Christmas trip and Christmas knitting

Oh boy did I ever take on too much xmas knitting, it's still not all done. and we're almost February.

Me and JF spent two weeks in Newfoundland with my family for Xmas. It was the first time he'd been there for the holidays and my first time since 2003. What a relief, I literally did nothing for most of the trip.

In my last post I had just started my dad's socks. A few days after xmas I finally finished them (due to lack of an internet connection for most of the trip, I needed to look up something so I could finish)

Details:
Pattern:Toe up sock with gusset this heel using the magic cast on.
Yarn: Oasis Yarn Aussi Sock
Needles: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm circ
Made for: Dad
Timeline: Nov 29th, 2008 - Dec 30th, 2008
Modifications: Just 2X2 rib, mostly improvised pattern.

He likes them a lot and wore them pretty much immediately.

Next up was a hat for my brother that I cast on on the way to NL and cast off the next day. I didn't want my brother to see me knitting it so I had to put my dad's sock aside for a bit. I knew my dad would see his socks cause I wanted them to fit him perfectly and so he got to try them on.

Details:
Pattern: A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend by Stephanie Nicole
Yarn: Cascade Superwash - Charcoal 900,
left over Blueberry, Green Apple and Chocolate for stripes
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm
Made for: Matthew
Timeline: Dec 21st, 2008 - Dec 22nd, 2008
Modifications: Added three 3-row stripes.

Somewhere in there I also finished my grand-father's Heavy socks which I started back in August on my trip to Maine.

Details:

Pattern:#101 Heavy Socks by Briggs & Little
Yarn: Briggs & Little Tuffy Smoke 87 & Oxford 86
Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm
Made for: Pop N.
Timeline: Aug 22nd, 2008 - Dec 18th, 2008
Modifications: Added contrast heel, toe and cuff.

In the airport on the way home I cast on for my MIL's hat . She wanted a simple hat with earflaps but not like a snowboarder hat just so that her ears are very well covered. I this on with a very bad sinus infection, while extremely tired with no pattern and little idea of how I thought it might work. This is what I came up with.

Details:
Pattern: Ribbed Ear Flap hat by Me (pattern to come)
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Galway Colornep
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm
Made for: MIL
Timeline: Jan 3rd, 2009 - Jan 9th, 2009
Modifications: None, it's all my design.

I also made an earflap hat for JF's sister it was this pattern but I forgot to photograph it before I gave it to her. I should be able to get a picture soon.

I also started a pair of gloves for my mom and I couldn't get them finished before I left so I brought them home with me. Because of the fact that we are seeing some people soon whose gifts I haven't finished, I have to put them on the backburner as well. I should photograph the progress soon however.

My most recent project has been a pair of Trigger Mitts for JF's grandfather. He's not a hunter but spends a lot of time outside in the winter shoveling (he enjoys shoveling). I thought that these would be perfect for him. I'm using two patterns to help me figure out parts of this, but it's pretty straight forward once you understand the basic construction of mittens and gloves. One of the patterns is something I got that's from Newfoundland, and it's the most common pattern for this type of mitt. I didn't follow the colourwork though and decided to go with Salt and Pepper on the back and thumb and finger and something simpler on the palms. JF is really enjoying these so they probably wont be my last pair.

Details:
Pattern: loosely based on Soft Mit-Gloves by Emily-Jane as well as a traditional Newfoundland pattern.
Yarn: Cascade Superwash - Chocolate 819 & Charcoal 900
Needles: US 4 / 3.5 mm
Made for: JF's grandfather
Timeline: Jan 10th, 2009 - Jan 25th, 2009 (I'm hoping to finish by tomorrow)
Modifications: lots. colour work, number of stitches. More or less improvised.

I'll post a picture of them when they're done.

All I have left is 1.5 pairs of Newfoundland mittens. The Pink and black one needs it's mate and I'm also doing a Purple and white pair for JF's cousins. I also need to make a felted kitchen set for JF's grandmother. Hopefully I'll be able to finish within the next 2 weeks. Then I can finish my mom's gloves. I really want to knit something for myself after that.

Briggs and Little Tuffy

So I promised that I would blog about the Briggs and Little Tuffy that I bought while I was in Newfoundland. I kept forgetting to photograph it but finally remembered late last week.

Here it is:

Instead of showing a pic of all of them seperately I decided to do it like this. From bottom left:
Oatmeal, Smoke, Oxford, Cocoa, Blue Mix, Blue Jeans, Anniversary Twist (not Tuffy), Ecru, Red Mix and Forest Green.

The skein of Anniversary Twist is the same lot as my CPH because I bought it at the same store. She was still running the $1.50 a skein as long as you buy 2 other skeins. I couldn't resist. The rest was bought a little all over the place wherever I could find it. I figure this will become a couple of nice pairs of fair-isle socks & mittens.

Newfoundland Trip

Ok, so I'm not gonna bother to apologize for not posting for 2 months, I'm just gonna do it. I will however apologize for the fact that I'm about to do 10 posts in the span of 24 hours.

I actually tried to post while in Newfoundland, but the Internet in my hometown is over-used and therefore stupidly slow. I couldn't get my pictures uploaded so I just gave up. It wasn't as exciting a trip as the last few, and that is ok. I really need a vacation where the only thing distracting me was the sound of the ocean.

The highlight of my trip was the fact that my dad bought me my very own lobster, he was a little small but it was just right. Usually I only get the legs and claws from the lobster he buys for himself.

One of my best friends from highschool is pregnant again so I decided to make her a little outfit for her baby. I made Trellis from knitty and designed a hat to go with it.

This same friend is now a hair stylist so when I go home I get her to do my hair, cause it's so much cheaper because it's a small town. She put in some blonde and red highlights.

While I was there my brother celebrated his birthday, it was my parents anniversary and mother's day was just after I left. We decided to go out for a family supper to celebrate everything all at once.

On the way back to the airport we saw a caribou. He's smallish and has no antlers because it was spring.

I enjoyed my trip and I also scored some Briggs and Little Tuffy while I was there in all the colours I could find. I didn't photograph them but I will and post a picture sometime later.

FOs

So I officially suck at keeping this up to date, but I really haven't been doing much but knitting and I'm not a big progress pic person. I have however finished a few projects and started a couple more. I might have to start making a list.

My first distraction was designing the March sock for Robyn's Nest's Sock Club. I only made one sock due to time contstraints but I will eventually finish the pair for myself.

I loved the yarn and wanted to do something Paddy's Day related, so the lace resembles little four-leaf clovers.

Next I got distracted by a series of hats, you saw the Newfoundland Hat in the previous post, which i have yet to figure out the pattern for, I will do it, I just need to stop knitting for a few minutes first.

The first of the hats is:

Montreal Tuque by Veronik Avery

I cast on more stitches because I did it in a sock weight/sport yarn (Reynolds Soft Sea Wool).

Next came

Purl Beret with Sparkly Cherry Tree Hill Alpaca.

I saw one made in the same yarn at Ariadne, I chose another colour and I really like it. I will be for next winter, because its mostly too warm for me to wear a hat now.

After all the hat distraction I put my ass in gear and finished my Central park Hoodie -sans Hood.

I needed 1 more full ball of Anniversary Twist than I had and a little bit of a second to finish the collar. I still have over 100g left (113g balls). I like it fine, even though it's not quite as long as I thought it would be (stupid belly) and it does some weird bunchy thing on the bottom button that I don't know how to fix. It's not as itchy as I would have imagined, I've actually managed to wear it with a tshirt without too much issue. I've been wearing it almost every day, as it works perfectly for a cool spring weather coat, as long as there's not too much wind. Overall, I feel its a job well done for my first sweater.

I thought I would need a break after finishing my largest project ever but the next day I cast on a pair of no purl Monkeys:

I'm making them in Dream in Color Smooshy, Chinatown Apple. I'm loving the way its only slightly variegated and doesn't pool. I'm doing a eye of partridge heel and the bottom of the foot is reverse stockinette so that I don't feel the purl bumps on my sensitive feet.

My yarn stash has grown quite extensively over the past while and I will blog about at least some of that a little later.

In other news, I'm planning a trip to Newfoundland at the end of April for 2 weeks. I was originally planning on going in the summer, but it seems that sales for the summer will probably not happen early enough for my tastes. Hopefully I'll come back with some more yarny goodness.

Gifts from The Rock

I couldn't very well go to Newfoundland without bringing back a few gifts for Robyn and her little guy so I shopped a bit while I was there and found this cute little t-shirt for Sean:

It's probably going to be a little big, but at some point I'm sure he'll be able to wear it.

I got an awesome gift for Robyn as well first thing was some Cherry print fabric, some lobster coasters, since she was joking about me bringing her back some lobster. I never could have imagined I would find the best part of her gift though... Here he is... The Knitting Lobster:



He's the awesome-est.Apparently it's from a Newfoundland souvenir Christmas ornament collection, but what a better gift for a lobster loving knitter. I Hope she likes it.

Newfoundland Videos

I took a couple of videos while I was home, mostly because it's really hard to depict the beauty of some things in pictures only. Here are a couple of my favourites.

