The Knitter Project - Have YOU started yet?

I received my tags just a few days ago! A sista knitter of ours, Elizabeth @ Geeyouknit is compiling knitting projects from knitters globally for her thesis!

The bare bones of it is that we are to create autobiographical portraits of a knitter, his/her life between the stitches by attaching tags throughout the piece. The tags are to be added once per session, more if we want, but the importance on being as personal as possible has been emphasized. Whatever is sent in will not be returned for a few months, this has made choosing a project daunting. I have to knit something that I'm going to want, what, maybe 6 months from now? I wonder what everyone else involved is making!@?

FO'NOW: Carly/Anne & The Scandal Scouts

I did indeed finish the purple slouchy, which I'm dubbing Carley/Anne half for the lady and half for the mountain. Thus paying tribute to the trip where it was dreampt up and navigating the treacherous waters of name spelling. I think you agree with me that being called the wrong name, or having your name misspelled sucks. I know my pot gets stirred when I see my name as Jenn, vs. Jen. I won't even get started on being called Jenny !!!! ARGH@#! *cough* but anyways..

This is a versatile hat as it can be worn as a beret, or a slouchy. I've written up the pattern, with my cast-on info for Jennifer, and even a lil quip about expanding/elaborating stitches to create your own unique one. Played with lightroom on the pics, originals on the flickr This will be up just as soon as I get Tobes to do some supermodel shots of it, lest you have to deal with my mug again...but hopefully on the # 1 stunna, Miss. Carlyanne herself. But hey, while you're waiting let me throw you some eye candy, and introduce you to a group of women who have stolen my heart running with no signs of returning it untill I come out of my scandal closet for a night of mischevious frivolity and sexy-as-all-get-out-uniforms! These were taken by Tobias Visualbass from the SCANDALSCOUTS.COM shoot I helped out with a while ago. Scout Master: Lulu LaForce Talent Scout: Nikki Awesome Boon Boon Bernadette (CARLYANNE!) dirty deckz bonus shot: Emme Fatal Dr. Yes Please Shaniqua Dior Annie Ryder Starla David Veronique Fantastique warning: your monitor may be on fire. see also: your pants

All You Need is Love.....(ba ba da da da)

There's a lot about the knit blog world that brings me joy, but the kudos and love that knit bloggers spread around has got to be tops. Jen and I want to say an especially loud and snuggly thank you to Melinda, Sulafaye, and Orata, who have given Teamknit the You Make My Day Award that is currently making the rounds: The rules of the award are thus: Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.

So, despite the fact that through the Ravelry minifeed of blog updates, I probably read 100+ knitting blogs somewhat regularly (whew!), here are ten that I would like to nominate for the award:

* Elizabeth at http://geeyouknit.net/blog/
*James at http://www.subdueitwithasweater.blogspot.com/
*Amanda at http://sticks-and-tones.blogspot.com/
*Lekkercraft at http://lekkercraft.blogspot.com/
*Glenna at http://crazyknittinglady.wordpress.com/
*Marce at http://thebrownberry.blogspot.com/
*Erin at http://girlwhoknits.blogspirit.com/
*Hilary at http://theyarniad.blogspot.com/
*Margaux at http://margauxelena.typepad.com/
* Mary-Heather at http://www.rainydaygoods.com/

And trust me, you guys all make us happy- the comments, the love, and your own blogs that are so freaking inspiring they make me want to run and grab my needles and furiously cast on for whatever it is you guys are all making next.

And Penny (whom I love dearly, as she has spoiled me rotten in a past swap) has tagged me in a meme, so here it goes:

Seven Random Facts

1. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I enjoy eating peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon. I have a special long handled spoon for when I get near the bottom.

2. I still get asked for ID in bars, restaurants, and liqour stores. I turn 30 this year.

3. I have a little brother, who is 11 years old. We don't live together but when I spend time with him, I try to teach him how to cook. I secretly harbour fantasies of him becoming the next Jamie Oliver and crediting me, his adoring sister, for setting him on the path of culinary fame and fortune.

4. I like to read poetry in the bathroom.

5. I don't have laundry facilities in my apartment, and am too lazy to trek to the laundromat, so I hand wash almost my entire wardrobe. Yes, even jeans.

