Category: Knitting & Crafting

These socks took me eight months to finish and then I delayed photographing them for another three months. All in all, it took me about a year to get this post up. I am not knitting as much as I use to be. When I started these socks, I hoped it would get me back into it. In the past, I could finish a pair of socks in two weeks even while working full-time. I blame myself for picking this pattern. The twisted stitches made these socks very slow. It’s too bad as these were my first pair of socks from this book.

Katsura, started September 2, 2014, finished June 2, 2014.Ravelry Project Page
Pattern: Katsuara by Judy Sumner from Knitted Socks East and West Ravelry Pattern Page
Yarn: Froehlich Wolle Special Blauband – 50g/225 yards – 2 skeins – #74
Needles: US#1/2.25mm – 100cm circular

Modifications & Notes:

  • Judy’s Magic CO 2AAT on ML using La-Rink and La-Link for toe increases.
  • Fleegle Heel
  • Yarn came with reinforcing thread so I used it for toes but forgot the heels
  • K2P1 ribbing
  • Jenny’s Surprisingly Stretchy BO

Cost of Project: Yarn was Random Act of Kindness gifted from Ravelry. Thank you. Cost of book was around $10-15CAD probably.
Would I knit it again? No.

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Hello! It’s been awhile since I did a Sunday Salon. I’ve missed it, but life has really gotten in the way.

This weekend has been hotter than the standard here. I love that it’s sunny and bright out, but I like to be in the shade or indoors in this kind of weather. It’s relaxing so I like to read! I read one book yesterday and anticipate more day.

I officially started my job this past Monday. The job is the same one I’ve been doing for a year now, but I was made an employee. This is good for me since I now have some financial security and benefits to boot! Working full-time on this project has been tiring though and does not leave a lot of room for me to keep all my hobbies.

It’ll be easier if I just do a quick run down on things:

Books: I hope to read one more book today and start another. I really have not been reading much this year, but hopefully I can catch up this summer to complete my humble 52 books goal this year. I just have too much other stuff going on in my life.

TV: Was off for a couple days for Canada Day and spent that time and this past week watching: “Sense8,” “New Amsterdam,” “Humans,” “Unreal”, and “The Borgias”. I recommend them all in various ways. Two are airing now.

Movies: I went to see Magic Mike XXL in a cinema VIP lounge experience. As someone who no longer really goes to the cinema, I loved the comfortable and bigger seating. So much so that it makes me think I’ll do it again this year. Movie was really fun as well.

Food: I usually bake at least once or every other week, but I didn’t this past week due to the weather. Made a really nice Orange Ricotta loaf the other week though. I haven’t baked bread in over a month. I made a really good black bean and quinoa salad for lunch last week. Now I’m a bit stumped on what I will eat this week for lunch.

Fitness: I’m not running 🙁 A couple weeks after I completed my half-marathon in May, I noticed some pain in my inner calf. I think it’s a minor stress fracture. I’m going to go to physiotherapy soon to check it out. I have a 10K in early September that I still hope to run. In the meantime, I am trying to ride my bike and I’ve been doing some yoga.

Knitting: Finally finished those socks I started in September. No photos yet. I am really not knitting anymore.

Travel: Maybe heading down to the USA for a couple days in August. I am also planning a holiday back to the UK in the autumn. Hope to get that finalized soon. I can’t wait to travel abroad again!

Real Life: Work has complicated things and I had some issues with my neighour the last two months. I really hope things will be calmer now. My friends and family are still very important so I am prioritizing them more in the warm months.

Whew! I think that should be a long enough update. I will continue to blog about my books. To those of you still reading this blog, thank you!

Have a happy week!

Sunday Salon

Hello! It has been awhile since I wrote a Sunday Salon post. I have dropped off a bit with my Little House series readalong and fell behind actually. I may try to catch up this week.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve gradually knit less. I even started a pair of socks over a month of ago, but I’m just one third through the foot. I should have picked an easier pattern to return to knitting.

