Ta-Freakin'-Da!

Holy Snickerdoodles (sorry, for the foul language.... LOL)! I actually have something to post about! Actually, I have several posts to get out in the next few days/weeks, perhaps the winter silence is finally coming to an end?

I, probably, should post an update about our Easter Extravaganza, but that is going to have to wait for another day because, guess what?! I have a new pattern to show you! 

I was asked to design a bathing suit coverup out of a specific type of yarn and I accepted the challenge with alacrity. Who doesn't need a cute, easy to wear, swimsuit coverup? My original plan was to revamp a design that I had worked on last year, but that I wasn't super happy with (just needed some tweaking and it would be perfect), but while I was thinking about it, the design began to morph in my head to something completely different. I thought that a swimsuit coverup was a wonderful idea, but perhaps a lot of work for something that may not be worn very often, particularly when knit from a lace-weight yarn. How about a swimsuit coverup that you could wear as a light-weight tunic? Perfection, eh? This is what I, ultimately, designed. A lightweight, lace and stockinette striped, dress that has a double row of eyelets along each side seam, through which a ribbon is woven and used to cinch up the sides, shortening the dress into a tunic that can be worn with a tank-top underneath. Genius (in my modest *cough, choke* opinion)!

Here it is: "Jump into Summer" (ravelry link)

If you'd like to purchase you can always

This was my first time hiring a tech editor (someone who checks for spelling, punctuation and math errors) and I must say.... awesome! She totally removed a huge pile of stress surrounding pattern writing. I hope that more patterns will be coming soon.

Zoological and a new knitting pattern

Immediately following the release of my last knitting pattern Mesh Panel Tee, I decided to downsize it and release it as a child's pattern. This was accomplished over a month and a half ago with only a final edit holding me back from publishing. And so it sat..... and sat and SAT... until FINALLY, today, I did the final editing (basically a spell check and some measurement conversions) and got it published on Ravelry (link to buy at the bottom).  I'm not sure why I didn't finish it before, but there you are.

The main purpose of this post is to show off the skirt I made for Chey. I've mentioned (many times) that my daughter is not very girly, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up. She hates pink and loves green? I knit her an acid green skirt (Silly Frilly). She hates Barbies and Princesses... how about a Zombie Mermaid?? (check out the shirt in the picture linked for the skirt)?? I sneak in the girly in every way I can...nail polish, feathers for her hair, ladybug shirts, butterfly shirts, animal shirts with lots of sparkles. The result is that we're both happy. She gets her way and so do I.  It was with this happy medium in mind that I found a cute skirt tutorial on Pinterest and somehow stumbled onto the most perfect fabric at The Purl Bee. It's a black and white printed fabric with every imaginable animal: from ants, to crocodiles to zebras, to dolphins to rhinoceroses. I started it last week and finished it today. I didn't end up following the tutorial at all, it was more my inspiration, but look at the result.....

I interrupted video games for a photo shoot. She hides her mood well, no?

It's a very simple skirt to sew. I cut three strips of fabric, each twice as long as the last (the longest piece was two strips sewn together) and did a double fold hem on both the top and bottom of each piece. I threaded a piece of elastic through the top hem of the shortest piece and sewed it down on each edge. I then sewed each of the longer strips with the fold to the OUTSIDE of the fabric so that it would ruffle slightly above the ribbon trim. I created the ruffle by pinning the fabrics together in 1/8th sections and then bunched the excess between the pins as I sewed the pieces together. I then sewed a length of grosgrain ribbon over the ruffle seams and finally, sewed the whole thing together down one side..... Another win for the both of us.....

If you'd like to buy the pattern for the top she's wearing... It's my latest: Mesh Panel Tee: Child (perhaps I should try to use my imagination to come up with something more interesting for the next one??)

Mesh Panel Tee: New Pattern

The weather finally cooperated enough for some pictures of my newest design so I packed up the kids and we went to a rock monument so that you couldn't see how brown it is here right now...... My photographer was Eli. He's pretty good, if I do say so myself......  Introducing:

The pattern for "Mesh Panel Tee" (I know, I am SO not original with my names)


Knit with two strands of Madelinetosh Tosh Lace held together, this top was knit from the top down using the contiguous method developed by SusieM. This method allows the knitter to knit a top down, seamless sweater with set-in sleeves.

I hope you like it..... there will be a child's version coming soon.

Lord Bertram comes to town....

Completing and listing the pattern for Lady Beatrice added fuel to the fire of my enthusiasm and I was able to knit Lord Bertram over the weekend. Lord Bertram is the second of the series of carolers that I am planning to design and publish on Ravelry. He is the perfect gentleman chaperone to Lady Beatrice and the pair of them will be wonderful addition to any Christmas Decorating.

Introducing Lord Bertram:

And the two carolers together 

Here is the Ravelry Listing for the knitting pattern for Lord Bertram or you can



As with Lady Beatrice, all sales for Lord Bertram between now and March 1, 2012 will be donated to the Train Park Rejuvenation Project

New Pattern: Lady Beatrice

Lady Beatrice is the first of a series of Christmas Decorations that I am planning. She is approx. 45.7 cm tall (18") and 15.25 cm (6") wide. I was inspired by an awesome paper mache (they could be wood, I haven't seen them in a while) set of Carolers that my Dad and Caren own as part of their Christmas Decorations. I have planned to make these for a while and even did the initial planning and some of the knitting last January, but found that knitting Christmas in January is rather depressing.... so I left off until a couple of weeks ago. And here she is.....

introducing...... Lady Beatrice

All proceeds from the sale of this pattern (between now and March 1, 2012) will be donated to the Train Park Rejuvenation Project (my neighbourhood park). We need to raise 25K by mid-March and this is my little part...... 