6. I buy myself flowers every week,and they make me so happy. I mean, who doesn't want to come home and see a beautiful bouquet of flowers?? This time of year I am addicted to tulips.

7. I have very recently fallen for someone. And every time I think about it, I have the biggest, goofiest grin on my face.

I feel like I've already tagged a bunch of people in this post, so if anyone would like to join this meme, consider yourself tagged!!

This morning, on one of the many design blogs I like to cruise daily, I saw this and was completely stunned:
That is yarn made from recycled newspapers, people! It is the brainchild of Dutch designer Greetje van Tiem. Apparently she can make twenty yards of yarn from one deconstructed page. Check out this ottoman she knitted with it:

And around the homefront,I recently got this awesome double mug and cookie plate set from Dolamakes on Etsy: Llamas!! In love!!!
I think they look like alpacas, but I'm not going to argue with the artist. I love it SO much!!! Be sure to check out her wares, she does handpainted designs on recycled dishes.

from mont sainte anne, avec amour (tons o pics)

My trip to Montreal/Ste Anne was rad!@ Hectic too, but worth it in the end. I rushed and caught my bus us to montreal wishing I could be a friggin lighter packer. I took a nap and when i woke up I got the itch to design a hat. So I cast on some sts and knit an inch or so of ribbing.. and then I got frustrated. I knew the stitch I wanted to use - topsoul's, but I couldn't remember it stitch for stitch! argh, drove me insane... so i took a page from phlanauik. i am jens crushing sense of disappointment On the upside, I had accidentally caught the express bus to montreal so time flew by and I was there in a flash: a full two hours ahead of expected schedule! Goodtimes! And I also remembered the stitch just as I was coming in to the city! I started with a single eyelet then I thought why not go balls to the wall and double it up. I really like it. I'm using this great merino in a name i can't even begin to pronounce let alone spell but it's heaven and has great stitch definition, and SQUISHINESS oh is it squishy. Things went smoothly into the next day when we drove up to the mounain. This was my first glimpse of ste anne scary, can't even see the top boys are asleep in the back they missed chalets on stilts but were wide awake when we reached our studio- which was as CLOSE AS YOU COULD GET TO THE HILL!!! Day one was scaaaaarrry. This is my frist season back since some serious knee surgery and Ste. Anne is HUUUGE. Like 5-14 times bigger than blue mountain big. huge. massive. It feels like it takes 20 minutes to just get up the gondola! 15 to get down the hill bombing it and ages when we would break to rest our(my) screaming thighs. I'm nowhere close to the level I want to be back at but I'm progressing fast on these do or die trails. and my new goggles were crazy hot! On the second day I wore my corduroy billabong suit that I got on the cheap through modelling a previous fashion show. That night I caught a great shot of the mountain blowing snow Went to a bar, that was full of horny 18 y.o's grinding to every song. They even grinded to Gwen Stefani's SWEET ESCAPE! We were all quite amused. Mike and Chelsea in front of the grind cage > oblig washroom shot oblig wip shot last day and I went down both of those black diamonds in the distnace! Go me! i didn't want to leave had to get a montreal smoked meat club sandwich lord it was good. i'm not going to go into the drama that ensued once we left the chalet but trust when I say that I hate buses and coach canada. I've got a bunch more photos on the flicker here check em out. Here is where I am with my hat now. Photos taken after dimsum on the ttc with Jules & Bec. only the decreases are left to do, I'm torn between a flat closure method or if it should be puckered and gathered.. it'll be done before the weekend hopefully as I'd like to gift it to carley-Ann @ the Mod. Love that girl.

