get me some peeps

Any Vancouver knitters read this? I'd love to give you a high 5 Saturday at Kits Beach...

The vast majority of my knitsy friends are from far away (not that I'm complaining; there are some pretty amazing people out there). But I think it's time to add some 3-dimensional knitting companionship to the mix.

***This photo may be the last time I actually knit in the presence of other humans.  This is OLD.  I was pregnant with the Little One.  ***

Are you knitting in public this weekend (or next) in your little corner of the world?  Where?

rock star trio

Last September, my dear friend Robert requested some neckwear for his upcoming tour of Eastern Canada.  He and two of my other friends, Andrew and Chris, were hired a while back to play in a young country singer's band. Musically, it's a huge departure for them, but it's a great excuse to dress up like cowboys. I was so giddy at the request that I went a little overboard and made him three scarfy things. 

This is the only one that was actually finished in time for the tour, but he was well pleased and wore it often.  It is simply 200 or so stitches, alternating colours of my favourite yarn in garter stitch.  The loose ends were tied together and left long to create the fringe.  I named it Boy in the Band, after one of their songs.

The other two were finished shortly thereafter, but it took me a hundred years to actually photograph them.  

Pattern:  Bainbridge Scarf by Mintyfresh

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Hand Painted Worsted in Walnut Blue

I made a little i-cord and fastened a button* to man it up a bit, but I think it's still lady-friendly.  Maybe I won't let him have it after all...

*It is actually the back side of one of two handmade buttons sent to me by cassiemarie when I purchased this beauty.  I will definitely use the front side of the other one; it is so very pretty.  This was just too perfect a match to resist.  (Sorry if you are horribly offended, Cassie!)

This little guy is 50 stitches of stockinette for four feet, which I then folded in half and seamed, to make a double-thick, super warm scarf.   The yarn is Mission Falls 1824 Wool in purple and brown (Robert fears no colour).  

I think his increasingly red neck will be sufficiently warm and stylish from now on.  Well, not NOW...a few months from now.  

In case you were wondering, the singer they are playing with is Jaydee Bixby; he came in second place on Canadian Idol in 2007.  He is YOUNG and very COUNTRY.  I can't look directly at his video because that kind of earnestness makes me blush/vomit/chortle.  But my friends are so talented, and they deserve every ounce of exposure they can get.

just a little quickie

Hello. Enjoying the sunshine? I don't know about where you live, but here in Vancouver we seem to have skipped right over Spring this year. The Little One and I are quite the sweaty duo.

Here is my latest FO, featuring the lovely legs and pretty poses of my dear little sister:

Pattern: Look-back Leggings from Weekend Knitting

Yarn: Koigu Kersti Merino Crepe...I neglected to note the colour code, but it's a mix of turquoises and brown.  

They were meant to accompany the brown sweater I gave her for Christmas (photo shoot still pending), but after knitting the first one I was SO BORED that I had to put it out of sight for a few months.  I'm so glad to be rid of them, and thankfully my sister loves them.  

rising

what i've been doing...

Time has a way of  sneaking by when we're not looking, doesn't it?  All the little things of life keep us, and our minds, running like mad toward more little things of life, and before we know it, another birthday, or in my case anniversary, comes to remind us of the passage of time.  

But amidst the chaos, and occasional boredom, of daily life, my hands have still found some time to play.

Post-purge, I started a handful of new knitting projects:

The first stages of a Girasol blanket...

Satisfying progress on a delightfully quick Lauren...

Oblique, in a yarn whose glory cannot be adequately captured on film...

(I'm desperately trying to be an equal-opportunity blogger by providing non-Raveler-friendly links)

A bagful of laceweight and sock yarn arrived in the mail yesterday.  I see scarves in my future.  And maybe this.

I finally hung some photos in the Little One's room, and picked up a couple of cheap 2-packs of canvases to paint him some quintessential alphabet wall art:

The inspiration for these was a combination of some expensive art on West 4th (Vancouver's posh baby district, or at least one of them), and delightful finds on Etsy.  These cost me about $25, including paint and brushes.  Still a work in progress; the B for beaver and B_______ (my last name...how mysterious I am!) is yet to be completed.  

With the leftover canvas, I made this:

  I'm not sure what it is, or why, but I like looking at it.

Craigslist gave me this cutie, for FREE:

It was in need of some TLC, but after gluing on a new trim and mending the cushions, it looks like a whole new sofa.  

Now all that remains is to sand down the evidence of the previous owner's hungry dog.

Recently, Stretch and I marked our eighth (!!!) wedding anniversary, and we could think of no better way to celebrate than to invite all our friends over for as much food as their little bellies could take.  Sadly, there is no photographic evidence, but here is the stack of plates I bought at the thrift store to feed the crowd:

They're cuter in person.  I was delighted that there were virtually no leftovers of the entirely vegan feast, even though most of the guests were omnivores (thank you Veganonicon, The Artful Vegan, and Entertaining for a Veggie Planet).

I spent the evening at the stove, chatting with friends as they happened by, and to me it was perfect.  This will have to become an annual thing.

Lastly...remember the Little One?  That precious, beautiful little boy with alabaster skin and heavenly cheeks?   

Today, I asked him to smile for the camera.

This is what I got:

 

I thought it was a fluke, so I asked him again.  And again.  I cannot show you the resulting photos, for each is more horrendous than the last, but trust me when I tell you that this is now his interpretation of "Smile!"...  Images of school photo retakes dance in my head...

pretty great

My jaw dropped when I checked in on The Sartorialist this morning:



To me, she is the epitome of Cool. And it doesn't hurt that she looks strikingly similar to one of the greatest musicians ever:



(sigh)

On the knitting front, I have decided to purge all of my works-in-progress, because the sight of them made me hate the world. I'm starting fresh, filled with giddy excitement once again.

Oops, I hear a baby crying. Duty calls.

under construction

Please pardon the lengthy absence; I hope to return soon. For now, here's a little glimpse of what we've been up to: