Have you been eagerly wondering what sewing I was up to?

Well, wonder no more! Here's my weekend's projects! Remember these bits and bobs of fabric I showed you last time?


They have become these:



Yes! Needle rolls/holders! I'm well pleased with them! I've put mine to use already and the other one is destined as a present to go along with the shawl for my Christmas Around the World swap partner.

I really got into the sewing mode this weekend! The other thing I made (and wore) last night are my new jammies. Sorry the lighting was bad in the picture - makes it hard to see the cute gathered v-neck detail on the top, but I LOVE the snowflake flannel! (I also love that it was on sale for $4.75/metre!) Some of the snowflakes even have glitter! Wheee!


Doesn't take much to make me happy!

I've only managed to do seven rows on (BF)G's sleeves this weekend, but hopefully when I get home from the Grey Cup party tonight I can do some more! Speaking of Grey Cup - although, certainly not a CFL fan, or sports fan of any sort, I feel caught up in the excitement of the first ever Grey Cup match between Winnipeg and Saskatchewan! I might even spend some time watching the game tonight. (My general policy is that I attend Grey Cup parties simply for the food. Really nothing to do with the game what so ever) And to jump on the bandwagon - because I have to being from Winnipeg and all...

GO BOMBERS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Facebook and other fun things in life

Well - here I was all puzzled by the facebook friend request that was sitting in my email inbox this morning. I puzzled until my puzzler was hurting, wondering who this mysterious person was, then wandered off to take a look at the Christmas Around the World Blog and there it hit me smack in the head. The request was from none other than one of the participants of the swap! What fun I've had reading her blog and then of course went back and sent a little hello to her on facebook.

Facebook is fun! For example - I can torture my daughter over it! She sends me requests for rides to dances, the mall etc. And I send her evil little messages back. I can stump my sisters with quizzes about me, which they fail miserably (yes, girls - I made it super hard on purpose. Just to drive you nuts! Isn't that what sisters are for?) Of course, my sister challenged me to an IQ test, in which I didn't do as well as her - only two points less, but I'm blaming outside distractions (I was at work) for my lower score! By the by, it turns out I'm above average smart, so I'm feeling smug lately! Other fun things is keeping track of what people are doing, snooping through friend's pictures (although it really can't be considered snooping if it's out there on the net for all to see). And now, having another way to communicate with someone from around the world from me! Yes, Facebook is fun. And provides a wonderful diversion from the day to day drugery of work. Not that my work is ever drugery nor would I ever seek a diversion from it of course.

For more fun and frivolity check out my latest FOs! (again - there's that smug feeling!)

First up is my "Little Arrowhead Shawl" made for my Christmas swap partner. I love this shawl. It took me twice as long as it should have to knit with my "knit three rows frog back two" pattern I seemed to develop along the way. Something with counting and keeping track of where I am managed to elude me continually. (But I am smart. Facebook told me so!) Anyways, it's finished blocked and I'm really proud of it. I hope my partner likes it!

Next up - another wee giftie for Christmas. Not sure which teenaged girl in my family it's destined for, but it's done and I'm thrilled with it too! It's the bluebell Perdita from Knitty. It took me about an hour to knit last Sunday morning, and then another half hour to sew buttons on and do the small bit of crocheting it required. Isn't it purdy?

Moving right along... (BF)G's sweater is on the home stretch! No pics yet - I promise they're coming soon! Maybe even by the end of the weekend. Depends how much I get done over the next while. I am so close to the finish I can taste it! Oh how I long for the end of the monotony of stocking stitch! I think (BF)G longs for a new cozy sweater to wear at work too - but that's really not as big a motivating factor as the "Holy cow, I'm bored!" factor.

Now. What do I have here? Hmmm... Interesting pile o' fabric. Cut in varying lengths and widths... What am I up to now? Well - stay tuned! I'll show you just as soon as I drag my sewing machine upstairs and manage to get all these random pieces sewn up!

Until then, I bid you all a fond adieu!

So much for the fancy lace ball idea

I finished the fancy lace ball, dilegently mixed equal parts water and white glue, stuck a balloon in it and blew it up then hung the supposed fancy ball from the cupboard door handle to dry. Filled with anticipation I got up the next morning and hurried downstairs to check out my sparkling sphere of fanciness. Apparently it did not occur to me that getting a nine inch balloon and only blowing it up to fit the six inch circumfrence of my lace wonder would not result in a perfect round ball. Oh no. It resulted in a somewhat askew ball. A ball that looks like the air was let out of it and quite frankly, the top of the ball appears to have an odd looking "nipple" where the holder string pulled it up.

