My Petit Flower

After seeing all the cute little hats over at Bloggy Baby Bumpers, I went and bought a copy of Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats. There's a bit of criticism over this book -- mainly that she uses the same hat form over and over and simply adds embellishments or stripes. While true, there are a lot of good little ideas in this book and seeing as there seems to be an infinite number of babies in my world, I'm glad I picked it up. A girl can only make so many simple umbilical cord hats, right?

I went for what seems to be the most popular hat in the book, the upside-down daisy, intended for my cousin's little gal, who should come along any day now. I used leftover Debbie Bliss wool/cotton (from the fair isle cardigan) and the hat will accompany the Jess Hutch Dolly I made. I like this hat -- the gauge is a little looser than the yarn would like, but since it's a spring baby, it'll be cooler. Also, my petals seem to be shorter and fatter than others I've seen, making the hat look a bit more like an iced cupcake than a flower, but I still think it looks cute.

Speaking of cute, it's been a while since my little dewdrop has made an appearance. Here she is in her raincoat, making a call on her Barbie phone. I think she's talking to my sister-in-law, asking when her new cousin will be here. Hopefully not until I finish the baby blanket, right?

Sailing Season

Spring is making a tentative entrance here (though I'm not kidding myself -- there'll be plenty of freak snowfalls well into May), which means it's time to scan the streets for garage sale signs as I drive around on the weekends. I love garage sales. I haven't hit a whole lot of them in recent years since we didn't have a car for most of our time in Toronto and Ruby is just getting old enough to accompany me or stay at home with Aaron while I dig for treasure. I was pretty excited to see a moving sale poster in the hood when we came home from my sister-in-law's birthday party on Thursday, so Friday morning Ruby and I were off for the first sale of the season.

The great thing about our neighbourhood is that it's populated by older people, many of whom want to cash in on the city's super hot real estate market (prices have more than doubled in the last two years -- it's crazy) and move into condos, so they need to get rid of a lot of stuff. The house we went to on Friday was awesome -- an early '60s mod two-level split, inhabited by a woman who very proudly told us she was a great-grandmother. Most of the stuff was inside the house, which meant that we got to see the interior -- it was so cool. I kind of wanted to ask if she'd already sold the house too, but with prices like they are, it was probably going for about half a million dollars. Like I said, crazy.


Anyway, she had plenty of cool old kitchen appliances and furniture, but I promised Aaron I'd stay practical, since he hates the excess stuff in our house. I picked up this great Blue Mountain Pottery vase (we do actually need vases), mostly for the nostalgia factor. Blue Mountain was huge when I was a kid and I fondly remember a pair of ceramic dogs that lived in our living room for most of my childhood (my very non-nostalgic father long ago threw them out). I also couldn't resist this ceramic tray, because of it's overwhelming housewifey-ness. It's got a recipe for Ham Salad on it! I don't think I'll ever be able to bring myself to actually make ham salad or to serve it on the plate, but a girl can never have enough serving trays.


But, the true treasure was this 1957 issue of Family Circle, which the lady gave to me for the amazing price of absolutely free. Look at the smiling lady and her delicious cake, made completely out of pre-packaged foodstuff. It's a real gem, lots of thoroughly disgusting recipes, a fashion spread, mothering advice... but the ads are the best. My favourite advertises "And my doctor agrees that Jell-o is just the thing for babies" and features a six month old babe eating sugar, food colouring and gelatin. My crafty side wants to carve this thing up, but I think I'm going to leave it as-is for now.

At last...

Dudes. I finally totally buttons and all finished my Fair Isle Cardigan. A very fussy and very finished object. The specs:

Fair Isle Cardigan from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits For Tots
Size: 2-3 yrs
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Wool/Cotton in pretty much every colour it comes in.
Needle: US #3

Here it is. A fair isle cardigan knit in DK yarn. My mods were few, if any, and other than some chart confusion, I didn't have the kinds of problems with the pattern that others have had with some of the sweaters in this book. In the end I think this one falls into the "an experience to knit" rather than the "a joy to wear" category. The inside is neat, but there are a lot of loops and the fair isle and largely cotton yarn makes for a bulky and inflexible fabric. But I have no regrets. It was a challenge to knit, I loved doing it and I feel proud.

Now for the but... I'm sure many of you would love to see a picture of this sweater on the back of a certain two-year old. No such luck. Before it was blocked I tried to get it on Ruby and she screamed saying that it hurt her arms (I think her thumb got caught on one of the loops). Now she looks at it and will declare "Mummy made it for Ruby! My sweater!" but when asked if she wants to try it on she furrows her brow and says "too big." Nice. I'll try to trick her into putting it on so I can get at least one photo of her in the stupid thing.