FOs: Quant and Beanie

The much-knitted Quant from the current issue of Knitty: I know black doesn't photograph well, but the sunlight helps. I'm pretty pleased to be having quite the good hair day today. Pattern: Quant, from knitty.com Needles: 4 mm. Yarn: some stash yarn, about 1.5 skeins of Rowan silk wool DK in black Mods: I only made a couple of modifactions: First, I went down to 4 mm (the pattern calls for 5 mm) needles because I have a small head, and I didn't want a really big quant, just a little something to keep my ears warm when I'm wearing my hair up. The second modification I made after scanning all 150 finished quants on Ravelry. Many people noted that the beginning and end don't match up. So I cast off after the entrelac part, and picked up stitches necessary for the ear flap, and just duplicated the first ear flap. Notes: The modification of casting off after the entrelac portion and picking up stitches to match the earflaps worked out brilliantly. I love the headband style of this, perfect for keeping my sensitive ears nice and toasty warm. Also up, is this cute beanie that I knitted over the holidays, graciously modelled by my partner in yarn, Jen: Here's the hat in action, as we rode the streetcar this afternoon (and there's our friend, Rebecca!): Pattern: Only Sweet on the Outside Beanie, by Christine Needles: 4 mm Yarn: Blue Sky Suri Merino Mods:The only mod was that I went up .25 a needle size, because I knit tightly and I didn't have any 3.75mm dpns kicking around. I'm glad I did- 3.75mm would have been too small, for the way that I knit. Notes: Christine sent me this pattern along with a skein of Suri. The idea was to test knit the pattern, and I was so happy to do it! It was the first time I had knitted with the Suri, and I have to say... wow. I love that stuff so much. It's heaven on the hands, and I just gorgeous to touch. I love the way it knitted up, great stitch definition, and I'm in love. Love, I tell you!! Here's a parting shot of the crown:

kate walsh's great cowl

I wish I could knit at this fine gauge, i'd make a huge cowl to throw over sweaters.. hell tshirts too. I gotta say I'm not feeling the jackie o sunnys. Regardless of how trendy that look is these days a squarer pair would be way more flattering! I also saw(through some stalking at Lekkercraft) that the new drops/garnstudio.com patterns have been released. Fav 3: love the pearls, i can picture freshwater roughed up pearls again, the neckline grabs me. instead of a knit body, a breezy fabric to make it lighter drawing even more emphasis away from the waist (huzzah) I don't knit socks, but i do adore eyelets and is this a montego bay hat? didn't someone already design this? i totally remember seeing one on ravelry.

I LOVE FOLIAGE & FRANK GEHRY

I didn't mention it then, but while I was at Purple Purl I picked up a skein of malabrigo worsted to make a chunky hat a la geeuknit + skrilla.

love me some yarn cake in the morning... Pattern: Foliage - Knitty Fall 2007 Needles: 6.5mm crystal wood palace dnps, 6.5mm bamboo circs Mods: An an extra half pattern repeat was added for a more prominent bubble slouch like I wanted. Couldn't be bothered to switch needles for the ribbing and it turned out better that way. I also added 5 or 6 more round of ribbing for stability Notes: It seems I knit a tighter than I'm convinced I do. I thought about going down a size to 6's but I'm glad I didn't. Inspitationals: geeuknit, skrilla (pre block in this shot) (post block) alkie knitters rejoice, as a bubba makes a perfect blocking unit now the bling bling, how I lovelove love LOVE frank gehry's torque from tiffanys I've secretly been wanting a ring from toby for a while now.. not so much a promise ring, just something i can look at and smile think of him type ring bling. Love you! I've got tons more to post about, but it will have to wait. I'm off to work, and then to Mt. Ste. Anne for a few days of snowboarding and relaxing. Au yea!

Total Mackage and Coat Covetland

I can't get enough of Mackage I LOVE their designs right now. I'm mainly eyeing their knits and fall/winter coats - lord knows I'll wait for a sale though. Shits expen$$ive! But the leather detailing? Ugh. Perfect. I've got a huge covet going on. Their leather pieces are rad, but I wouldn't wear a leather jacket unless it was this one. -Alix Love this one too Have you ever heard of Soia & Kyo? I'm swooning over these two mainly the one of the left. Clearly, my christmas money is burning a hole in my pocket.

Legacy Sweater, Part 1

My grandmother taught me how to knit when I was a child. She's the one who got me my first pair of knitting needles- They were plastic, dark green, and probably designed specifically for kids.

I guess I had the standard relationship with knitting that most kids have- I didn't knit for a long time, churned out one garter stitch scarf for a high school boyfriend, and then didn't knit again until my mid-twenties, where I suddenly became obsessed with knitting, and specifically with knitting socks, for no rational reason whatsoever.

My grandmother has had Alzheimer's for about ten years now. At the beginning, she could still knit and often did- she was working on a sweater for my mom. But as you can see, her brain was have difficulty remembering the proper way to do things(not exactly the way to bind off ribbing...) (um, the front and the back are not the same. At all. And if you look closely, there is soup or something orangey on the sweater.)