To make matters more disappointing, the fact that I'm cheap and bought 22 balloons at the dollar store means that somehow some of the colour from the balloon bled into the once pristine sparkly white of my lace. To fix that problem I grabbed a can of glitter spray and sprayed the heck out of it. Imagining there in the early morning dawn, that I could find redemption for the ball and it would glitter and glint in the light, thereby distracting the viewer from it's odd shape and nipple appendage. It became abundantly clear to me after this endeavor that the only thing glinting and glittering in the light was my kitchen sink and counter. I don't believe any of the glitter spray actually landed on the yarn at all, but instead zoomed right through the lacey holes to land willy nilly about my kitchen.

Not one to be easily discouraged I thought that maybe I could cut the string at the top, glue some seasonal silk leaves and berries to it, add a festive ribbon and make it a "kissing ball" to be hung from the ceiling. I also have been toying with the idea of making another one in the spirit of "When at first you don't succeed... try try again." but we'll see. There's many other items on the list that need to be taken care of, so I'm not sure I want to go down that path yet.

In very the happy and positive results type knitting news, I finished the cabled Newsboy cap and am very pleased with it. It looks a little ridiculous on me, but then most hats do. It should look really cute on G though so I'm quite happy with myself!

I also have been motoring along on Interweave Knit's Little Arrowhead Shawl that I'm knitting for my Christmas swap partner. I hope she likes it. I had a bit of a slow start because I'm just not used to lace charts yet, but since I now understand how to read the chart it's going along really quickly! (I'm actually considerably farther along than the picture would lead you to believe!)

Unfortunately (BF)G's sweater has taken a backseat to the shawl. It had too. He can wait (although I'm not sure he'd agree), the shawl can't. I'm almost the front (only a few more rows to go) though, so it's not like it's still at the baby stages of creation.

Not too much else new in this Prairie Girl's world. J and G had their birthdays this week so Happy 17th birthday to J and Happy 15th birthday to G, and in case I neglected N at the end of September, Happy belated 13th birthday to N!

Not much knitting going on these days

Despite the fact I really, really need to get my list accomplished! This fall I've lost out on so much valuable knitting time by driving to work instead of taking the transit. I can hardly wait for my ankle to be strong enough to walk the two blocks to the bus stop again! Every week I keep hoping and every week it let's me down. But maybe next week it will really be ready! After all I've been able to flex my foot for almost a week now since being on the anti-inflammatories! YEY!!!!!!!!!! I am disappointed because I tried to go without my ankle brace (lovingly known as "FrankenAnkle") on Friday and I made it all of an hour and a half before I needed to put it back on. Slowly but surely it really is improving though and that's what I'll focus on!

But back to knitting... I've managed to do a couple more inches on (BF)G's sweater, but not much. I'm so close to being able to divide the front and back for the raglan shaping but can't seem to get those last few inches done to get there. I'm hoping tomorrow I'll get going on it. But then there's the matter of my Christmas knitting that I have to start / finish.

My fancy lace ball decoration has been knit - but I forgot yesterday to buy the balloons and glue I need for taking it to the finished state. Right now it looks more like a fancy lace amoeba than a ball. I will take a jaunt over to the dollar store at noon, so I can at least get it rolling (ha ha - lame attempt at a pun, I know!)

G's cabled newsboy cap only wants an insert into the brim and then it's done. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow too. Then I can check it off the list too.

Here's my list of knitting to be started and / or finished before Christmas

Cabled Newsboy cap - easy to finish
Matching armwarmers - need to start
(BF) G's sweater - need to finish
J's Joey Ramone doll - need to start
G's Very Cropped Hoody - need to start
Lace scarf or Arrowhead shawl - really, really must start and finish quickly! It's for my Christmas swap partner!
Lace Leaf Pullover - start and finish before the library refuses to allow me to renew the book any more!
Something for N! Must come up with idea, buy wool, start and finish

Of course I was at Fabricland the other day and suddenly took a wild notion into my head that I should make flannel jammies for all the little ones which would include, Divine, Alexandra, Logan, Ethan and Robbie. Hmmmm... not sure I'm so good at the follow through, but man, they had adorable flannel there! Besides, if I'm sewing anything, it really should be Robbie's Raggedy Andy that I made almost two years ago now for his birth and then never finished. Poor Andy sits in my closet naked and half bald. Hmmm. Maybe I should dig him out tomorrow too!

Sigh... and the phrase of the day once again?

So much to do... so little time to do it in.