. I can't wait to receive my yarn though I don't know what I will knit first. I don't even have anything in mind for the Zara yet, I simply love to knit with it. I'm sad that the purple color that was there is all gone, I was thinking of making a sweater for Zoe with it. The pattern is in the latest Family Circle Easy Knitting issue, it's a cable sweater and recommends using Zara. Sadly I didn't want to order the color until I got my hands on the magazine to see how much yarn was required. By that time the purple was sold out. I could always knit the kids sweaters out of *my* Zara yarn but I think I will keep it for myself. LOL! I am that greedy. ;)

Had a lovely time at our Stitch&Eat meeting last tuesday night, Mona brought along coconut squares and they were really good. :) Everyone had different projects they were working on and it was fun to see what each one was doing. We get to share patterns sources, talk about different yarns, our favorite designers. I learn so much each time we meet, even if it's just to take time and swatch carefully before starting a pattern. Yeah, yeah, I know, I just don't do it. ACK! I need to start though as I want to knit bigger projects and be sure they fit. LOL!

I'm awaiting the arrival of Stitch 'n Bitch Nation locally, you can look through the patterns in the book. Some projects are really cute and others I will most likely not make. LOL! In the meantime I purchased FCEK and Interweave Knits, I haven't read through them yet as I like to treat myself to a good hot beverage, all cozy in bed and read my knitting magazines. That's the life for me! LOL! ;)

hugs,

My 1st time...

I've been thinking about this over and over and wanted to make my first time special. For months now I have been checking it out and wondering if I should do it too. Today 9am sharp, I was at my computer, shaking, heart racing and I clicked away to my very first order on Elann.com.

These are the yarns that made me finally order, I have been enjoying knitting with Zara so much that I bought some more. If I could I'd buy it in every color and only knit with Zara forever. LOL! That's how much I like knitting this yarn, it's so soft it is such a pleasure to hold in your hands. I keep touching the ball as it is so soft. Now what I think is pretty neat about Elann is that when you buy you get to add up your order totals to get free 'money'. Now isn't that encouraging? A yarn store that gives you credit to spend. :)

Then I got an email from a friend that indicated what a great buy the Peruvian wool was, well I'm no fool and got some to try out also. I might even buy the pattern they are advertising the yarn with, I'm debating on that since this pattern was offered freely up in the past and I feel funny about paying for a pattern that was free just months ago. That way I can start as soon as I receive my order. :)

Yesterday was another first for me, on the Shedir had, after a full repeat of the cables, I realized I had 3 errors. ACK! So many criss-crossing on a row can make you mix up a few times. I took all the courage I had and dropped a few stitches, my heart raced like crazy as I reworked those stitches. I fixed two errors, the 3rd I will live with as it right at the ribbing level of the hat, Carl couldn't even fnd the mistake so I'll live. Do you know how stressful it is to knit cables on the subway? Let's just say I wasn't knitting too quickly. ;)

It's been raining or cloudy ever since I finished Clapotis so these pictures don't do it justice. November is the rainy month, pictures just don't come out as nicely when the sun isn't out. Excuse the spots in the mirror also, the kids splash the mirror as much as the floor when washing their hands. LOL!

Tonight is my Stitch&B*tch meeting, for once it's not in a coffee shop so I just might end up knitting this time. LOL! I always end up eating more than b*tchin', I mean stitching. ;) I can't wait, it's always with great excitement that I go to our little meetings, everyone is friendly and we all end up having a great time. Also it's a great way to show off what you have been up too.

Zara

(pics to be added later on)
Zara yarn! You gotta try it, you're going to love it. Maybe it's just me though but I want to live to knit only with Zara from now on, is that silly? ;) After checking out Mouline Yarns last week and had to switch yarns for making the Shedir hat, this is a squishy soft, no doubt about it. It's beautiful to look at and really nice to knit with, I keep show it off to my mom and Carl. Feel it, it's so squishy sooooooooooft, right!? They smile and turn back to whatever they were doing but really go and buy Zara yarn, it's totally addicting. :) I will find something to knit with my alpaca/silk/cashmere blend soon enough. ;)

We went to the kids figure skating lesson saturday morning and as usual we had a great time. We are now considered friends with a guy that is a judge of many competitions in this sport. He has 25 years of experience in the biz and really is like an important person locally. Me, I just make him laugh and wow him with my knitting. LOL! He adores our kids and can't believe Zoe's stride and pride in skating, he said you can't deny she's having fun skating, also about Lucas, he just cracks up looking at him skate. Zoe got a private lesson with her coach (3 kids per coach is considered private lessons by Skate Canada), there was another girl with her but she couldn't skate much so while Zoe practiced what her coach told her, the coach then took time with the other one to teach her how to start skating. Zoe's coach is an angel, she goes far beyond just teaching the kids to skate, she's a warm and wonderful person too. :) Lucas was skating one on one with his coach, a tall blonde teenager, he simply adores her, she used to teach him last night and she has a talent for teaching toddlers. Both were all smiles when the lesson ended, we had another surprise for them though.

