Hummm The Tuque

It doesn't really look like what I had in mind! In fact, it looks somewhat like Ebenezer's head dress in that unfortunate christmas story. Oh well, better luck next time. Though it might not look so bad streaming behind me while zooming down the ski slopes. The next time I go skiing I'll bring it for sure though when that'll be is anybodies guess. It might look a bit better when the wool breaks down a bit. We'll see.

A rare opportunity to see my mug! Please make abstraction of that and concentrate on the tuque.

Samuel The Bear

I've been working on this one for a while now but looking at the picture tells me the time invested was worth it. So the delightful little guy made of wool is Samuel (which is the name I almost got and also my great grand father's name). I knitted him from the pattern "Otto" by Ysolda. I embroidered his nose a bit crooked (not on purpose) and had a couple little hang-ups during his creation but everything turned out ok. Second picture from left to right: Kiddo's boyfriend which will remain anonymous because I don't want to embarrass him more than I have already, sorry big guy you're now on the net wearing your pj's; Kiddo my little sister the new mom to Samuel the bear. All shot seconds after opening the box!

And the Cat Gets a Goldfish!

A few posts back I showed you an U.O.K.O. (Unknown Orange Knitted Object). Here they are in all their glory. Unknown no longer but still very much orange and knitted! They are cotton goldfishes with a little catnip thrown in them just for fun. Bella, the youngest, found hers under the tree all by herself and you can tell how much she appreciates catnip which, I believe, was a new experience for her. For the record I used organic cotton and believe it or not organic catnip. Nothing but the best. Now all I have to figure out is what to do with the rest of the flashy orange ball of yarn!!!

Two WIP's Just For Me

Great, it's doing it again with my pictures. Oh, well you can always click on them to see them in their full splendour. I think I told a white lie in the last post when I said I was only working on x-mas gifts. Through it all I've found the time to start a few things for myself. The top one is a mitten that's going to go with the cabled scarf I blogged about a while back. I saw a basketweave stitch scarf at the yarn store and I liked the look of it so I figured why not make my mittens with a basketweave back. Well there they are!

The red thing is a tuque. Specifically, a voyageur tuque. Also know as a "coureur de bois" or a "tuque de patriote". It's just a stocking cap, you know one of those long tuques that folds over. I don't remember what kind of yarn I bought only that it's pure wool and red. Red of course being much warmer than any other colour.

An orange FO

It is somewhat confusing, the blog thingy program jig doesn't want to make my pictures the same as in the other posts??? Anyway, on with the show. The orange thing you're seeing is a finished something I've been knitting multiples of over the last few weeks. You'll just have to wait until after Christmas to know what they are.

If you haven't guessed they are x-mas gifts. For the past three years or so, mom and dad, kiddo and I have decided that it would be fun to make each other gifts instead of buying them. This year was going to be an exception for me as I was probably going to be in New Caledonia... humm I'm not and x-mas is coming, better get ready! Furiously knitting and pounding metal and shaping wood and grinding stone etc... have been pretty much all I've been doing of my free time.

The Voyage of a Soot Sprite

If you're a fan of Miyazaki's film's you'll have no trouble at all figuring out what this is. For those of you not fortunate enough to have been introduced to his wonderful animation style I'll offer this little explanation. This little guy is a soot sprite or more conventionally a soot spirit. Little helpers who feed the boilers of all life's machinations. Handy and secretive little helpers! If that wasn't enough then I guess you'll just have to go and watch his movies. Soot spirits figure prominently in "Spirited Away". I knitted this little guy for Celia who's a great fan of Miyazaki. I found the pattern on Ravelry so those wanting to give it a try just have to search for soot sprite in the pattern directory. I ended up painting the eyes because I couldn't find what I was looking for in the shops. They're not the greatest but they fit the character well, I think! After crossing the ocean by plane it now looks over Celia's keys so she will always be able to find them when needed!

Reversible Cable Scarf

I found this pattern on the Lion Brand website and I though it would be the perfect vehicle to learn how to knit cables. So far so good. I haven't had many problems, actually only one. The stitch coming out of the cable always wants to be loose. I'm having to give it a tug so it looks more or less like the others. O.K. maybe two problems. It is much harder to keep the same tension through out when knitting cables, maybe that's just me. I hope it looks better once blocked! I'm using Cascade "The Heathers 220" 100% highland Merino wool to knit it. It should be really warm! I'm afraid I'm becoming a yarn "snob", maybe I should knit something out of Phentex to get my humility back. :o)

Celia's B-day Gift

He knits too. Yeah I'm a boy, I knit, get over it.
Here's the scarf I knitted for Celia's birthday. South central France doesn't have the same requirements of a scarf that Canada has. This scarf is full of holes! Still it's knitted of Berrocco Softwist which is 41% wool.
The pattern is quite simple, four lines actually:
K1, (YO, K2tog)repeat until one stitch left, K1
K all stitches
K2 (YO, K2tog)repeat until two stitches left, K2
K all stitches
It makes for a light and incredibly stretchy fabric. So you can drape it over your shoulders and if it gets a little colder you can stretch it and wrap it three times around your neck.