January 2013 – mimimustknit

January 30, 2013January 31, 2013

The Plan

So, I’ve booked a week off. For me, that means only two shifts on a short week. It’s so awesome. The purpose of my week off is not to travel (I’m totally pouting about that these days). I booked the week off to de-clutter my house. I moved here in 2006 and I’ve been steadily accumulating things ever since. It’s not a big house, which is making the said accumulation of things a bit problematic.

Now, I’m not a good planner. When I have days off, I really like to dilly-dally. It’s probably something that drives my family and friends crazy. Them: “When do you think you’ll be here?” Me: “Not sure… How’s four-ISH?” Then I get lost in whatever I’m doing that day – reading blogs and drinking coffee, looking at stuff on Ravelry, knitting or crocheting, yoga… Or whatever. I just LOVE being home.

In light of my flakiness, I’ve come up with a plan for the five days of next week. Every hour between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm is accounted for. I NEED to do this so I don’t lose time just getting lost in my little space. It’s going to be a lot of work. But it’s going to be SO worth it when it’s done.

Now, I just have to figure out where I’m going to put all my wool, fiber and all things related. This is probably the thing I’m most worries about.

Today, I’m working on a yoga mat bag in the colors of the chakras. I think it’s turning out awesome!! I had to go get two balls of yarn at Michaels though. I had made myself a promise not to purchase any yarn until I had made a serious dent in my stash. But this project would not have been what it is without these two extra colors. The colors I already had were left overs from the monkey hat and leg warmers. So, considering the thing has eight colors in it, $12 is a pretty awesome as my cost for this project!

I’m pretty excited right now. I’m having Thai for dinner and then it’s knitting night. After knitting, I’m driving to Ottawa to see Steve. On the way there, I made a phone date with one of my bestest friends Michelle. Perfect chatting time – in the car. I have Bluetooth…. In case anyone is thinking that I used hand-held while driving. That’s illegal in Ontario. Hahah.

Hope your day is as awesome as mine!

January 26, 2013January 26, 2013

Today, I have no WIPs.

I think it’s the first time in years that I don’t actually have a Work In Progress. I don’t really know what to do with myself. Hahaha. I’m joking of course. Have you see my Ravelry queue??? I’m about 416 projects deep over there.

My Ishbel is finished. I love it. She just needs to be blocked. I added a little extra because I could see that I was going to have tones of yarn leftover.

I also made a few cowls. One of them still needs buttons. I’m waiting for the buttons.

Today, I’m thinking of starting a yoga mat bag (which I plan to crochet) and another shawl KAL with my friend Louise. We purchased the same wool (from a vendor at St. Distaff Day a few years back) and we committed to making the same shawl. We’ve both been putting it off for years. It appears, however, that we both find ourselves in a position to start it AT THE SAME TIME. Awesome! I’m so excited. I can’t wait to start working on this piece. It’s a historical shawl from Denmark from the late 1890’s. How cool is that!? My wool is all washed and ready to be put on the ball winder. I don’t know how 600+ yards of DK weight yarn is going to fit on my little ball winder. Guess we’ll find out. That will be a Monday project I think.

I’m heading to Ottawa for the rest of the weekend. Maybe we’ll hit the Rideau Canal. My skates have been in the car for a couple of weeks now. Yahoo!

Oh, as a side note, I watched this really awesome documentary yesterday. It’s called How to Cook Your Life. It was exactly what I needed yesterday. Awesome

Have a wonderful weekend! That’s what MY plan is! Hihi.

January 14, 2013January 14, 2013

A Lot of Little Things

I have been knitting and crocheting like a madwoman lately. It’s been really fun. I’m getting very comfortable around crochet. 🙂

I lined the mittens. They turned out super-awesome. I used an old t-shirt to boot! Yay Thrifty-Me!

I finished the dreaded baby sweater that I will never make again. Maybe it’s cute, but it’s the devil.

Off they went to their respective new homes.

One outfit. Adorable isn’t it?

Love this combo of baby bowl and blanket. I can’t wait for my client to use it so I can see photos.

I tried to over-dye the pink clogs. I wonder…. They’re still pretty pink. I have “felt clogs” on my to-do list for tonight. I’ll see how they turn out. I may give them a little bath in some black dye.

Made Steve a new tuque! Love it so much. This hat is the easiest thing EVER! I want to make more. But for who?

And… While I watched a movie last night at my mom’s, I made a neck wrap thing. I only need buttons. I have a rather large stash of buttons at home I’ll go through when I have a few minutes.

I HAVE FINALLY STARTED MY ISHBEL!!!!

Well, that’s it for me for today!

Knit on!

January 1, 2013January 2, 2013

Sh*t! It’s January??

Seriously. I was puttering around the house today before work and realized that it’s January. After January comes February. I have orders due in early February. Dang! Dang!

I’m not sure if I’m procrastinating because the pieces on order are crochet? Because I haven’t really made anything I want in a really long time? Or is it because the last time I crocheted something, I was so sore that I had to stop any kind of fiber-related activity for at least three days for it to not hurt like hell.

That being said, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! If 2013 is as good or bettern than 2012 was for me, I’ll be a happy Knitter!

My “peers” were right when they used to tell me that “The older you get, the faster times flies.” Funny how you only realize they were right when your youth (and I use that word loosely because I still feel like I’m 25 most days) is gone and you find the time going by faster with every passing year.

But let’s not dwell on that. Life is AWESOME. And the older I get, the awesomer it gets. That’s all that matters right?

I was just trying to remember what I’ve made since the last time I posted but… it really hasn’t been that long. SO, I really haven’t had that much time to knit and no time to spin.

Here’s what I’ve managed to make:

Another cowl like the one I posted in my Lake Placid post.

A tuque for Steve’s brother (and my friend) Luc. I loved it so much that I’m trying to figure out who else I can make this for. The yarn I used was also very lovely to work with. I got a smokin’ deal on boxing day. It was regular $14.99, on sale for $2.99 (how is that even possible!) and I had a 25% off coupon. Gotta love Michaels sometimes.

I made a pair of mittens for my co-worker Darrel’s wife. He got her this pretty purple hat for Christmas and wasn’t able to find her any matching mittens. It so happens Darrel worked OT on my shift Boxing Day and asked me to knit her some.

In there somewhere, I managed to finish Steve’s giant felted clogs. They are gynormous!!! I haven’t had a chance to felt them (or dye them) yet. Maybe he won’t mind pink?!

I’m also almost finished my Sarabeth Socks. I really love this yarn too! It’s Viola. She has a very lovely Etsy shop but she’s currently in the United Kingdom working in a mill. As a result of this, she has no items for sale in her store. That really bums me out because she’s awesome.

A good bit of news: I’ve sold 11 of my Pinny pattern in less than a month. That’s pretty exciting to me.

Oh, and sometime in the last few months, I fell madly in love with yoga and managed to develope a little girl-crush on the uber-awesome Tara Stiles.

It’s snowed a lot here in Cornwall.

I went for a train ride to Toronto this past weekend and this was the view on the way back:

That’s all for me for tonight. I’ve decided to tackle the dreaded baby sweater. If I ever mention making something with stripes in a reverse stocking stitch, someone commit me!

I HOPE ALL OF YOU HAVE A SUPER-EXCELLENT 2013!