On Hiatus...

...Just for another day or so. I went to a really sweet baby's shower on Sunday and in my attempts to wrangle Ruby and get her out the door for a nap, I left my camera sitting on a side table. But it's probably for the best -- we're completely off in our house this week. Aaron's been out of town (thankfully coming back today) and Ruby is suffering hard from Day Light Savings time. I like the extra bit of sleeping in (though, I should probably put a stop to it if I want her to get back on track), but it's like she's lost any sense of reality. All of the kids in her little classes are behaving so oddly -- I'm telling you, it's not worth the extra sunlight in the evening.

In other me news, my dad was kind enough to take me to the hockey game last night (Ruby kept saying "Mummy and Grandpa go to hoppy game!") where the Flames beat the St. Louis Blues in a very exciting shoot out. There are perks to living in Calgary.

W.I.P. Friday: Hot Socks!

I know, I should be posting photos of the totally finished, totally blocked Fair Isle Cardigan. Here's the thing: I haven't sewn the pocket in or attached the buttons. I know. Part of my lack of motivation is Ruby's utter refusal to even try the thing on: she claims it "hurts." Also, she's been prancing around non-stop in a brown Old Navy hoodie that rarely comes off -- she puts it on over her pyjamas in the morning and I don't think there's any replacing it. That, coupled with her desire to wear party dresses every day (and rain boots) makes for a pretty interesting, but fairly typical, two-year-old wardrobe.

So, since the knitting of the cardigan is done, I cast on a pair of socks yesterday. They're Roza's Socks, as designed by Grumperina for the new issue of Interweave. I'm loving them. I had a couple of stashed hanks of Lorna's Laces' Shepherd Sock in Sassy Stripe on hand, though I'm sure this garish colourway would make poor Grumperina cringe. I like the colour combo -- it reminds me of a blanket my Grandma crocheted for me when I was little, but I'm not totally happy with the lack of striping. Last time I used this yarn (in Fresh Stripe), it was pretty stripey, but I know others have had pooling problems. This just looks like a bit of a mish-mash, but I kind of like it.


And finally, look at the progress on the crocheted blanket! I've been averaging a row a day, which is pretty quick going, now that I've got the technique down (I admit, I was throwing the yarn with my right hand -- I couldn't help it). Ruby has already told me that it's to go in her crib. I'm not sure about that, but hopefully I can get it done in time for the eventual move to a big girl bed.

Return To The Valley Of The Dolls

At last, something I can call a FO! Here's the finished Dolly, from Jess Hutch's Unusual Toys For You To Knit And Enjoy. I love this little gal. She's knit up with Cascade 220 (which is less fuzzy than the recommended Lamb's Pride -- though that can be quite nice too) on US 8 needles (though, she is a little loose -- but I wanted her to be a decent size). I have a big box of Cascade in about eight colours that I always use for making these toys -- it's like a little box of paint that I can use whenever the fancy strikes me.


Here's Dolly with the other Jess Hutch creations that we still have kicking around at home: Squarey and Kate. I must say, I really love this doll, other than my all-time fave, Spherey, I think she's my favourite. I really like her basic body -- I have visions of making more of them in the style of Russian stacking dolls and just skipping the arms and legs. I do love the dress too -- I hope that the baby that this is intended for has a lot of fun with her as she grows older.

Speaking of favourites though, Ruby has already claimed Dolly as her own -- I'll have to hide it while she's sleeping and hope she forgets about it. The toys I make for her she couldn't care less about, but the gifts are so enticing even if she doesn't know it's not for her. Speaking of which, I'll have FO photos of the Fair Isle Cardigan once I can actually get the thing on the kid. Because it's for her, she's refusing to wear it. Nice.

Self Portrait Challenge: Online Tools Week #1

I've gotta admit -- I'm not in love with this month's SPC theme. Online tools are not really my thing, I much prefer organic cut 'n' paste forms of expression. I mean, it took me years to give in and finally get a digital camera -- I liked the thought of using film too much to give it up. Anyway, I did find that the Scribbler tool was kind of fun and mesmerizing to watch, so I made this little drawing of my own self.

