One Little Elefante...

Hello Knitters,

I wanted to share my elefante with you today. He was the last project I had to complete for the Ravelympics. Isn't he cute?? I will admit that the colour combination didn't turn out quite as I had planned, and I didn't like it at first, but now I'm beginning to think differently about him. He's growing on me :-) I think he is in need of a friend or two though...he looks a little lonely don't you think? I do not have time right now to make him a partner, but I hope to do so in the future.

Things are starting to get busy around here now. Our Pancake House is opening on the 8th, so I'm in the beginning stages of prep for baking. I'm thinking of adding a few things this year, so I have some product development to do this week. Right now my Mom is making maple candy...it smells great! While she is doing that, I'm working on some knitting for my Easter swap partner. I joined an Easter swap in the Itty Bitty Knits group on Ravelry, and now I'm hard at work on my project! It's turning out great so far, and I might be able to give you all a sneak peek in a couple of days... Easter is my favourite holiday, so I'm very excited about it.

It's beginning to feel like spring here now. Yesterday Mom and I went for a walk up the road, and it was just gorgeous. I think the months of March and April are my favourite. I love seeing everything begin to change in nature, it's just such a beautiful time! I love watching the snow melt, the grass start to peek through and green up, and the ice on the lake break away and the ships come through again...and most favourite of all is hearing the "spring peepers" start up! When I hear them, I know spring is definitely here. God has done such an amazing and detailed work in nature, and I love admiring it and taking it all in! It really does proclaim His glory!

The last thing I want to share with you today is my little sewing/knitting/crafting area I've been working on in my room. It's not quite done yet, but this is how it looks so far.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day, and I should be getting back to my Easter project.

Take care!

Ravelympics 2010 Begins!!!

Hello Knitters,

How was everyone's Ravelympics opening ceremony cast-on last night? Mine was great! I started my Be Mine Socks. So far, it's going well, although I'm finding it a lot slower and more tedious than if I was knitting on dpn's. I think it's going to take me a bit to get used to the two-at-a-time method. However, it will be nice to have both done at the same time!

Since I'm the only knitter participating in the Ravelympics at my house, I cast-on by myself...I did watch the ceremonies with my Mom and sister though, which was nice. I must say, way to go Canada!! I think we did a great job!! It made me proud to be a Canadian, and I will honestly admit, I even shed a tear or two. But anyways, this morning I was explaining to my Mom about the cast-on parties other knitters had and she thought since I didn't have any knitting buddies, I should at least have some very enthusiastic cheerleaders. So she and my sister came up with the idea of making signs for the Itty Bitty Knittys group to help cheer us on.




They thought it only appropriate to don their Nordic ski sweaters, hats, and mittens (made by my amazing knitter Grandma...she's Finnish) and climb the biggest snowbank in our yard (to look like they were on the mountain) and do some cheering. "Whooo Hooo!!!"

Then, they came up with the idea of running with the torch to light the cauldron (my Mom has always wanted to run with the torch, it's been a lifelong dream of hers, so this was the next best thing!!). Here they are running down the lane, passing the torch.

Here comes Mom!!!

Now it's my sister's turn.

Then they got the bright idea of having two torches like in the real Olympics so they could light the cauldron in unison. (by the way, the torches are made from construction paper cut to look like flames which are taped to US 19 wooden knitting needles...keeping in the spirit of the games.)

We like fire in our family, so they thought it was a good idea to actually light their paper flames on fire and light the cauldron (which is our outdoor stove).

So as you can see, it's been a very eventful and creative day here today. I can't wait to see what they have planned for tomorrow! All you Itty Bitty Knittys out there, know you have two very excited supporters here cheering us all on!!

"Whoot Whoot"

Socks and the Ravelympics

Hello Knitters,

How is everyone's week going? Mine is going well. Today I've spent a good portion of time working on a pair of socks, well actually the first sock of the pair. After making the Wedding Planning Footies for my sister, I've been itching to make another pair of socks. Although this time I wanted them to be a little more complicated. After looking through countless pages on Ravelry, I finally decided on Caribbean Coolers by Laura Stapleton. The whole Caribbean name just drew me in...now I'm working on the foot of the first one, and I'm liking it quite a bit. I haven't tried it on yet to see how it looks...hang on a sec, I'll do that now so I can better describe it to you................Ok, I will be honest with you, that was a little tight coming over my ankle, there was a slight moment when I thought it wasn't going to go on. Now that I've got it on, it looks cute. I can't tell if it is too tight, or if that is just the pain from having my foot shoved into a set of double points....hmmmm. Well, I'm going to finish it anyway and then try it on again. I've got this far, I can't give up now!! I will let you know how it goes...I'm sure the twitter updates will keep you posted hour, by hour...

On to more uplifting and exciting news....the Ravelympics are coming up in just 3 short days!! I'm eager for them since they will be my first ever. I joined the Itty Bitty Knittys group, and I have my projects all picked out. Now I'm just waiting for the yarn I ordered to arrive. Mass cast-on time here will be at 9 pm on Friday. I should be going to pick up the yarn on Thursday if all goes well. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you what my projects are going to be! For my "big and challenging project" I chose the Be Mine socks from 2-at-a-time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes - 1. because I've never done socks two-at-a-time on circular needles, 2. they look to be a bit more complicated then a regular sock, 3. they are just too cute! and 4. it's the month of February, need I say more? My second project is going to be Elefante by Susan B. Anderson, I had to chose this one because he is just too cute, and I've been wanting to make him for so long. And my third project is the Rainbow Marley from Itty-Bitty Hats also by the amazing Susan B. Anderson. And today I decided that if I get all my projects done and still have some extra time, I might whip up a Bunny Tail for one of my little cousins. While at the yarn shop on Thursday, I think I'll just pick up some yarn just incase ;-) Are any of you participating in this year's Ravelympics??? I think it's such a fun idea! What a great way to use your time while watching the Olympic games.