Sunset on the beach at Sandbanks Provincial Park, Burgeo, Newfoundland


Panoramic on Greep's Head at Sandbanks Provincial Park, Burgeo, Newfoundland


Panoramic on Maiden Tea Hill, Burgeo, Newfoundland


Ocean Waves on the beach at Sandbanks Provincial Park, Burgeo, Newfoundland

Mr. Moose's Newfoundland Adventures... Part 2

Hanging out on the beach


Another beach shot


And another (I think he liked the beach)


Rocky Beach


Again.


Hanging around in the fog. Finally he's dressed appropriately.

I really enjoyed taking pictures of him in Newfoundland, but he was a little lazy and didn't want to go on all of my excursions (truth is, I kept forgetting about him, I know, I suck). But we had lots of fun anyway. I'll probably keep this up in Quebec as well.

Yarn sign

As promised I was able to get another much better picture of the sign with the yarn. Here it is:

Here's a close-up.

So cool! I was also able to confirm that it meant that you could buy Newfoundland Hand Knits and handmade crafts. We stopped at the local information centre on our way to the airport.

Mr. Moose's Newfoundland Adventures ... part 1

Meet Mr. Moose, I found him at the Montreal Biodome, but he reminded me so much of home, since we have lots of moose and lot's of rain.

I decided that on my trip to NL I would pose him in scenic pictures since he fits in so well there. So here is the first installment of pics.

On a rocky hillside

On a walking trail

In a grassy field

Beside a beautiful evergreen

Near Sandbanks Pond

Playing in the sand

Check back for more adventures soon.

Home Sweet Home

So we've been here almost a week now, and I've finally found a few minutes to sit down and blog. For the first 2 days I was here I was cut off from internet access, and then we lost a whole day traveling from my grandparent's house to my hometown. I've found a new appreciation for many things that I've seen a hundred times before, everything is so beautiful after you live in a huge city like Montreal and then return to rural Newfoundland. Our first stop was King's Point where my mom grew up, my grandparents still live there so we visited them first since they live a little closer to the airport than my parents.

Here is a beautiful scene from King's Point "out the bay..."

I did a little shopping while there and found some beautiful Briggs and Little yarn for way too inexpensive. I almost collapsed when I saw the price:

I bought enough to make a sweater, in the oatmeal colour at the right of the photo and then was told that for each 2 skeins bought I was entitled to 1 skein of their Anniversary Twist colourway for 1.50 each. So I bought 5. Its a scratchyish wool but after knitting a swatch to test for needle size I think I like it, it smells so raw and natural. I love it.

I also finished my first Monkey sock which has been claimed by my mom for skating socks (she skates in winter only)

The second sock will be on hold for a while as I have a paid project as well as my jaywalkers to advance on, especially since she doesn't really need them until winter.

After two days we travelled home to Burgeo on our way we stopped in Corner Brook where I went to school for 3 years. On our way there I saw this picture:

Huh?? is that a ball of yarn and knitting needles.

Yup.

It's a little hard to tell because we couldn't stop since we were on the highway. I'm going to try to get a better picture on my way back. I don't think that this indicates yarn shops, but rather the availability of Newfoundland Hand knits and handmade crafts, but I thought it was amusing nonetheless.

Corner Brook is a beautiful city, that's located in the Humber River Valley. Here's a beautiful shot of the bay in Corner Brook where it leads into the Humber River.

Next we headed to my favourite Newfoundland restaurant; Jungle Jim's where I had a delicious Pina Colada:

After our supper we headed home, the road to my hometown is very long and barren but just filled with beautiful picturesque scenes. I'll show you just a few but I'll put everything online once I'm back in Montreal and have a better internet connection. Most of the local highways have a nickname in Newfoundland the road that leads to Burgeo is called the Caribou Trail:

One of the many rivers or brooks with the Annieopsquotch Mountains in the background

One of thousands of Moose on the island, this one is either young or female, we weren't close enough to know.

There are lots more pictures to show, but this is already a very picture heavy post. Once we'd arrived in Burgeo, I went to run a few errands with my mom and to my great surprise found even more Briggs and Little homespun in almost every little store in town which is pretty decent considering we have a small population of around 1600 people. I was even more shocked this time about how inexpensive it was:

I only bought 3 more balls, just enough to make a beautiful pair of tradition fair isle mittens, very common in these parts.

Anyhow, I think this post has gone on long enough, so I'll leave you with just two more beautiful scenic pics.

The view from my parents front yard

The beaches just 1 km from my house! at Sandbanks Provincial Park