Other than procrastinating by sitting in front of the computer, our little family had a nice weekend. Lots of visiting with the grandparents, a nice trip to the park to play in the snow and a super short wait to get into one of our favourite breakfast joints (where the line is usually about 45 minutes long! Undoable with a two-year-old) made it a relaxing one. Oh, we also watched Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice and The Big Chill. We're not into partner-swapping (um, not in the least, thank you), but somehow that's where our mail-order movie chips fell this weekend. Weird.

W.I.P. Friday: Hello Dolly!

The Fair Isle Cardigan is in its final stages, Stars and Hearts Blanket is about 3/4 done and the crochet afghan is growing by about a row per day. So, here's the first look at the newest project, another Jess Hutch design. This little Dolly is a gift for my cousin's baby girl, who is due sometime this month. I think the toy/hat combo has become my signature baby gift, and since I've been assured that the babe is a little lady, I thought I'd take the opportunity to knit up Dolly from Jess' Unusual Toys For You To Knit And Enjoy.

I must say, so far at least, this is my favourite of all the Hutch toys I've made (and there have been, ahem, a few). So much so, that I'm contemplating keeping her, or making another for myself. Legs and arms should be finished up in a couple days, so I'll give you a full run-down on the Dolly then.

Time For A Bath

Oh, I'd love to take a bath, thank you, but I'm talking about my little fair isle cardigan. Yes, the knitting is done. Against the advice of the ladies down at Fair Isle February I went ahead and seamed the sucker before blocking. I don't have a proper blocking board and for some reason I just felt in my gut that my pieces would fit together better if I seamed first, especially seeing as it wouldn't be hard to match the fair isle stitch for stitch. Anyway, she's seamed, all ends are woven in, and she's ready to go. I tried the sweater on Ruby last night and it barely just fits pre-blocking, so once that crinkly fabric is smoothed out, it should be good well into the spring. Hoorah!

As for my other knitting, I'm feeling pretty productive these days. The Hearts and Stars blanket is chugging along, the crochet afghan continues to grow and I've started a wee Dolly for yet another cousin's baby. I'll do a WIP update on Friday for those of you who are more interested in knitting than random pictures of myself or used crockery.

Self Portrait Challenge: B&W Week #4

What a wonderful weekend we had, doing all sorts of things that are out of our ordinary weekend routine (i.e. housework, trips to Canadian tire, doing anything possible to avoid having to make dinner). We: went to a car show (culture shock!), talked on the phone with a dear friend in Germany (new baby!), ate burgers at a drive-in (and milkshakes!), went skating (well, daddy and daughter, I stayed home and relaxed), watched Marie Antoinette (thumbs down), saw some old friends play music on national TV (SNL!), computer chatted with a dear friend in L.A., had brunch with a dear friend here at home and best of all, went to an Oscar party.

Speaking of Oscars -- they're like Christmas to me, I love them. And while the actual show was pretty blah this year (even the dresses were boring) I had so much fun actually getting to watch them with friends again this year. Ruby attended and made it all the way to the Best Actress award before she pooped out and had to go home (we were taping it at home, so nothing was missed — don't you worry). Best of all, I not only won in my Oscar wager against my Dad, earning me a very fancy dinner out, but I also won the party pool! Hello $35! Thank you to The Departed!

Pyrex It To Me!

I don't know why, but I've had the itch for Pyrex lately. Now, I'm not a huge thrifter. I loooove thrift store finds and I'm always envious when I go into the home of a hard-core thrifter, but I've never had the patience to really really get into it. But, maybe it was my sister-in-law Erin's recent gift of some milk-glass mugs, or perhaps it was our trip to her house when I basked in her own Pyrex shrine (she easily has 100 pieces -- no kidding) that has given me a huge urge to accumulate stuff. Either way, I've been meaning to get out there thrifting and today I finally got around to it and hit gold!


Before we moved, Leena found a couple of awesome Butterfly Gold Pyrex mixing bowls for me, which I love and use daily. Today at the Interfaith I snagged two Butterfly Gold teacups and a oval covered casserole! So matchy! I was really out for some solid refrigerator boxes, but I'm always up for adding to a set.

So, thrifting. I think I'm up for resuming a solid garage sale regimen come spring. Anybody with me?

Self Portrait Challenge: B&W Week #3

Wow, I've been neglecting the old SPC lately. Maybe it's because I've been feeling a little rotten lately, physically speaking and am not feeling like sharing my cold-stricken, norwalk suffering self. Or maybe I'm just not so sure that my loyal readership are that into seeing a picture of me every week. Either way, I decided to go for it this week, but it was hard. Is it just me, or am I starting to look old?

