Burning Down The House

I'm making good progress on the Pomatomus socks (and I have LOTS to say about them), but I'll spare you the WIP pics and the whining until they're actually finished. So, until then, I'll show you something that someone else knit. Here's a little sweater that Leena just finished up for Ruby, I believe knit from some Mission Falls cotton. Again, I could be wrong, but I think the pattern comes from a Mission Falls booklet.



Leena used this same yarn for Ruby's Question Mark Sweater and also an amazing baby blanket that she made for Ruby the Xmas before she was born. I think this one was done largely from the leftovers from the blanket. Great job, Leena! We love it!

p.s. Leena picked up some amazing yarn and a baby poncho pattern when we last stopped in at Make 1. I can hardly wait!

p.p.s. That's not my couch Ruby's sitting on. We're still at my parents. Just so you all know.

Self Portrait Challenge

To be honest, I wasn't going to do a self-portrait today. Things continue to be stressful -- we bought a house on Friday (!!), but there are complications and Ruby isn't feeling quite herself today. So, there's not much creative will left in me. But, I found myself sitting at my iMac (it's arrived -- I don't have to fight with my dad for his PC) and thought I'd try my hand at a little pop PhotoShop.

Aaron used to use a little image of his face on his promotional material for his music and I always wanted to use that image (we call it "The Head") to make the Poster Boy bag from SNB Nation. Aaron begged me not to do it (he's shy) and I never really had the time, but I'm still kind of planning it in the back of my head. So, in honour of that photo, I did a similar stamped image of myself, taken shortly before we moved from Toronto. Hey, if you want to make my face into a tote bag, I don't mind at all!

On a completely unrelated note, everyone in Boothy land is suffering from tummy aches -- for some reason we've been eating cake constantly. I've never been to so many family celebrations in my life: since we've arrived I've gone to Aaron's dad's birthday party, my Grandma Ruby's birthday, a family dinner with Aaron's dad's cousins, Aaron's birthday, my cousin Samantha's wedding and a birthday party for my cousin's daughter (which was held at a petting farm -- Ruby loved it). This week I have a wedding shower to attend. So much cake! To make matters worse, Ruby's refusing to eat anything but dill pickles. Yeesh.

WIP Friday

Taking a cue from Fiona at the amazing Hop Skip Jump (I still haven't managed to teach myself how to sew, but I do love looking at the work of others), I'm presenting my WIPs to you all today. Above you see the much ballyhooed Pomatomus sock. Still on my first sock (yes, the blue month of June is more than half done and the socks are clearly not), I'm getting to the home stretch. The red bits did end up forming a nice spiral pattern down the body of the leg, but once I hit the heel all bets were off. Still, I'm happy with the colourway and I'm finally at a point where I can try the damn thing on. Because the sock is essentially a twisted rib tilted on the diagonal it takes up a lot of stitches, but isn't as stretchy as a straight rib would be. I was freaking out that all of my chart-following would be for nothing (or that I'd have to find a 10 year old to gift them to), but they do fit over my foot and lower calf. Now the question of finishing in time for my Project Spectrum deadline looms...



And just for the heck of it, here is my modest progress on Squarey. I haven't picked this guy up since I cast on for the Pomatomi, but he's still a WIP that will be tended to once the socks are safely on my feet.

Do You Want To Know A Secret?

My One Skein Secret Pal has struck! Actually she struck a few days ago, but with the madness that is my life I haven't got to post about it yet. As you can see from the picture above she (I'm assuming it's a she) sent me the required card and skein of yarn and threw in a really cute little needle cozy! Thanks SP!

So, the yarn is Blue Sky Worsted, which is an alpaca/merino blend. It is unbelievably soft. My pal decided to honour my penchant for pink (I really can't get enough of the pink yarn, it's true), but to add some variance to my wardrobe she went for a very pale pink that almost drifts into beige territory. Very nice. I'm thinking that this skein will probably turn into some kind of neckwarmer -- maybe a little cowl kind of thing. Now that I'm in Calgary I'm going to need something warm and portable -- you never know when it's going to go from 15 above to 15 below.

So, thank you again Secret Pal! I can hardly wait to see what comes next!

