Shetland Shopper and Seaside Tote

I made this Seaside Tote and this Shetland shopper back in May and June of this year.



Ever since they started charging for plastic bags, I've used sewn, knit, crochet, and other reusable bags for shopping.



pattern: Shetland Shopper by Gudrun Johnston
yarn: Luna, elann.com ,Viscose/Cotton, color # 9711, 2.5 balls ~ 273 yds
needles: 3.75 for base and top, 5mm for lace main body
start-finish: May 27-30



If I were to knit this again, I would make the handles sturdier. The bag itself stretches from here to China. You can load it up, and it will take everything and the kitchen sink, except that I don't think the handles could take it. Whenever the cashiers at the store fill it up, their eyes almost pop out, because it stretches so much.



pattern: Seaside Tote Bag by Stefanie Gage
yarn: Noro Sakura Color #4
hook: 4.5mm (G) for bottom base, 5mm (H) for main body
start-finish: June 17 - 20



Here I did a different top. I knew I didn't want to hang it from my shoulder, but fill it up and carry it like a shopping bag. This bag does stretch as well, but not nearly as much as the knit one. It does do it's job well. I loved how the base turned out, but the main body stitch pattern got boring fast. I could not wait to finish it. Anyway, I'm all set with bags for now.

***

Here's one tote bag I did not make myself, you all know where I got that from! It's a great size, and the fabric is not as stiff as I thought it would be. I like it. It can handle a lot of yarn! :o) Here in the photo it sits on a hand stitched table cloth my mother sent me. I have to iron it before I actually use it. Well, that's it for bags right now. I DO love me some bags!



Oh, and I almost forgot to show you this cute little coin purse I've got from Cindy.


Thank you, Cindy! :o)

***

Ottawa

At the beginning of October we took an overnight trip to Ottawa. Biko and Happy got to come with us. I'm telling you, never again! The pups were real good in the car. But after being in the car for a day, with bathroom breaks of course, they had quite a lot of energy to disburse. I shudder when I think of those two days.
We found a pet friendly Hotel, and after a lengthy walk in the evening, Biko was quite content.



That could not be said of Happy. He was like a whirlwind, and could not settle down. He reminded me of a five year old on a sugar rush.


I tried to get a good picture, but he soon discovered that he could jump from one bed to the other, and for the next half hour or so, did just that.


He also learned something new on this trip; Biko ever so helpful showed him how he could drink from a toilet! Never before and never since!
These are the only pictures I took on this trip. And that's O.K. it's better forgotten anyway.

The pups behaved well, until about 2 hours from home on our way back. They just had enough of this never ending car ride. It was dark, raining, we've caught a cold, and felt terrible, and they started to fight. In my desperation I threw back my last apple, and that broke the spell. Happy was working on it for about 5 minutes, but that was enough to calm them down.
I even brought along some knitting, but needless to say, I never unpacked it.

Well, live and learn!
***

Kiila

I'm trying to get my backlog of finished knitting shown here, that sometime in the near future, I'll be able to blog "real time". This pair of socks must be the oldest FO right now.
Back in May there was a Mystery KAL on ravelry and I participated, because the designer was Yarnissima.
Even though I've bought sock kits from her, this was my first pair of socks I`ve knit, which she designed.


I must admit, I was a little disappointed because the design was so simple. I'd expected more somehow. I didn't like how the transition from the cables on the foot to the cables on the leg was executed. Other then that, I don't remember much about it.



pattern: Yarnissima
yarn: Jojoland Melody, 100% wool, color # Y20-2043, 2 x 50g
needles: DP 2.5mm
start-finish: May 4-24 (it took so long, since we got one clue each week)

***
This past weekend, I enjoyed reading more than anything. I still knit a little on my Triangular Scarf with Leaf Pattern by Nancy Bush, but Stieg Larsson's Trilogy just kept me enthralled I could not help myself. I've only got the two first books The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Girl who played with Fire, leaving me antsy to get my hand on the last book. Thank god it was released this October in English in the UK, and now it`s on its way to me, albeit the Royal Post`s ongoing strike. I hope my package slips through.

***

Shredder for rent!

He works fast, and on a low noise level. He can go on for hours, and only needs a few pets, and some treats to recharge his batteries, before he resumes his work. He's not limited to single sheet paper alone, but shreds cardboard, high gloss paper, envelopes, newspaper, flyers, you name it! Once he gets started, he is hard to stop, but even if his work is hard, he'll not complain. He will not rest, until he's done, and satisfied with his work. He comes cheap too, no need for electricity.