Of course, she had to put it down. Then she was knitting these skinny, long scarves- it was as if her fingers still knew the mechanics and could knit, but her brain could no longer decide what a normal scarf looked like. But still, it was something for her to do.

My grandmother is still alive, but will not outlive this year. Just before Christmas, she was diagnosed with cancer, and since she already has such advanced Alzheimer's, there's really nothing that can be done. I couldn't frog what she had already knitted- this is, in essence, the last thing she will ever knit. So I only ripped back the cast off edge, and decided to do some seamstress-ing to tidy up the rest. And wash it, of course.

I finished the sweater on December 24th, tried it on, knew that something was horribly wrong (how could the sleeves be so long? I thought I tried them on as I went) and the wide, square neckline results in sleeve caps that don't stay on the shoulders too well, especially once I washed it and the yarn grew!!), but decided to wrap it up anyway and sort it out after my mother tried it on. As suspected, she promptly burst into tears when she saw it- she recognized the wool. She knew what it was. Even though it didn't fit right, I promised to fix it. She loved it anyway.

I brought the sweater back to Toronto with me, to sort the sleeve issue and the neckline issues. I could use some suggestions, so please feel free to drop me a line! Here's the run down: sleeve cap is bagging, not clinging to the neckline at all.

A little shapeless, which is okay in the front....

...but crap in the back. And look how low that back neckline is!

And, well... obviously, this sweater needs help.

Suggestions? I can rip out the sleeves and the neckline, that's the part that I did the knitting for, and it's not my handiwork that I'm trying to preserve!

I want Scarlett Johansson's blue knit hat

I could use some of the extra debbie bliss cotton dk from my halter. It wouldn't be as warm, but it would be study and hold it's shape better once it's been worn, i think. It wouldn't be too hard to figure out either, double stranded in dk, 5.5mm circs, maybe 6mm so the gauge is looser. 1x1 rib for 10-12 rows, increase row for beret then 2x2 rib for body then choose decrease method.... flatter tam-like would be nice totally mayjah. i've got the shopping buzz bold bright color knits plain wool coats with bright purses neutral and leather gloves.. long and scrunchy or short, cute and bowed knee/thigh high soft suede boots (sadly not possible in toronto) deep greens, jewel blue tone with tiffany blue tons of silver, tons and tons knits are looser with positive ease & lots of drape one shoulders and nude knits red tartan + Ralph Lauren equestrian look shiny black patent "this spring i'm all about the ___________________."

Poll: Which side do you like more?

*poll will close sunday evening* The Purple Purl has a great selection of hand-crafted organicish buttons in many different woods and mediums like walnuts, coconut, purple heart wood and even antler bone from deer and moose! The bone ones freaked me out a tad as I learned what it was made out of while I was freakin holding some. Sensing my apprehension it was then explained to me that the maker of these buttons lives way buttfuck out there and animals do lose their antlers naturally and often on their sprawling property . I'll find out the name next time I visit because these buttons are spectacular. Actually so spectacular that I picked these ones out judging them by their intended back side! Only problem now is that I think they actually look as good as the intended front side and I'm torn between them :(

I need your opinion blogland, please check out the photos and vote below. (The voting is anonymus and no signup is necessary) Back: Front:

which side of the button do you like best?
	a) back
	b) front
pollcode.com free polls

Oh it's Joy alright

This, is absativley fantabulous. I must have me one of these this spring, wether I knit it or buy it

NEW YARN SHOP ALERT!

I have just learned, not two minutes ago that there is a new yarn shop half a block away from me. Can you believe it? HALF A FREAKING BLOCK!

I haven't been yet, but it's on today's agenda after a shower and sewing buttons on my fourteen and finding something dope I've knitted to wear for added street cred. As if I'm walking into a new yarn shop with out a spectacular self-made piece! The shop is called the Purple Purl and it's located at 1162 Queen Street East at Jones next to the park. I see from their website that they hold a stitch and bitch on Tuesday nights which is great because I know I do shit-all on tuesday nights ATM.. I mean.. besides knitting by myself+TV... why knit alone if you don't have to? For your visual entertainment today these are some earlier pictures of my fourteen. I used a handspun tweed in an undyed natural cream to compliment the broiche. It's so soft and beyond luxe to knit it on golden needles. looooooove it <3 <3 ps. this is my favorite tea