a long time coming...

well, this has only been languishing in my in progress pile since last july (yeah, that's a year and more ago). I'm sure I could have finished it much quicker, but initial progress was delayed when we moved and I didn't have the floor space, and then it just got forgotten again and again. I enjoy quilts, and love the finished project, but sometimes they can be quite tedious, especially when I piece them together the hard way, ie each piece separately, and tiny little squares. You may not be able to tell in the photos but many of the squares are assorted stripes - I found three or four different stripe fabrics in a series, one darker greens, one lighter, one with blues. The other pieces are assorted blue and green cottons and cotton/linens I had. I also had a long time deciding on the finishing and back, but eventually went for a simple finish.

There is no real edging, the squares just finish and join with the back. The backing is simple soft green fleece, which i like as a quilt back because it makes it thinner to quilt on the machine, but still provides lots of warmth. This quilt is a nice size for cuddling on the couch. Ummm, not much else to say. Back to knitting?

dark nights...

The sun actually showed its face for most of today, but of course I didn't finish these until tonight, and I just couldn't wait a whole week before being home in daylight again to take pics, so this is what I've got. These socks are delish, and knit up quickly. I procured this Handmaiden Casbah sock yarn, which is ridiculously soft and makes me swoon when I put the socks on. So I knew I needed a pattern that would live up to the luxury. And I think Baudelaire is a good fit, figuratively and literally. Admittedly I didn't follow the pattern word for word, but just took the lace chart and cable and then did my own toe, heel, and number of stitches. But I think I got the idea, and these socks make me happy! I highly recommend it, and the stitch pattern was easy to remember. The colour is great too, although maybe just slightly more variegated than I wanted. Still, the variations of dark and pinky purple, plus even a little navy, is very subtle and nice. I'm sure I'll be wearing these a lot this winter.

For more pics, check out Ravelry if you can.

the eye...

or that's the rumour anyway. That this bright blue sky is just a momentary lapse in the blustery gales of November, luring all the folks out with squinting eyes to see daylight for a few moments before battening down the hatches once again. Too dramatic? You're telling me. Last night and this morning was our first real storm of the season, and I don't use the term "storm" lightly. Storm meaning over 50 knot winds (yes, I'm somehow always more comfortable measuring wind in knot as opposed to kms), rather than our usual gales of roughly 35 knots. Storm meaning no power for much of the morning. Storm meaning when the wind quieted a bit we had to spend a couple hours outside picking up the glass and twisted metal covering the lawn after half the upstairs railing came down, and to which our landlord is now using his shop vac on the lawn to get the stubborn shards so his kids don't step on any next summer. And storm meaning part of the highway was closed due to large pieces of driftwood washing up across the road. In this photo you can see the waves still curling in, although I'm sure they are much smaller than at dawn's first light. Makes me think dreamily of the west coast of the island, rather than our usually quiet neck of the woods.


But thank the sun for coming out, and giving me a chance to photograph my most recent accomplishment, the Lush & Lacy Cardigan from Sweaterbabe. This was a pretty quick knit, only drawn out while I tried to get other things done. The pattern was easy to follow, with only a few small things that made me go ????? I added a bit of length to the sleeves, and also ended up doing the collar in moss stitch. If I had more confidence in knitting sweaters I probably would have attempted doing this in the round, as there is a plethora of seaming. I love the little peplum in the back and on the sleeves - the whole cardigan has a lovely old-fashioned feel but still is totally modern I think. I finished it with some metal buttons with a floral motif.

I've been eyeing Sweaterbabe's site for a while and there are a few other patterns I would like to try. Oh, I used Ella Rae Classic Merino on this sweater, and I think 5.5mm circular needles. I have not blocked it, and am still up in the air on whether I will, as it seems to be settling in to shape on it's own.


After being bogged up in knitting for awhile, I decided to take a break yesterday and get back to the sewing machine. I am awful at bloggin about my sewing projects for some reason, which is a shame as I usually get more wear out of them than my knitting. So I'm going to try and be better, and here is the first one. I got the idea for this little shawl collared sweater from J.Crew's website, and decided to construct my own. I think it came out pretty similar, and I wanted to add a little something, hence my friendly little owl on the pocket. I love sweaters like this that are casual and cozy in jogging fleece, but with details (shawl collar, three-quarter sleeves) that help give it more tailoring and make it work-wearable (for me, at least).

Now I better get to work on my fingerless mitts that I've been neglecting, especially since I've joined the Fingerless Mitts for Fall knit-a-long. But just for fun, I've also started some Baudelaire socks in lusciously soft Handmaiden Casbah - yum.