Anyone need a shredder?
***

Moose and Donkey = Trinity Hannah!

I've been waiting to tell you this, and finally she's arrived!

Welcome, Trinity Hannah, Baby girl (born on November 12th) of Kelly and her husband Moose!

I've been reading Kelly's blog for quite some time now, and always thought she and her husband are a lovely couple.
Back in September I sewed some bibs, and burp cloths, as well as some socks for the little one, she called Tadpole (I'm sure not any more).


Since Kelly calls her husband "Moose" I was looking for a fabric with Moose on it. I wish I could have found something nicer, but that was all I've got.



It was hard to find a fabric with a Donkey on it, and I'm still not sure this is one, but let's say it is.


This bib I made for fun. I could not resist the "I am a Canadian!" on it. :o)




I like the look of these socks, but I had to rip out the heel twice, and didn't think the third time would be the charm, so I just did my usual square heel. I just didn't get the heel in the pattern. I like the garter stitches down front, and back.

pattern: Garter Stripe Baby Socks by Jennifer Hoel
yarn: left over Bambino sock yarn by Sockpixie
needle: 2mm
size: newborn

Congratulations to the whole family!

***

45

It's my birthday today. I'm very grateful that I have family and friends who think of me on this day. I don't take it for granted, since I know not everybody is that lucky. Thanks, everyone!

The one thing which comes to mind is, that more than half of my life is over, and I could/should be in better shape. That this is not going to happen any time soon, David surprised me with a "homemade" Austrian style chocolate cake, almost like a Sacher Torte, but not quite. One I've made many times myself in the past, and I like it. (He ordered it from an Austrian Restaurant in the next town.)

I've got another pair of socks from Hannah. She sent me this lovely package with handmade organic soap called "Happy Carrots", an embroidered sachet filled with Lavender, and this weird, totally cool little mug. She writes the most touching cards too.

Some time ago I mentioned to David, that if there are always reruns on TV, they should show Northern Exposure more often. I used to love to watch that series. I'd like to watch it from start to finish, and look what I've got! The complete series in this fun bag. He does listen to what I say - sometimes...

Today I'll be thinking seriously about my life, past and future.
***

Grove

Originally I wanted to knit these mittens for myself. Ignoring the size given in the pattern (average women's adult, 7" circumference at palm), I cast on. I'm not an average woman, and my dimensions at the palm are 8.5". After the first mitten was done, I was fully prepared to rip it out again, and start over with modifications to fit my large hands. On the other hand I had a perfectly good (riddled with mistakes) mitten all done, finished, ready, so I asked Hannah if she would like them. I don't think she dares to say NO, so she said yes, she likes them, and the other mitten was cast on. I always make mistakes with the first of a pair, be it mittens or socks. Once I know how it's supposed to go, the second one turns out right. The second one here, would be the right one. Same here.

I fully intended to knit myself a pair, right after I finished these mittens, but got sidetracked with stranded colorwork instead. Ha, yes, I've an attention span of a three year old, and a memory like a gold fish. At least that's what my son says, I can't remember.

The pattern is from "Made in Brooklyn" by Jared Flood. I wanted his booklet so bad, that when it got published I ordered it right on Classic Elite Yarns website, and they use shopatron. The postage was more than the cost of the booklet! I really feared, it would be sold out, and I wanted it, I wanted it bad. So here's the first finished pattern from it. More to follow...

The yarn I used is elann's Peruvian Collection Highland Wool in the color # 2117 using 4mm needles.

The cuffs were a big PIA to knit, but the rest of the mittens went very quickly and easy. The only complaint about this booklet so far is, that it's printed in a too small font. The charts are so small, it's hard to read them, maybe I should go look for a magnifying glass. I've tried to enlarge the mitten chart pattern, but it got all blurry, so I had to look at both, the print out, and to be sure at the booklet. That's a bit annoying. The top of the mitten gets a three-needle bind off, which is not my favorite, unless it's a shoulder seam on a pullover. I liked how the decreases were worked, real clever. While knitting I didn't see the nice structure of the mittens, it came out better in the photographs. In all I'm pleased with the mittens, and I think Jared has absorbed some of E.Z.'s knitting genius. I'm looking forward to see more of his designs.