I originally wanted to do this shot early in the morning without make-up, but after the initial few shots, I couldn't bear the bags under my eyes and general puffy lines around my face, so I slapped on some make-up. Maybe it's the dry weather or my ill health (damn those germy little kids!), but I feel like I've aged five years in the last few months. I've always felt fairly young-looking for my age (31 for those of you who are snoopy), but I know it's catching up on me. I spent most of last week with a terrible pain in my leg that I was convinced was a blood clot. A trip to the doctor confirmed it was... varicose veins. That, coupled with a recent trip to a rock club populated by 19-year-olds has made me feel, finally, like I'm an actual grown-up. But, besides that nagging pain in my calf and a few vanity attacks, I don't mind it. Life is good. Now if I could only get rid of those bags under my eyes, I'd be invincible!

Heirloom

Again, I'm posting about things that other people knit. But this one is just too good not to share. Check out this dress -- a beautiful fingerling-weight wool yarn in a pale green (though the colour is more intense in real life than I could capture in a photo) knitted into a gorgeous child's swing dress. The whole thing is in a diamond seed-stitch pattern that is simple, yet really interesting looking. I love this dress, it's so classic but contemporary looking.

Now, would you believe me if I told you that it's almost 60 years old?


This gem of a knit was crafted in about 1949 by Aaron's maternal grandmother for Aaron's mother Leena, who was a toddler. Can you believe it? The family is pretty meticulous in taking care of their treasures, but this thing is in great shape. Plus the design looks like something I'd knit now (though I don't think I'd have the patience to knit a full dress like this out of sock yarn). Leena gave it to me a few weeks ago with the request that I take a few photos of Ruby in it so that she could send them to her mother. We tried to do a photo shoot this morning (the dress fits perfectly), but Ruby protested to much for Aaron to capture a good shot. So, here is the dress, without Ruby. Feel free to bask in its glory.

W.I.P. Friday: Pile O' Fair Isle

Not much to share this week, but since I use this blog as a motivation to get stuff done, I thought I'd post my progress. Because, friends, there has been progress, just nothing that translates into a shiny finished garment. Here's my child's Fair Isle Cardigan basking in the sunshine (the cold weather finally broke -- Ruby and I were running around in jean jackets yesterday). I'm working on the last piece -- sleeve #2. After that, I've got a few more ends to weave in (though I've been a good girl, all the body pieces are woven) and the collar and the finishing on the pocket. Then we'll block 'er and sew her together. I was hoping to finish by the end of February, since I'm participating in the Fair Isle February KAL, but who knows. I've been distracted. Largely by this:


After realizing that I was not in fact doing a double crochet, but some weird half double hybrid, I pulled out my Happy Hooker book and reviewed my technique. Since I'm using a hook that's far too big for most of the leftover yarn in this blanket, a proper double crochet is just too loose for my liking (plus I think crochet is kind of ugly when it's too open), so I switched to a properly done half double crochet. At least I think I'm doing it properly -- I don't really care at this point because I like the way it looks. Anyway, I've got about eight inches done -- only a million more to go. But, I'm guessing my obsession will soon fade, so I'm giving myself until Christmas to get this baby done.

Have a great weekend! It's a long one here and the weather is going to be good. Hooray!

Love And Stuff

Happy V-Day! Like many I have a love/hate relationship with February the 14th -- I love the hearts and lace and flowers and candy, but I hate the disappointment and feeling like I've set myself up for heartache. I tend to make a big deal about things and since I was in junior high school, I've always dreamed of a big frilly heart shaped box full of bon bons. I have a perfect picture of it in my mind. Unfortunately, in all my years of dating, I've never actually dated a mind reader. Fancy that. But I think the man that I've chosen as my permanent Valentine has come as close as any mind reader ever could by treating me with....


Stinky cheese! This morning my sweetest of the sweet presented me with a lovely chocolate heart filled with Bernard Callebaut chocolates plus two blocks of Janice Beaton cheese! For those of you who don't live in Calgary, this is foodie heaven -- Callebaut is a world famous chocolate wizard and Janice Beaton is the queen of snobby cheese. In fact, urban legend has it that the two of them once dated! Can you imagine? Anyway, it takes a special man to give blue cheese as a romantic gift. I couldn't be happier. God only knows what I'd be without you, A.B.


The postman was also kind to me this morning -- look, another card from my Flickr swap, this one from Wendy. Thanks Wendy, this is beyond beautiful and I cherish it.