Well, I should be getting back to that sock. Have a great evening everyone!

Finishing Up

Good Morning Knitters,

Are you all feeling the Christmas rush yet? I sure am! I just realized this morning that I have one extra day! See, I thought tomorrow was Christmas Eve, so I'm very excited and relieved that I have one more day to get things done. I'm just waiting for my coffee to finish brewing so that I can get started on my day of baking and finishing up some last minute projects. I've got a busy day, but it should be a fun one. I really enjoy baking, so I'm actually looking forward to spending the day in the kitchen.

Our Lab went in to get leg surgery yesterday so we had a day in the city, which cut into my project time. I did get to bake some when we got home but it wasn't as much as I would have liked. My Mom went to pick the dog up this morning, so we'll see how she's doing. She's a tough girl, but I know she's not going to like having to be in a cage over the next few weeks while she recuperates. She has a lot of energy (that's how she hurt her leg in the first place) so keeping her quiet is going to be quite the chore!



I wanted to show you the finished picture of the hat I knit for my sister's boyfriend. It's the Modern Rib Hat from the Spud and Chloe blog. The yarn I used was Shepherd's Wool Worsted Spun Fine Wool in Royal Blue. I used less than one skein, and it knit up like a dream! the pattern was great, perfect for car knitting, or for knitting while chatting with friends. It looks and feels super warm. I can't wait to see how he likes it.

The picture of the little reversible bluebird at the beginning of the post is now sitting pretty in his little nest which I just finished. I didn't have access to the O-Wool that the pattern called for, so for the nest I used Lion Brand Homespun because I thought it had that nesty feel to it. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, I think it looks very much like a nest!

Well, I should get to those cookies! I hope you all are having a wonderful day and are getting yourselves ready for Christmas! :-) And by the way, here is the Ravelry link to my free Last Minute: Waves of Grace Scarf pattern! I finally got it all set up.

Have a great day!

A Hat of My Very Own

Hello there,

Sorry I didn't write yesterday like I had planned, but we went to the city to pick up some things, and by the time we got home, I was feeling more like lounging, than writing, so that's what I did. I'm back today though, and I have a secret project to show you. It's one that I was working on and never even said a word about on the blog because I didn't know how it was going to turn out. Well it turned out great, and I really like it! Yay!!

The other day when I was out walking with my Mom, I needed a hat because it was a tad on the chilly side. Well, I came to realize that I do not have my own knitted hat! I know it's sad, but I seem to knit for everyone else but myself? Does anyone else have that problem? So after borrowing a hat from my sister for that walk, I came back home with the resolve to sit right down that evening and knit up one for me. I wanted to have one that was warm and a bit on the slouchy side, so this was the pattern that I found on Ravelry that I really liked. The yarn I used was some Patons Rustic Wool that I've had for well over 8 years! I'm glad that I finally got a chance to use some of it up. It was a great little bit of stash busting! It knit up quickly, and now I can wear my very own hat when out walking. This makes me very happy, because I really appreciate the effort that I put into it. Which is something you can't always say about others whom we knit for, right? The only thing is, now I've noticed that I don't have a good pair of mittens to wear that will keep me warm on our chilly afternoon walks. Hmmm....I guess that will be something I'll have to correct in the near future.



I see that the fifth day of the Tiny November Knitalong has been posted, so I'm heading on over to the Spud Says blog to get working on the wings and the waddle!!

Have a grand day all!

It's Started

Good Afternoon Everyone!!

How was your weekend?  Mine was quite nice, got to spend a good amount of time with my family, so that was great!  I even got some time to work on some knitting...yay me!  I've been struggling lately to find time to do any knitting, so I was really excited when I got a chance this weekend. 

I worked on the red charity mittens!!  Ok, I have to be honest, I got confused on the weekend about what day it was, and ended up doing my charity knitting on Saturday instead of Sunday.  But hey, at least I worked on them!!  I finished the top of the second mitten and started on one of the thumbs.  Since these are such a small size, the thumbs really shouldn't take much time at all.  I think I'll have them done for sure next weekend.  Then I'll need to find something new to work on for my next charity project.  I LOVE planning new projects.

Since Fall is here for sure, I've decided to start working on my Christmas gifts.  I've been getting pressure from my family to not make as many time-consuming gifts as last year (I'm guessing they didn't enjoy how stressed out I was?) so I'm working on coming up with new, easier projects.  I want to do some cute knitted ornaments, so I started a few on the weekend. 

The Santa Hat is from the Holiday 2009 Knit Simple magazine, and the Stocking is the Mini Holiday Stockings by Carissa Browning, which you can get on Ravelry - here, or from her blog - here.  These are both super cute, and super quick - just what I need!

Well, I hope everyone is getting a great start to the week!  I'm off to work on some projects!

Talk to you soon!!