***

And as of yesterday evening, I've officially started on Holiday knitting. Didn't even know I would do much of that this year, but the closer it gets to Christmas, the more gift ideas I get.

***

On the Happy front, we had some success. Thanks so much for all your advise. It has been tested on him - all of it! We found a winning combination of long leash, exhausting Frisbee play with two pieces, so he would bring back one, and run after the other. As it turned out, he choose the rubbery Frisbee over sausage, and that's what makes him come running and into the house like the wind. He'll only get that one from now on when he comes inside.

For now I'll still leave the leash on him, until he really comes reliable, when called to go inside. I don't want him to get more practice in ignoring me.

That would be the super, better than sausage Frisbee, and soon to be Superdog! ;o)

Happy's first snow!

Well there he is, real time Happy as he looks today! And I've not even caught up with my blogging yet, but last night we had our first snow, after a very weird day of sunshine, scary cloud formations, snowball shower the size of peas, wind, and a drizzle of rain. After dark before bedtime I went outside and to my joy and amazement, we had some snow!

You should have seen Happy's face! He didn't want to step on it, he sniffed, and looked at me, gingerly took a few steps, looked at me, licked the snow, and so we went all around the pool, until he finally took his pee. This morning though, it was business as usual, even if the stepping board was a little slippery.


Throw the frisbee, throw it, throw it ....


a lot of sniffing and snorting (by the way, this was early morning, while Biko was still in dreamland)


Did you hear that?


I'm sure there's a big, old bear in the bushes! (it was just a falling leave)


From last night, a frozen paw print.

***
We have a bit of a problem with this teenage fellow right now. He does not want to come inside, when we are finished playing. No trick or sausage makes him come close enough for me to grab him. He just knows all I want is for him to come inside, and it's so much more fun outside!
I tried leaving a leash on him, but the first one was too short, he learned quickly how close he could let me come before I had him. I tried a very long leash, and he promptly ran a figure eight around 2 trees and got tangled up real good. By the way, I put the harness on him, and on that the leash, so he wouldn't break his neck. With the long leash I was just untangling him all the time, so that was not the solution.
At the end I left him outside by himself, with the door open, and I could watch him through the window. He had a grand time, periodically looking at the door, and the first time he came inside after about 20 minutes. The next time it was about 10 minutes (totally covered in mud, I had to give him a bubble bath), and today he came after 5 mintues. Progress! Anyway, with temps tropping, I don't like to leave the door open too long. I sure hope he gets over this phase soon! Any other suggestions?

***

Halifax

At the beginning of October I visited Hannah in Halifax for a long weekend. I always wanted to visit her, since she started going to NSCAD University there.


(see the pillars, one's in the sun and one's in the shade, that's the entry to University; it's several historical buildings together, I think a couple of blocks, really huge, and that's just the old part.)

Even though she didn't have much time (after she left me in the evenings, she had to go to school do some printing), she tried to make this short visit a nice one for me. She would drag (in the most loving way) me around the city from Friday to Sunday, rain and shine, no matter.


We visited the Art Gallery of Noca Scotia, and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. We went for strolls along the Halifax Harbour twice (rain or shine remember!). It was wet, cold, windy, sunny, and I loved it.



Hannah with the forbidden Island in the background (it's what I call it, since it's military and no one is allowed there. It also has the oldest lighthouse ever on it.)



One evening we spoiled ourselves and went to Waterfront Warehouse Seafood Restaurant - delicious! The photos are blurry because I didn't use flash light and the camera couldn't focus right. After dinner our sight was blurry too! :o)


mussels for Hannah and


seafood chowder for me.

Halifax is a nice city. I like it. It's just the right size. I've been there from Friday noon until Monday noonish. Hannah and I ran around from Friday afternoon til Sunday noonish, and I swear I knew my way around after that, no problem. It's also small enough that you start recognizing people again. I saw a few people who stood out to me (like the guy who served us tea and sandwiches in a bakery or the woman with the stroller), and I later saw them around town at different places, days, and times. I thought it especially nice that as we walked, Hannah got greeted many times by fellow students.
We walked (and walked) through cemeteries, and the Halifax Public Gardens, all very beautiful even on overcast days.


This ones in the middle of the city, and so peaceful, while outside the fence the traffic pustles along.