Finally, my first Superbuzzy order arrived. Two yards of amazing canvas. I especially adore the stacking dolls. I'm almost 100 percent sure these will turn into bags. I feel an addiction coming on.

Committment Phobic

I think I've been pretty good with my knitting lately. Since Ruby was born, I haven't had the time (or money) to piddle around with my projects -- I've been sticking to small items and for the most part, one at a time. But suddenly, with the pressure of holiday knitting long gone, I've become a full-fledged yarn harlot (apologies to Stephanie). Seriously, I'm not going to have another F.O. under my belt by the end of the year at the rate I'm going.

As faithful readers know, I've already got the stupidly fussy Fair Isle Cardigan and the ridiculously huge Hearts And Stars baby blanket on the go. So, what did I do on Saturday night? I took about two minutes to finally teach myself how to properly crochet and I dove in to the vintage stripe blanket as featured over at Bella Dia. I know this thing, if I ever finish it, will look a little off since I'm learning to crochet as I go (and boy, is my first chain ever TIGHT), but I'm addicted to it. I can't stop. Help me.


In happier news, the first card from my Flickr V-Day Postcard Swap finally arrived. Here it is on my fridge (the clown clip is just holding it, not part of the card). I love mail!

Winter White

This is our world this week. Brr.

Granny Sweater

You don't generally see a lot of acrylic blue and pink variegated baby sweaters on the knitting blogs. Most hipster knitters -- and I'll put myself in that category -- won't touch the stuff with a ten foot pole. But somehow, it seems like a right of passage for a little one to receive and cherish a sweater like this knitted by a loving grandmother.

Now, my mother doesn't knit (she crochets and made Ruby a couple of little baby things in the early days) and Aaron's mum tends to use the same kinds of natural fibres that I'm drawn to, so Ruby doesn't have a granny to knit these kinds of sweaters for her. She has three living great-grandmothers, but their fingers are all too arthritis-stricken to knit anymore. But incredibly, she's got two very generous great-great-aunts (that's right, Aaron's great-aunts) who have made her beautiful sweaters. Last year Auntie Kaye crafted Ruby a sweater for her birthday and Aaron's amazing great-aunt Betty sent in this little number for birthday #2.

I love it. It fits perfectly and reminds me that there are generations of women in our family who were crafting long before Lorna's Laces became all the rage. Betty sent the yarn band with the sweater (Aaron threw it out before I could get a picture) and the yarn is a brand from The Bay, who I don't think even make yarn anymore. Thank you Betty, for keeping my little one warm over the winter.

Message In A Bottle

In a bout of creative insanity, I joined a Valentine's Postcard Swap on Flickr. I've been feeling a little intimidated because I'm not really a visual artist -- I'm not even a scrapbooker (and I admit, I despise the fact that "scrapbook" has become a verb -- but I like cutting and pasting things and with my knitting being kind of long-term and boring these days, I felt the need to explore another side of my creativity. Plus, I loooove Valentine's Day and since Aaron isn't the most willing participant, I had to get the lace doilies and hearts out of my system somehow, right?

So, I stuck to a couple of themes: old romance novels and vintage '70s Valentine cards (comb your dollar stores people -- you can still find the punch outs you had as a kid if you're lucky). Since I'm new to this kind of thing, there was a lot of trial and error, but I had a lot of fun.


I still have a couple more to make -- I think they'll be in the same style as the purple tissue paper/old valentine card ones. I mailed my first batch off yesterday -- I can hardly wait to see what comes my way in the following week or so. Hooray for swaps!

Dessert Sunday

Duh. Birthday cake!

Now, originally, dating back to last year, my plan was to make Ruby the same birthday cake every year of her life: my mom's fudge ribbon cake (the ribbon being a layer of cream cheese mixture). But last year's cake was a total bust (flat and flavourless) and it's a lot of work making a less than standard cake when you have a toddler at your feet. So, I turned to Aaron's mum, Leena, who makes one of the most delicious and simple cakes imaginable. Hence, Ruby will get this cake every year of her life from this point on.

I'm not going to give a recipe or spill any Booth secrets: lets just say that the cake is beyond simple (ahem, like, just add eggs and some oil and water simple) and the icing is a very standard recipe with some extra somthin' thrown in (ahem, an egg yolk and more butter than you want to ever think about in your life). I didn't get it totally perfected and as Aaron privately pointed out after the party I could have layered a lot more of the leftover icing between the two cakes, but all in all it was a rousing success. Operation delicious!

So, what did you have for dessert this week?