Increasing my Stash

The mailman just delivered my latest supply of wool. I love the green, its even nicer than I expected it to be. It would be a great colour for a spring purse. Its DK weight, so I'll be double-stranding it. I'm starting to run into the problem of where to store my yarn! Scary thing is, there's more on the way.


Long ago, I posted about a Noro Iro bag that I had to completely frog due to newbie knitter error. I finally picked it up again and finished knitting a bag. It's felted, but I haven't take a picture yet. It took about a skein and a half. I don't know what I'll do with what's left over.

I've been a baaaad blogger....

I've neglected my blogging big time. I'm afraid I've been, shall we say, obsessed with designing and knitting bags to felt for my soon-to-be Etsy shop. I'm a perfectionist, so that means lots of prototypes until I hit one that passes the test. I have a couple that my husband and friends say are great and that I should sell. I guess I don't want to rush into just whipping some bags up to make a buck. It has to be something I'm pleased and proud of. So I continue to knit, measure, and alter the patterns.

I have today and tomorrow to complete my felted clogs as per a challenge by Janice. I've realized I suck at knit-alongs!!! I'm too easily distracted. But the challenge is good because my poor hubby has been wanting these clogs for the past few weeks. I'll try to work on them today.

Here are some pictures of what I've been working on. The pictures aren't the greatest:



Thanks for looking!

Open house is all over, apparently we had a good turnout, and the reaction was very positive. Our agent called to say that there are 3 people who are very interested and had a few questions which I readily provided answers to. I'm not holding my breath as nothing means anything until that sold sign goes up and it's a done deal.

In the meantime....I have a clean house!! I mean a super clean house! What to do??? I've been cleaning for 4 or 5 days now and hardly know how to just sit and relax without any pressing tasks haunting me. Obviously I need to try to wind down and pick up the needles. I'm also hoping that I'll be able to keep it clean. I'm not one who is naturally inclined to tidy up when I could be playing instead. But I'm going to try to keep it looking this way:

Oh to have life return to normal! We have 2 weeks left on our listing agreement with our real estate agent, and tomorrow we're having our one and only open house. I was also busy enjoying our Canadian Thanksgiving with our best friends and their new friends from Northern Ireland. There is NOTHING like an Irish Thanksgiving!

I hope to post some pics on Monday. I've been making bags (no surprise there), and working on my Fiber Trends felted clogs. I'm enjoying that pattern, it is very well written, it's just that it takes concentration. But it works if you don't goof up.

I also started my first pair of heavy work socks for my hubby. I'm not very far into it, but I'm using this site here: Knitting Socks Online Class.

I put in my first order to Elann.com so that will be an exciting parcel to receive.

Now to get to bed and see if I can knit a few rows on something!

Christmas in October - It's a Great Day Today!!!


Today I got 2 packages in the mail. One seemed hard like a book, and I was expecting one. The other seemed soft. Did my hubby buy yet another hunting vest off ebay?? A little ripping and lo and behold I see some wonderful yarn....what's this??? A package from one of my stitch marker exchange partners?????? Oh glory be! This one hails from Stephanie in Kentucky. I can hardly believe my eyes. Handmade stitch markers, handmade candy corn beads (guess what I'll be turning those into!), a cute kitty ornament, a gorgeous little dishcloth, and eyeball candy (LOL!), and last but certainly not least, handspun and dyed yarn from Uruguay! This colour is called Robles and can be purchased at handpaintedyarn.com. It's 160 yards/100 grams, 100% Wool, Bulky Weight. I LOVE IT!! I've started to make small totes that don't take more than 1 skein of yarn and I think this amount will be perfect! And if I want more, I know where to get it from because Stephanie told me, yay! They ship to Canada, and you can pay by PayPal, and shipping is so reasonable. I will definitely make a future purchase there and add their link to my blog.



The stitch markers are gorgeous, so very pretty and fallish. These babies will be replacing the ones I've been using, which were the first stitch markers I ever made, very nice, but not artsy like these ones are. Now my knitting will look like it has REAL jewelry on!




THANK YOU STEPHANIE! Yes I'm yelling. I love it all. The yarn is so me, I love autumn colours. Everything is wonderful. Oh and this is my first exchange of any kind. Stephanie you outdid yourself, I feel spoiled. I would have been pleased as punch with just the stitch markers, but thank you for all the extras. :-) By the way, I'm still working on your package, but will be mailing mine out in about a week or so.

Oh ya, my other package, the book. I ordered "1000 Great Knitting Motifs" by Luise Roberts. Boy will this book get some use. I've been wanting a source of Fair Isle charts that could be worked into a small bag, but most free charts online are quite large and would have to worked on a larger bag. They are very time consuming. This is just what I needed. (Blogger.com doesn't seem to want to upload any more pics, so I can't show the book or a few pages, darn it!).

Well, today is my day to feel spoiled. My kids told me I was acting like it was Christmas...well it sure felt like it!

Fiber Trends Felted Clogs Mini-KAL

Okay Janice over at Willow Way Knitting, I'm up for a felted clogs knit-along. I signed up for a class at my LYS but I'm thinking they didn't get enough people on the list and therefore haven't organized a class yet. I have everything I need, so I'm going to go ahead and make them. Perfect timing too, with the weather changing.

So thanks for suggesting the KAL Janice!


Someone on ebay finally had Fiber Trends Gelato Purse pattern. My LYS doesn't have it, but now it will soon be in my hands. It's so cute, I can't wait to make one...or two...or three...

I just did my very first online yarn order! Little Knits has Noro Kureyon #165 for sale for $4.40 per skein, or $39.50 for a bag of 10 skeins. I got the bag of 10. Here in Canada Kureyon sells for $10 each. I couldn't let this deal pass me by now could I? I also got a skein of Ella Rae Classic in Khaki Beige (Color #22). That will be for a nice small neutral purse.

I'm putting this link here for my own benefit, but I found a free pattern that matches what I had hoped to find: a vest that has a deep V neck and close fitting (to be worn over a blouse). The pattern can be found at the Ram Wools website: Gilmore Vest. Here's a closer look at Ram Wools.


Here's why I want to make a vest like this, I love the look! I'm not up for argyle though, at least not yet!

Thanks to all who encouraged me to go ahead and try to make the sweater below. I have no doubt that if I run into any problems, fellow knitters will be there for my questions. I hope to be able to order it soon, but if I can't wait, I might have to borrow the money from my 13 year old who's saving up for the Nintendo Wii!

My Bully Woolies bag is felted, but I have to put on the button and shorten the strap somehow, I just haven't decided how (design-wise). After it was felted, I was hurrying around the house trying to find something to block it with. Thankfully I espied our big jug and it was a perfect fit.


Here's our yorki-poo, looking very tempted to attack my ball of yarn...