On Saturday we went to the Farmers Market and boy was I overwhelmed with it all. So many people, such amazing abundance of food, and handmade items. I could not resist to take home a couple of those beautiful cutting boards. (for unknown reasons I can't get the photo to show up here)
They came in all sizes, but I had to carry them around for a while, so I opted for the smallest ones. We ate fine pastry, and had some Elderberry juice as well.
It was all so wonderful, except I had blisters on my feet! For a while I sucked it up, but at one point I could not make another step because of the pain. Well I could, but it looked funny. The next shoe store I saw would make a sale, I was sure of that. In I went, looked around to find the Birkenstock section, didn't find it, and almost crying left again. Hannah knew of another shoe store (yeah well, big surprise, that Halifax has more than ONE shoe store!), so we went to find this one, very slow going it was.
I went in, found the section I was looking for, found a pair of Birkenstock clogs (didn't care what color, just that they were closed in front and open in the back. Looked around for some help, pointed and said with tears in my eyes, " I want those in size 42!"
The Lady who helped me said," Are you aware that this this size costs more?" I was sitting by then. I bit my tongue, because I wanted to shout, if that's so, then I'll take size 38, even though I need a 42! Long story short, I got my clogs, and could walk again!



On the board walk at the Harbour there was this guy with these gorgeous two fellows. The big one was called Rocky. I didn't catch the name of the little guy, but he's 4 1/2 month old in this picture. The guy said, his wife calls the dogs "chick magnets" and it was true. They got photographed a lot, and petted as well.



Here we had to walk UP after a short, but cold rain shower (still with my feet hurting at this point).



Here is Hannah sitting outside a nice cafe (can't remember the name of it, but something with a Monk in it). We later went inside, sat down for tea and knit until closing time. In the background there's an old boarding house. I loved this building which was about a block long, down the road, and to the left side. It's going to be torn down though. Very sad.



After all this running around, the nicest time we had was in my hotel room. Sunday at around noon we were wet to our undies, and exhausted. Hannah left me at the hotel to get dry and to put my feet up. Meanwhile she ran home (oh yeah, I visited her house too, but didn't take any pictures there) to get some clothes to change and her knitting stuff (which was the black sock I mentioned in the post before this one). She picked up a pizza and some chai tea for us. Well, she's in better shape then I am, so I was just sitting there in the big ole chair, with my feet up, and she was comfortable in my bed. We watched a couple of movies, and it was cozy and nice. We never get so much together time when she's at home.


The best place in my room was this chair!


I started knitting the Textured shawl, got halfway done, but I'm not loving it. I might rip it out again.



Oh, and how could I almost forget. Before I flew to Halifax, I looked up three yarn stores in the city. Hannah knew all of them. I was very disappointed with one of them, the other one was closed, but the third one LK Yarns was what I think is the ultimate yarn store! My heart started pounding faster, and I almost hyperventilated. There was so much yarn everywhere, all gorgeous stuff. I smiled from ear to ear, and inched my way through the narrow aisles, squeezing yarn, and of course I found something to my liking as well. Gorgeous Malabrigo sock yarn, and some Sisu sock yarn not pictured here, and Fame Trend sock yarn, probably not for socks. The On Your Toes sock yarn's already made into socks. Well, there you have it. My trip to Halifax. :o) Thanks Hannah for your lovely company, and patience with your (old, hurt, slow moving, deer in headlights, country bumkin also called yokel) mom.

Kai-Mei and Angee socks!

Argh, daylight saving time is still bothering me, even though we are finally back to normal. You go tell Happy, that it's way too early to get up and have breakfast, when his internal clock tells him otherwise!
As much as I like Fall, there's always something, which I really don't like about it. For instance, as soon as it gets cold outside, we'll have unwanted guests coming into the house. We were successful trappers today, and I woke up my son to get rid of trap and mouse! I did allow him to go back to sleep though. :o) Funny enough, it's always just one mouse invading our space, well thank God for that!

Yesterday we started tackling all the fallen leaves, but even with "walking" pneumonia it's no walk in the park to rake the leaves and put them in paper bags, and carry the bags into the garage. Yeah, well, we missed yesterdays pick up, and the next one will only be next week, and it's rain in the forcast, every day, and it's paper bags, you know. I felt foolish enough to schlepp them around, when a woman showed up, grinning and sticking some advertisment in my hand, while I wrestled the heavy bag. She thought I needed a break anyway, and could benefit from a little reading. The one sheet might just have been enough to tip me over, if it weren't for the huge bag in front of me. Another thing to recycle! Ah well, some blisters later, and with a steaming mug of tea in front of me, I decided to show you my Kai-Mei socks today: oh by the way, my son has "walking" pneumonia not I. We'll finish the yard clean up next sunny day, whenever that will be.