If you'd like to buy the pattern here is the Ravelry Link or you can

How to make a cold man happy

I did it! I finally managed to knit my hubby a sweater..... Unfortunately, as a welder who is required to wear FR (Fire Retardant) clothing, he wants to wear it to work as wool is considered an FR material.  I suppose as long as he doesn't think he's opening an FR knitting sweat shop, I'll live.....

The sweater is knit with Cascade Eco+ in a dark green. It was knit top down with some ribbing to provide a slimmer look without compromising on the roomy fit he wanted (my own pattern with measurements off of a non-FR jacket that had the fit he liked) and steeked to make a cardigan. He loves it and I'm trying not to envision the environment that my hard work will be living in.... dirt, sparks, grease, sparks, smoke, sparks, dangerous gases, sparks...... he loves it and will probably wear it every single day of winter... and that's all that matters...

Here are some pics, including a photo that makes weaker knitters cringe (you know who you are).....

Introducing: The Silly Frilly Skirt!

Wow... I've been a posting fiend that last few days..... but I FINALLY got this pattern finished and uploaded on Ravelry today and I thought I'd share.

So without further ado: The Silly Frilly Skirt in two sizes 4-6 and 6-8

You can buy for $3 USD it on Ravelry HERE or:

knitting update

It's been a while since I last posted about knitting (and even longer since a post about spinning!) so I thought I'd show you a few things that I've finished since then. My last knitting post was about a design/knitting failure. I did finish the revised top and like it much better. It is comfy, but not super flattering for my shape.... definitely needs a more bodacious bust than I was granted in the genetics lottery.....

The next top I finished, also didn't quite attain the look of my final vision. It's a bit too long in the armscye... I  do think that it's pretty, but not perfect.....

Both of the above pictures are of tops I designed myself.... I haven't fully decided if I am going to publish them as patterns or not....

The next pattern that I knit was someone else's. It is called the Alice Top, but Katya Wilsher. It's a lovely design, but I think the recommended ease doesn't really work (at least not for my style)... I think it should have more like 2-4 inches of negative ease, rather than the 0-1 inch the pattern recommends... I also found the armscye to be too large for me and had to take out the trim to try to reduce the circumference... it worked, but it could still be smaller. I also added a crochet chain across the top of the back to help prevent the arm from falling.... and did a crochet band across the back to make it a bit smaller (not in the picture)

Something that I found funny (and I noticed in on my Ravelry page a long time ago) is that I always stand the same way for pictures... I purposefully stood the opposite way for the last top, but my "normal" stance is a much flattering pose and I returned to it.... 

Win some and Lose some....

I had an idea.... I thought it was a great idea even though various gauge swatches told me it wouldn't work....  I ignored my intuition and the, rather, solid evidence of my swatches and cast on, deciding that "you never know" ..... The idea was to have some ruched panels around the bottom of a tee and then have wide open short sleeves (sort of a cross between a Dolman sleeve and a Batwing) and an open neckline. Well, I finished it last night and tried it on... It was ugly.... I decided to wash/block it to see how it turned out..... The top is close to what I had envisioned, but the bottom is still ugly.... Now, what to do.... do I rip it out and try again, hopefully with a pattern at the end?? or do I cut off the ruching and fix it so that I can wear it... and call it a day??? I'm going to sit on it and decide later... I'm leaning towards a total re-boot.... there is a great top in there, I can tell...

and yes, I know... it looks pretty good laying flat on the ground... it loses it's appeal when worn, however..... looks a bit like a mushroom, masquerading as a shirt.....


On a more successful note... I thought I'd share my recipe for phyllo wrapped salmon.... I'm not a fabulous cook, but I get the job done.... this recipe is pretty darn awesome though...... If you've never used phyllo before it's not difficult. Just make sure it's thawed (you buy it in the freezer section of the grocery store... near the other types of pastry).

You need:

a couple of filets of salmon with the skin removed (not huge thick chunks..... )
about 3 sheets of phyllo pastry per filet
some melted margarine or butter... I used about a tablespoon per fillet
Last night I added some fresh dill and a splash of lemon  to the margerine, but usually I add a clove of mashed garlic... I left it out because of the garlic on top of the salmon.
Boursin cheese to taste. (I use garlic and herbs and tried the "Cuisine" version last night... it was great because it's spreadable).

Preheat the oven to 350F

On a cookie sheet (you can do this on a counter and move the finished package to the sheet, but I don't like having to clean up the counter afterwards so I do it on the cookie sheet) spread a single layer of phyllo dough  and using a pastry brush, wipe a layer of the melted butter combo all over the phyllo. Add a second and third layer and repeat. Place a fillet of salmon on the phyllo and spread about a tablespoon or two of the Boursin cheese on the top of the salmon. Wrap the salmon in the phyllo adding the margarine to any of the phyllo that does not already have some.

Repeat for as many fillets as you choose....  bake for about 20-30 minutes or until the phyllo is golden brown.... They are a bit of a PITA, but I think they're worth it... YUM!












Finally, here are a couple of pictures of Chey playing with her new umbrella in the rain.....

Bolero

I recently found the perfect summer dress for Chey. It was perfect because, not only did I think it was beautiful..... but so did Chey... which is rare, indeed..... The only real problem was that it was a spaghetti strap dress. At the time I was knitting myself a cardigan and thought that the yarn would be awesome with the dress. When the cardigan only used 2 of the 3 skeins of yarn in my stash, I did a little happy dance.

This is the bolero that resulted from the yarn..... a wonderful way to extend the wearability of a dress..... It was knit top-down and a lace border was knitted onto the bolero when finished. I did something wonky when I turned the corner around the bottom of the bolero and the stockinette of the bolero puckers a bit, but nobody would have noticed if I hadn't mentioned it.....