After the lesson, we left the rink running towards the mall. Don't you know Santa was arriving that day? Well we made it on time to see the mascots parade and Santa even held Lucas's hand, oh WOW! Lucas is going to believe in Santa a LOT this year. He couldn't believe Santa was at the mall already, he's on cloud nine. Next week is the big Santa parade downtown with TONS of people so we'll see if we make it or not. I'm sad that we are missing the breakfast with Santa though, that would have earned me the top mom of the moment award! ;)

Mouliné yarns

Toronto move over! You now have competition in Montreal, could it be!? I am talking about a NEW yarn store in Montreal called Mouliné Yarns. Yup, you heard me right, I can now find Debbie Bliss, Rowan, Noro and Elsebeth Lavold yarns locally. Oh dear, I feel like I'm cheating on my Toronto yarn shop friends but you have to pardon me as finding these yarns locally ROCKS!!! There's even a table and chairs in the store, could it suggest wanting customers to stick around, how about S&B meetings. Can you just stand all this excitement! teehee! I am happy, FINALLY a yarn store worth mentioning. Oh wait, the owner even encouraged my mini-spy aka Lucas to touch all the yarns too, hey, that's what they are for. So Lucas agreed to this and touched every yarn at his height, each colors, had a few balls that fell, the owner didn't even flinch. I'm in LOVE!

I'm being teased I believe: Ann has completed her beautiful Shedir hat. Each time I see this hat done on someone's blog I am 1- jealous 2- encourage to start mine 3- loving this hat even more. There's not even a knit-along for this Knitty creation but I can see that many like this hat just as much as I do. Aren't we just the luckiest knitters to have access to such gorgeous patterns for free? I am so thankful for Knitty as it started just around the same time I taught myself to knit with these videos. Each new issue made me want to learn more about knitting and I have made several of the designs offered too.

At the yarn store yesterday, I saw some yarn I couldn't resist also I wanted to know if I liked Zara yarn before it goes on sale at Elann. LOL! I doubt I'd knit a sweater using Zara yarn as I'd need tons of balls but I wonder if this would be good to knit baby items with!? Would this yarn be easy enough to care for especially for a non-knitter or should I go with a superwash yarn?

Wishing everyone a great weekend! After skating lessons this morning, we're going to go see Santa coming into town, I mean at the mall! LOL!
hugs,

Posted by Jo at 08:20 AM | Comments (9)

catalog and blue

The Toys'R Us holiday catalog has made it to our household. You know it's looking alot like Christmas and the holiday season when shopping malls are decorating with trees and setting up Santa's pavilion. I love the holidays, the snow on the ground, the decorations and lights all over the neighbourhood, making paper snowflakes. I'd add baking cookies but our over isn't working and not sure baking will be in order this winter.

Now for the greatest news is that I get to knit something for a baby boy to be born!!! Well... I will knit something hopefully amazing so that this person I really hope enjoys a handknit item for their baby. The mom-to-be I have known since forever and she has been there for me at some very special times in the past few years. Also she is Zoe's godmother so she is really special to us. The sad thing is she doesn't really go for homemade stuff and I'm hoping I can knit a piece or two for her baby that look handmade (maybe I should try blocking one of those days!) not homemade. You know!?

I REALLY want to impress her and the father to be so as soon as I complete Clapotis and Shedir, I'm jumping into knitting for the baby. I still have a few months before baby makes an appearance in march but you never know how hectic your schedule can be from one day to the next. I just don't know what to knit! LOL! I won't make the 5-hour sweater for her, I know she won't be fond of it and maybe it's just me but I find it a tad girl-ish. I really want to WOW! them so I want something really niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice, I won't go overboard and knit an aran or fair isle. LOL! That I may knit for my kids one day and I will want to keep such a piece of hard work. ;) So either I go for gorgeous blue-ish colorways and stay classic with a single color to knit a set.

I'm planning some sort of hat, booties, sweater kinda set though I have the cutest oh'alls pattern that I want to knit. :) I don't expect them to cloth diaper, bummer too 'cause I'd knit that baby a whole set of soakers, they are so cute. LOL!

A friendly reminder, keep milk and oreos FAR from the keyboard... when will I ever learn? ;)

Shedir love

WOW! Some people sure are quick to knit! Knitting the Shedir hat from Jenna is my next project to start. Some have already started and amazingly enough someone has even completed their own hat already!!! I think knitters just can't get enough of cable hats. I will be doing cables without a cable needle and while swatching I finally started to really understand what those 'signs' mean on the chart. I can 'see' what the signs mean without looking at the chart's index each time I come across the same few symbols. LOL!

I showed off Clapotis at my crafting class and wow'd a few, it was nice to show it off. Clapotis is so soft with the Lush (50%wool/50%alpaca) yarn I am knitting with. I am getting a tad bored over this project, which is normal, I mean I am halfway through a scarf and not many scarves are really exciting to knit from one end to the next. Also the Lush yarn is not a slippery yarn so I have to fight a bit with it each time I drop a stitch, I really need to 'help' the stitch drop row by row as this yarn sticks to itself alot when knitted. I'm trying to encourage myself to finish this project before starting the hat and I have dropped two more stitches since that picture was taken. I think I will be able to start decreasing by the end of this day, we'll see, life might have other things in plan for me today!

Here's my quiet child, he is quietly writting his worries away on little yellow tags that we used in inventories to mark where we count. We were all at the dinner table and Lucas was moving his feet happily while 'writting'. He is so calm it really is neat, more than once we have heard has he seems to have an old soul in a toddler's body. Who know but he sure is different from his lively and energetic sister! LOL!

hugs,

Will knit for yarn!

Well it's over. As of this morning, we won't be working in inventories anymore. It has always been difficult dealing with the people at the office, they are always mad before even answering the phone. This work isn't meeting our needs anymore, making me sick even from the hours, lack of sleep, horrible store location that require 90 minutes to get too. I am very sad as this was my 1st job ever, only a few more weeks and it would have been a year since Carl and I both started working there. This job made us travel while we inventoried the 76 Walmart in eastern canada, we had the chance to travel around the atlantic provinces. We met great people and the pay made me feel indipendant for the first time in my life. Leaving this job those mean a few things though, no more online yarn shopping, no more going to Toronto for Christmas and no more eating out so much. It's hard, we didn't plan to leave like this but we have to stop working there, they are driving us crazy. Also this is not a job for people with kids, at least not for people that actually like to spend time with their kids. Also we are so beat that once we are home, we mostly sleep wether it's the night or plain daylight. We are always exhausted and it's affecting more than just us, the kids don't get quality time with us because of all the crazy hours and traveling.

A year ago I talked about going to school to become a pharmacist assistant technician. Last week, we had an inventory in a pharmacy and I got to work in the lab. which meant where all the prescription medicine is. Got me to think about the job I had thought of training for but the worst part is I'm afraid to go back to school. The hours, the studying, the exams. OYE! Would I have time for it all, what about when the kids are sick and whatnot. Frankly I am also afraid of going back to school, I haven't opened a school book for almost 10 years.

Zoe has school today so I am going to focus my mind on the kids for a few days, it'll ground me as to what my real priorities are. Yesterday I was lucky enough to find a GREAT Christmas gift for Zoe at half the price I've seen it elsewhere!!! Gotta love Winners (our Canadian version of TJ Maxx). Already I am saving for Lucas's Christmas gift and then really I'll be done holiday shopping!!!

All you American knitters, don't forget to go VOTE!!! Today is the big day and you can make a difference, it is you duty after all.

big hugs to all that want them,

trick or knit!

Trick or treating has been a success as usual! Each year we plan the kids costumes with the intention that it will rain or snow, that way if it does end up say raining (like it did last night) the kids won't wreck their costumes and get cold. We are wise, I tell ya! ;) So after supper the kids got dressed up, we pulled out the big umbrellas and off we went. Lucas LOVED Halloween, pumpkins, decorations, candies! LOL! At 3,5yo he really understands that if you knock at doors, scream Happy Halloween! and say thanks have a nice evening people gave you more candies, kill them with kindness. HA! LOL! Someone even asked if we'd trade the kids over a few bags of chips, we cracked up and started negociating!

We did end up bringing the kids home though and after less than 2 hours or trick or treating they have plenty of candy to last for a while. We always walk the same 4-5 streets on Halloween and this year Lucas was running from one door to the next, then he'd dance while the people would come to answer the door, he was SO excited without even eating a candy yet. I am really eager for Christmas time to hit, he is going to believe in all the magic of it this time around, it will be so precious! :)

I couldn't resist and started swatching for the Shedir hat from the Knitty fall surprise. Thanks to Veronik for printing out the issue for me, I couldn't just have the pattern and yarn without starting now can I? I will be knitting the hat with a yarn that is SO luxurious, 70% baby alpaca, 20% silk and 10% cashmere! Oooooh lala! The yarn is just made to be storked, I keep petting it as it is really nice. This for sure is a hat for ME!!! I hope the kids will leave it alone. LOL! Lucas stole my celtic cap which I really like too but he's so cute with it, what can I say? ;) My Clapotis is now officially at the half way point, I have knitted have the yarn I have for the project and it really is beautiful. Everyone I show off the scarf too really likes it, what can I say, the design is simply gorgeous. :)

Off to go swatch some more. :)