I've preordered Cookie A.'s book "Sock Innovation", and bought actually two copies. One for me, and one for Hannah. She's actually knit Cookie A. socks before and liked knitting her designs. So she got the book for her birthday in June.

This is my first Cookie A. sock design and I loved the Kai Mei the most.


The yarn is Knit Picks Donegal, I dyed some time last year. It's very soft.



Since I finished them back in April, I don't remember much about knitting them, except it was a pleasure. I loved the butterfly stitch, and they fit.



At the beginning of October I visited Hannah in Halifax. Have to show you some picture of that trip too. While I was there, she was knitting a black sock from Cookie A.'s book. It looked huge.
A week later, when I was at home again, a package arrived with a pair of socks in it for ME!

Yep, Hannah has knit me Angee! She didn't have enough of either color, so she made one black and one natural. I love them and they fit very well!



Even though she's quite busy with her stuff at University, it's the only time of year, where Hannah gets some knitting time. I don't know how she does it.

Do I really need a title?

Right, thanks for the warm welcome back! I'm sorry if you have followed me on flickr or ravelry, so you'll already know some of the photos of Happy or my knitting. I'll be done with the old stuff soon, moving on to new projects and pictures of the pups.

To follow up, here's Happy in September (17 weeks old).


We found out that his choice of favorite toy is the frisbee! As much as Biko likes her tennis ball, and Sam liked his big red Jolly ball, Happy will do anything for his frisbee. He didn't actually catch it in this picture, but was just playing around. At least he was bringing it back for me to throw it again.



Playing with a frisbee was new to me too, so he had to get into odd places to retrieve it. One is still in the backyard of the neighbour, since they never go there during this time of year. We'll get it back eventually.



And here you see Biko (looking like a tank says Kelly), after her last swim for this season back in September. She's all puffed up, still wet, and glad that HE's not bothering her for a moment. Happy also likes the Jolly ball.



I haven't spun anything for about 2 month now, that is, until this last week. I took the wheel out of its hiding place in the corner, and was happy to see that I still could do it. Still, I'm a little slow I think, since the pups knocked it over twice, before I realized I had to put it away, after I played with it. Of course knocking it over did nothing for the wheel's health. I had to figure out what's wrong with it, since the drive band was acting weird, and jumping off twice. I'm glad to say I eventually found the problem, afer I nearly took it apart into all it's pieces, oiled the heck out of it, and it wasn't even a big deal. The wooly winder was the culprit, I just had to push a piece (don't know what it's called) back into it's place, and the drive band has now a clear way to do its thing. Now it's smooth spinning again. Yeah!

On the knitting front:
Over the next little while, I'll show you:
8 pairs of socks
2 pairs of mittens
3 pairs of fingerless mittens
1 knit market bag
1 crochet market bag
1 pin cushion
1 1/2 lace scarves
something sewn and
one finished handpun yarn. Hmm, yeah that's about it. So, that's what you can look forward to. :o)

What's that now? You want to see another picture of the pups, well here it is. Do you remember in the beginning, when we got Happy he could run around comfortable UNDER Biko's belly? He sure can't anymore.

It's now or never ....

It feels a little weird blogging again. I've thought about it over the last week or so, didn't know where to start. You get used to not thinking about it real fast. You stop noticing blog worthy things or moments, which cross your way. Life goes on without blogging, no problem. I'm not even sure I've got something to say. I sure do have things to show you, knitted things. Some left over from before the break, some projects I made during the last month, but not today.

So, it's now or never! I thought I'll ease back in, not with spinning, knitting or even with doggie stories, but with this lovely indidcation of Fall. It's part of our front yard.

Today the weather had me in a peculiar mood all day, and right before the sun set, I took this photo (not that we actually saw the sun today). I love it, the photo. The funny thing though is that it's really pretty, right? But - how am I going to spot the doggy piles? The leaves came down so fast!

Well, my dear readers, I've missed you all, that is unquestionable true, even if I didn't miss posting itself.

*** Monika***