Self Portrait Challenge

One of my favourite Warhol muses (and female icons for that matter) is Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Rather than trying to recreate Warhol's Jackie portraits (I used to sport a perfected flip hair-do in my early 20s, but with Ruby around there's no way I have time to fix it up) I went for one of the classic shots in which Jackie O. is being chased by the paparazzi. Not as pop art as some of the photo-shopped stuff that's cropping up on the site, but I like that this one also has a bit of an Italian cinema feel to it as well.

Oh, and as a plug, I've started a monthly column on the SPC site -- the second Wednesday of the month I'll be presenting my picks for that particular week. Read it tomorrow here.

LYS Bliss

Life in Calgary is becoming a little more bearable. Aaron returns home tomorrow, my car should arrive next week and we've finally sold the house (which means we can start looking for a new one -- a chore I loathe, but it'll be worth it once we have our own place again). Most importantly though, I've found my new LYS.

Make 1 Studios is only two months old and I feel like they sensed I was coming back. Now, Calgary has some other nice stores (I have to check out the other new one -- Pudding Knits), but Make 1 has Elizaboothy written all over it. I believe it's co-owned by the famed Indigirl, but you can correct me if I'm wrong. Either way, the had a selection of Lorna's Laces like you wouldn't believe, gorgeous cashmere that I could never afford and a lot of beautiful yarns that I haven't seen anywhere else. The women who own the place have fantastic taste -- the colours are all very tasteful. Best of all, they're really trying to get a social scene going there with lots of events and tons of knitting space. They even had a table for Ruby to sit down and colour at while Leena and I shopped. They invited us to come back and knit any time, with Ruby in tow. Child friendly, well-stocked with Lorna's Laces and in Calgary? Pinch me!

Of course, I had to buy something. Pictured above are two wound hanks of Lorna's Lace's Sheppard Sock in Fresh Stripe for next month's Project Spectrum (which will be a very very simple rib sock, I'm tellin' you). Also, I picked up a ball of Kid Merino for the Last Minute Knitted Gifts Airy Scarf, to be sent to my One Skein Secret Pal in August. I was going to go for the Rowan Kid Silk Haze (which they had plenty of in stock), but I liked this colour better. So, once I finish those damn Pomatomus socks, I'm good to go!

Fish Bites

So, the Pomatomus socks haven't yet been the death of me, but they're a slow go. What you see here is half of the leg (well, if you don't include the cuff). Yep, half of the repeats of the first chart -- that's all I got after eight days. For a minute I seriously considered making these anklets, especially since I have to do it twice. But I am finding the challenge satisfying and the pattern is really cool.

I do like the Wildfoote yarn alot, though what you see here is the only place that the red bits have been pooling. All the red has fallen on needle #2, but as you see, it is migrating west (story of my life lately, hey?), and I think a diagonal stripe of the red would look pretty cool. Let's see if it cooperates with me. Tune in next week for the turning of the heel. Yeesh.

Self Portrait Challenge

For the non-SPC obsessed, June has been declared Pop Art month. I'm a big Pop Art fan myself -- when I was about 14 I became a full-on Edie Sedgewick obsessive (yes, it was inspired by that song by The Cult). I read everything I could about Andy Warhol and the factory and became enthralled with the Edie: An American Biography book. That and Pamela Des Barres' I'm With The Band were my two favourite books when I was about 14 -- I don't know why but I was fascinated with the slightly bad girls, even though I was a painfully good girl myself.

Now, I know this picture of me doesn't do Edie justice, but I was inspired by her Warhol screen test as well as the photo that appears on the cover of my edition of American Biography (it was also used in Ciao Manhattan). So here's me, as Pop Art muse.

I still don't have my own camera here in Calgary, but my parents have loaned me theirs. I'll try to put up some knitting related content tomorrow. Back on track, baby, back on track.

Stayin' Alive

Hey all. No pictures today, just a note to let you all know that I'm safe and sound in Calgary. The drama in my world is continuing on -- I won't bore you with the details, but the whole house sale/moving into my parents' basement/raising a child while the husband is in Europe for two weeks thing has been very trying. I went to my beautiful cousin's wedding today and violently threw up after dinner. For no reason. Gross, yes, but also an example of where I am right now.

As for knitting, I think those damn Pomatomous socks might be the death of me. I know I'm capable of knitting them, but my attention span isn't really fit for irregular charts. Stay tuned for my progress. Or lack thereof.