I have many hobbies and interests, and of late, my social life and running/fitness has taken over. I am the most fit as I have ever been in my life. It’s taken me a couple years to have this kind of social network; I only had a couple of friends here three years ago. I even started a new work contract recently. I still watch some TV shows. I’m interested in “Outlander” and “Black-ish” these days. I have not seen a movie in a couple months though.

The saddest aspect is that my reading has dropped off significantly this year except for during my holiday to China in May. I took my reading goal down from 70 to 52 books, and even with that, I’m struggling at 31 right now.

I will always love reading and consider myself a reader. Lately, I’ve found it hard to be one. I don’t want to force myself to read either. I think it’s just a transitioning time for me, and I’ll definitely go back to bibliophilia when the time is right. Hopefully soon.

Have a great week!

Sunday Salon

Hello, all!

Since last Salon, I haven’t had time to think about the blog very much. In fact, I didn’t even know the comments were broken and a visitor kindly contacted me about it. Thanks, Susan!

Yesterday, I finally did write a couple of posts on some books I read in May. I have a couple more posts to write then I’ll have caught up for those posts. I am still not reading though. I’ve been too busy.

I’m working at home these days which is not something I have done in awhile. I made progress this week, and did some cleaning and laundry as well. In fact, I still have to clean some more.

Knitting: Haven’t done any in months. I have to be careful otherwise my muscle memory will forget like it did five years ago. I’ll have to make time for it.

Fitness: Started running again on Thursday and I ran this morning. Just 4km each time, and today was better. I’ve got a 5km race in September, but I find running in summer difficult because of the heat. Hopefully I can get back to doing a regular 6km on weekends.

TV: Finished the new season of “Orange is the New Black”. I enjoyed it, possibly more than season one.

Later today, more chores, maybe some gelato, but now, finish the Netherlands vs Mexico World Cup game. I would have posted this post much earlier if I hadn’t been watching. I’ve got a soft spot for the Dutch!

Have a great week!

Sunday Salon

Hello, everyone!

I have not been reading very much lately. I’ve been too busy and tired to read most days. Some readers like to read to unwind, but I am really active and like a book to take me away for hours and hours. Time of which I do not have lately.

As for my book of today, I am still undecided. I could read my Classics Spin book (Kim by Rudyard Kipling), but I think I will err on my two pile of library books. Goodness, I am glad I have not bought any fiction for awhile. I’m trying to hold out until June as well.

One of my reading goals this year is to read more out loud. I think it’s an interesting exercise as it could help improve my public speaking and normal conversation. It seems a lot of words and stories were written to be read out loud such as poetry. I hope to do more of that this year.

Knitting: Haven’t started. The chart is the most complicated one I’ve encountered yet. I gave up colour coding it. I think I will cast on today or this week to get it started.

In terms of fitness, I signed up for a 10KM next month. I don’t have the proper time to train for it and complete it to the best I could. I am running more though. This week, I ran 6k and 5k. Perhaps by the time the race arrives, I can do that three times a week. Swimming is not going as well as I would like. I can just barely front float and glide. No actual swimming to be done yet. I’ll be glad when the snow starts melting so I can ride my bike again and run more without muddy shoes.

This weekend, I watched season 2 of “House of Cards” which I enjoyed even more than S1. You can see my review of House of Cards season 1 and a review of the British series.

What are you doing this weekend?

IMG_2093Last summer, I started riding my bike for the first time in over 15 years. I really enjoyed it as I commuted to work. As the weather got colder, so did my face! I am not even a fast cyclist and quite slow really. I still need something to protect my face on early morning bike rides. I also thought it would could double as a running balaclava.

As with others on Ravelry, I was not that satisfied with the face opening or shaping. I tried to modify it, but it was still too big. I would have tried to make the face hole even smaller except I was running out of yarn. I quickly did a round of single rib to finish it off. I did like the addition of the strap holes and instead of two pigtail holes, I put one ponytail in the back.
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2013 Knitting Flickr Slideshow:

A little late on the knitting review and the 2014 goals, but knitting has just become less of a priority these days. Among my friends and colleagues, I am still known as the knitter, but this is less applicable to me nowadays as I read more, socialize more, exercise more and other more things than knit.