Busy Fingers

Okay. So I have been knitting. Probably more than someone who is selling a house/buying a new one/moving across the country/raising a toddler should. There's a lot to get to in this post, since we're sending the computer off tomorrow, and I want to get some actual knitting content into my blog.

First things first: I finished my Project Spectrum socks on time! They've been done for a couple of days and it turned out to be a rather satisfying knit. They look like they're different lengths in the photo, but one of them is just slouching -- my photographer wasn't feeling particularly patient today.



The specs:
Pattern: Retro Rib Socks from the Winter 2004 issue of Interweave Knits
Yarn: Opal Handpainted in a green variegated colourway
Needles: US #1.5 DPNs
Mods: I made them about an inch shorter in the leg in fear that I'd run out of yarn.

Generally, I'm pretty happy with these socks. There are a few mis-steps in the rib pattern, due to a few space outs caused by the mindlessness of the pattern repeat. The stitch pattern and yarn colour aren't really my style, so they'll probably end up as a gift.



So, on to June and blue. I picked up some Wildfoote in the Bluegrass colourway for next month's socks. I actually shopped around this month, hitting all of T.O.'s yarn stores in search of some super luxe sock yarn, but while I did come across some Socks That Rock and Lorna's Lace, the colours didn't work out. At least I'm straying from Opal though -- I love the stuff, but it's time to move on.



And finally, to step outside the realm of the sock, I cast on for Jess Hutch's Squarey, which is a little pillow/stuffed guy. I've been meaning to make one for Ruby's room since Hutch-mania hit around the New Year, but haven't had time. I still don't (have time, that is), but a few days of mindless stockinette in needles that are larger than toothpicks should do me good. Since I'm planning to use the Wildfoote to attempt the now ubiquitous Pomatomus socks, I should have a project going that'll clear my head.

And to end this massive post, I just want to let you know that next time you hear from me, I'll be in Calgary. So, no SPC tomorrow, but I'm really looking forward to the June challenge: Pop Art!

Self-Portrait Tuesday

Okay, the hand holding a cup of coffee is a bit of a cop-out, but since my SPTs seem to be dominating the blog these days, I figured you all may not be ready for another introduction head shot. Plus, these days knowing that I'm a caffeine addict is key to knowing me -- I actually start crying if I don't have a coffee in my system by, say, 9 a.m. and I'll continue to accept coffee throughout the day, even if I'm already jittery from having two or three cups. So, this was a rare moment this morning, when Ruby was occupied and Aaron was in the shower. Me, enjoying my coffee. Sigh.

I'm hoping to reestablish this ol' blog as a knitting site by the end of the week -- I've been knitting up my second Retro Rib at a furious pace. Things have been busy on my end, it's true -- we're getting closer to our move date, Ruby's been teething like crazy (four molars at the same time, which seem to be taking two months to come in) and I took on a last minute writing gig that was too good to turn down. I agree with many of you bloggers who caution against deadline knitting -- it should be about the pleasure, not some kind of rush to the finish line. Still, I feel like if I'm not producing something like, say, a sock, that I'm floundering in the larger context of my life, hence the need to finish my Project Spectrum projects. So, I've been knitting away. I knitted through Marissa Cooper's cheesy death last week and I'll knit through the finale of American Idol this week. And damn it, if I'm not finished by the time I leave this town... Well, I'll be disappointed, that's what.

Shake It Up

I figured most of you are probably sick of looking at my goofy mug, so I figured it was about time that I post something. Continuing in my series of "Toronto, I do love me some food!" posts, here is a picture of my Dean Martin Mocha Mudslide milkshake on the front table of Daddy-O's Milk Bar. Vanilla milkshake, chocolate syrup and a skor bar. Yum!

So, that was my lunch and my dinner was a butter chicken roti from Ghandi's. Oh Toronto, I will miss you. But, before all of you readers feel too sorry for me, don't forget, Calgary is the home of not one, but two all hot dog restaurants.

Self-Portrait Tuesday

An introduction: you may not recognize me, as I've just returned from the beauty salon. You will never see my hair this curly by my own hand. Not because I don't like it, but because I never foresee myself sitting under a diffuser for 15 minutes in the chaos of my own home.

Green Green Grass Of Home

Yes! At last some May Project Spectrum knitting to show. When May started I thought that I'd be able to finish a pair of green socks in, say, a couple weeks, but with my life taking an interesting turn this month, I'm shocked that I managed to finish the first one by mid-month. Here is sock #1 of the Retro Ribs. I didn't take a modeling shot because these will probably end up as a gift and I don't want to advertise the fact that I've been trying them on a lot. Even though I, um, have.



And in other things green, Ruby's Nana and Poppa arrived in Toronto yesterday and gifted their precious little one a tea set. Most would thing that 15 months would be too young for a kid to understand and enjoy a beautiful tin tea set, but not our Roo. She totally understands what to do with it and pours everyone their tea and the greedily sips from her own cup. My daughter is addicted to fake tea.

And, also addicted to Indian food it seems. We celebrated Mother's Day at one of our favourite Indian spots last night and Ruby dug in. The waiter kept warning us that the food was going to be too spicy for her, but Ruby wolfed her butter chicken and chickpeas and saag paneer with gusto. And I'm pretty sure she drank the equivalent of an entire mango lasse. The waiter was so impressed he brought her some chocolate ice cream which she liked even better than the curry. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I suppose.

Indulgences

One thing that I'm really going to miss about Toronto (and this neighbourhood in particular) is the treats. Yummy, yummy treats. Aaron and I are both big food people and we've had a great time sampling all the various cultures that congregate in Toronto. The neighbourhood we live in has a great Portuguese chicken place, an amazing jerk chicken take-out joint, a gelato shop and not one, but two authentic French pastry shops.

The gelato is tops for us -- it's the only gelato I've had in Canada that comes close to what you get in Italy. Let's just say that we've been indulging a little more than usual since we found out about A's job. I've also been frequenting the pastry shops -- pictured here are some delicious macaroons that I've become obsessed with. I can't believe I hadn't tried them until just now. Next week I'm going to hit the Greek bakery that I've been meaning to step into for about two years now and tonight it's thin crust pizza at a local restaurant. I swear, I'm hellbent on being 10 pounds heavier when I get to Calgary.

Oh, and apologies to the amazing Jane at Yarnstorm for my pathetic macaroon photo. I couldn't even hope to reproduce the beautiful ones that she posted a few months ago. Though I do thank her for helping me remember the beauty of small indulgences like cookies and tulips.

Self-Portrait Tuesday

It's still introduction month in SPC land, so I'll tackle Kath's question: Why do you do Self-Portrait Challenge?

I'll start way back at the beginning: I started knitting about three and a half years ago as a means to fulfill a need to do something with my hands. As a magazine editor my creative side was being exercised regularly (I wrote every day), but I needed something a little more tangible. Hence knitting. I started this blog in November at the urging of my friend Sam Lamb. After having my daughter I was no longer writing and no longer knitting very much, hence no longer feeling very creative. Sam explained that her blog gave her a much-needed feeling of pressure to get her crafty projects done. So, to give myself a kick in the ass, Elizaboothy was born. Plus it got me writing again, which is nice, even though I don't really put the effort in here that I should.

So, why SPC? Like the blog, it's for me and about me. As the mother of a 15-month-old, life isn't really about good old Elizabeth anymore. So, to remind myself that I'm still here, an entity separate from Ruby, I document myself. This week I posted a picture that I took of myself in the bathroom. It's the only place I get to be alone these days. If I'm lucky, that is.

Chaos Ensues

Before I tell you what I've been doing this weekend, here's one of those reasons that I love where I live and am sad to leave: the gardens. People in Toronto really rock their gardens and this time of year is when the tulips sit at centre stage.

Okay, on to the chaos. Wednesday night we decided that we needed to reno our kitchen in order to sell our house, so our fridge and stove are now in our tiny living room while some friends/contractors have been working furiously to remove the gross carpet from the kitchen (yes, carpet. Made even grosser when we spilled an entire pitcher of margaritas on it a few months back) and get rid of the weird brick mac tack "wallpaper" that was up. This has not been easy for Ruby, since she doesn't really have anywhere to play and I can't cook her any of the things she likes to eat (babies aren't really conducive to take-out).