In 2013, I only completed eight projects but worked on about three or four (two of which were the sock blankets). The completed eight projects included: three pairs of socks, two hats, one cowl, one sweater, and one necklace. Not an an exciting year, but I’m modest delighted with the Gap-tastic cowl, Shedir II, and Buttercup.

For 2014, I have a few modest knitting goals:

  1. Continue not buying yarn and/or use stash as much as possible.
  2. Make Sylvi. My goal for Ravelympics 2014 is to start this project. It will take more than a couple weeks to complete too. I’ve had the yarn for awhile now, and I may or may not line it. Either way, this is will my most ambitious project yet.
  3. Work on my sock yarn blankets. Gosh, I have no idea when these will ever be finished.
  4. Optional Goals: More socks, Spin, a Christmas jumper, Balaclava for cycling (done!), and Legwarmers.

I actually made a semi-decent balaclava the other week and the FO post will probably be up next week.

As for Sylvi, I have swatched it and will soon colour code the charts. It is a daunting project. I will post more about it as a goal. I definitely think there will be many posts on it.

What are your knitting goals for this year?

Gap-tastic CowlI wanted a giant cowl to go with my first leather jacket. I’ve had this pattern queued up for awhile now. It was between this or the Herringbone Cowl, but this one won over by being reversible and textured. I did forgot how boring it was to knit moss st/single rib though.
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Barn Raising Quilt squaresJust an update on one of the two leftover sock yarn blankets I’ve been working on. I’ve been working on this current square on and off the last week as I’ve been too busy to knit much.

I started working on this quilt from the book Knitalong in January 2010 with the thought of doing 72 squares which would cover a twin bed. This my 49th square and this month, I’ve decided to stop at 56 squares or 8×7 square quilt.
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Shell Pattern Socks

Nothing like an easy peasy pair of lace socks to get me through summer. I worked on most of this in August. This is at least better than the Girasole blanket of last year. I’m starting to become one of those knitters who does not really knit in the summers. I spent much of this summer outdoors which is great.

In any case, my third pair of socks of this year. I always like knitting socks. In some ways, they are the ultimate kind of projects for me: not too easy, not too difficult, comforting, not too big, not too small, and most of all, useful.

I went back to my favourite sock pattern designer for these. I love this Nancy Bush book. I’ve made more things from Knitting Vintage Socks than any other knitting resource. With the cashmere and wool in these socks, I think they will be one of my favourite winter house socks.

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These socks were started near the beginning of summer on July 1st. It feels like time has flown by since then. I’ve been very busy and preoccupied to sit and knit. I need to finish these by the end of the month for Sockdown. I’m past the halfway point though. I only turned the heels on them last week!

As I’ve written in recent posts, knitting has become less and less of a priority for me in the last year. While I continued to accumulate yarn and fibre, this summer has been fairly low on crafting and no stashing so far. I am very glad because I have way too much yarn and fibre. I hope my yarn diet continues to the end of the year.

I use to knit every day, but these days, I feel I knit only a couple of times a week.

When I started knitting seven years ago, I was a frustrated and lonely university student. Thankfully, I am less of all those things now. Knitting has always been a relaxing home activity for me. I’ve tried to be a social knitter, but it’s not in my nature. It’s one of my introverted hobbies that I do when watching TV or movies. These days, I have the blog, books, and other solitary activities.

Furthermore, I am more social again so I’m out and about. Once the weather gets colder, I’ll probably knit more, but I’m actually quite glad that I am knitting less or thinking about it less. The more I think about, the more I want yarn! That’s bad. 😉

Does knitting go in and out of your life as well? Is it always in the background waiting in the wings?

For more WIP Wednesdays and FO Fridays, go to Tami’s Amis.

Welsh Country Stockings

This was first time completing fair isle on socks after failing to do so three years ago with the same white yarn. Nancy Bush is my favourite sock designer even though I always modify her parents a lot. Maybe part of the reason I love her that her patterns are easily adaptable. I converted this pair to be toe-up.

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