So, if that isn't chaotic enough, yesterday was our garage sale, which turned out to be an unexpected success. It was also the day that Aaron had to sod both our back garden (in which nothing was growing) and our front yard (which was covered in concrete tiles). A lot of work, no? Just to keep things interesting, Aaron decided to invite all of our friends over for a barbeque. Which he didn't tell me about. Yep, no kitchen, no living room, tonnes of work, and a dinner party. Yikes.



The up side, of course, is I got to see a lot of people that I probably won't see in a long time. The socializing continued today with a super fun breakfast and beer date and then our little friend Alice's first birthday this afternoon. A fun day indeed only slightly marred by our waking up this morning and discovering that teenagers (we're assuming) had torn the sod off our front lawn and chucked it in the street. Chaos, I tell you.

Oh, and for those of you who come strictly for the craft, I'm making surprising progress on my Retro Rib Socks. Pics to come later in the week.

Oranges Aren't The Only Fruit

Here are those pesky socks that took me a whole month to complete! Without knitting anything else. Lolly herself mentioned that many people had trouble finishing the March Project Spectrum projects and she speculated that it might be because people don't like orange. The thing is, I love orange! It just seems that tropical vacations and impending cross-country moves aren't conducive to knitting.

Here's the specs:
Pattern: Simply Lovely Lace Socks from Interweave Knits Spring 2006
Yarn: Opal Superwash in oh, let's say orange.
Needle: US #1 DPNs



Despite the month it took me to knit up these babies, they were actually a pretty quick knit -- I imagine the sport-weight version would take no time at all. It took me a bit to get the hang of the lace pattern (tonnes of ktbs, which are kind of a pain) but it took about one second to memorize. The only snag came when I tried on the first sock mid-knit and I either ripped a stitch (the lace ain't very stretchy) or tore a stitch that had been split and somehow formed a big hole in one of the lace repeats. I managed to (kind of) repair it, but even though you have to look closely to find the botch I don't think I could give these away as a gift. Oh well, more socks for me.

Self-Portrait Tuesday

This month's Self Portrait Challenge is the theme of introduction, since SPT is officially making the shift to SPC as of yesterday. Of course, I couldn't present an introduction to myself without including the Roo. So, if you're new to Elizaboothy, welcome. My name is Elizabeth and I live in Toronto (for the time being). I spent about 10 years making my living interviewing and writing about rock stars, a career that came to a somewhat screeching halt 15 months ago when I had my daughter, Ruby. Now I try to make time to write a wee bit from home, but usually spend my free time knitting. By "free time" I mean the hour or so a day I'm not chasing my very busy toddler.

And yes keen reader, I did say "for the time being" in reference to my Toronto home. Last week Aaron was offered an amazing job in Calgary, so at the end of the month we're packing up and heading across country. I have mixed feelings about this: I'm so proud of Aaron and I'm looking forward to being closer to our families (and, I must admit, free babysitters that I can really trust), but I truly truly love Toronto, especially the neighbourhood that we live in. So, I'll try to spend some time celebrating where I live on this blog over the past month.

In knitting news, I did manage to finish my Simply Lovely Lace Socks (orange for Project Spectrum March) yesterday, making me only a day late. No pictures yet, but I'll get 'em up soon. In moments I'll be in front of the TV watching American Idol and casting on the retro rib socks from Interweave's Winter 2004 issue. In green, natch.

Oh and finally, if you check out yesterday's comments, my secret pal did reveal herself. Hee-hee, no worries Zona!

May Day

So, at long last, here is one of my Project Spectrum items from March. I've wisely scaled back to just a pair of socks per PS month instead of socks and a something else. Here's the specs:

Pattern: Swing Thing from MagKnits in size 1-2 yrs
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted in Lotus Pink (3 skeins)
Needle: U.S. 8 straight and DPNs

So, I thought it was going to be too small for Ruby, but it's just about right, so I think my gauge was right (I was a little worried about midway through). I love this pattern -- it was really easy and fairly quick to knit. I'm not wild about the way the decreases were written in the pattern, but I do kind of like the way they look now that the sweater is finished. I have no photo of Ruby actually modeling the coat because she's been really cranky and hard to pin down. Things have also been crazy around here -- I'll explain more about that in the days to come.

And yes, it is indeed May and I'm still not finished my April orange socks. I'm about an inch away from the toe. By the end of the week, I swear!