Already middle of November...

Just a few more weeks and it's Christmas. I am wAYYYYYY behind in decorating, cooking and shopping. AND making presents. Am I behind!!!!!
However, I did get a couple of things finished, one of which is a baby dress for one of the girls at work, which will go along with the baby blanket I made.
The other is a vest I finished for another girl. Her mom had started it, but never finished it. Won't she be surprised.

Now I am just running them through the wash. In the meantime I am knitting another Moebius scarf for the same friend who the vest belongs to. Then my son calls yesterday while he is out shopping and just as a "by the way" can you knit a hat for my friend? But it must be one of thos ugly 1980's hat with a pompom. Great, another thing to make. I should get paid for this... :)

It is a lovely day today, sunny and a high of 12degrees C. and that for November 22!!! Hope this keeps up, they did say that we can expect snow next weekend though. We'll see....

My guys are out getting fire wood, so I got the place to myself. Wonderful! At least I can get things done around here.

TTFN

Lilly

Moebius - Wave of Colour by Birgit Freyer

So...my Moebius - my first ever - is complete ....ta..da!!!

I love the colour. Yes, I am a purple freak. Just too bad I ran out of wool and had to add another yarn for the last 10 rows. I do think though that it blends quite nicely. I am quite happy with it and would definitely make another one. Not sure though what type of yarn I would choose. I do like the silky feel.
Here are my photos....

 

 

 

this is what it looks like me wearing it....sans head..haha...

Today we had our family portrait done. It was quite fun. There were some great pictures taken. Can't wait to see them printed. I am thinking I might still get the CD done anyway.  We'll see. That was my birthday present from my family. Finally!!! I always wanted one, but everyone always complained. They are so not photogenic...lol.

It is a beautiful day today, 13 degrees!!!!! Let's hope it stays like this for a while. I am just not ready for snow.

TTFn

Lilly

Halloween

Today is Halloween and I still have a ton of work to do for it, like carve the bloody pumpkin. I hate pumpkins!! Oh well. We had our party at work yesterday and I was an unfinished knitting project.

front

 back

 back again

This was a lot of fun to make. I wore it over a black top, made some wound wool earrings and a black and red woolball in my hair held by straight knitting needles. One of the guys thought it was great that I incorporated my hobby into my costume. Also it was comfortable to wear. I hate nothing more than a costume that is uncomfortable.

I also went to the Creative Festival this October and bought various wool. One of which I bought 5 balls to make these scarves for the girls for Christmas. I thought they were fun.

these are the five different colours. It took about 20 minutes for each scarf. Greatest project ever!!! The wool is Cocoon by Rozetti and the pattern is from Black Sheep and Ewe.

I also started a new KAL with Birgit Freyer at www.die_wolllust.de, It is a moebius scarf and is marvelous. I found the wool I wanted at the Creative Festival. It is a  mulberry silk in purpleberry. I love the feeling of it. It is sooo soft!!! Just hope I have enough.

Here is the beginning of it:

In between all of this I finished another Mia Bella for my daughter for Christmas. This time in black. I wish though I had added beads into this. It would be so elegant.

 

So I think that is all my news for today.

TTFN

Lilly

Hello...hello...hello

well... my Donna Rocco Shawl by Birgit Freyer designs is complete. Here are a few photos of the finished product....

 

 

On to the next project. I just spent a few days taking inventory of all my "stash". My... have a lot of wool!!!  To top it all off, I went to the Creative Festival last week and bought more!  I needed a specific type of yarn to make a moebius shawl, since I can't wear wool or wool blends next to my skin. I found a  lovely yarn make from silk. It is 300 yds, I need 400 for the shawl, so I think I will have to shorten it a bit somehow.

I also bought 5 balls of a weird yarn and made 5 scarves from it. It is quite neat.

 this is what the yarn looks like - like Cocoons, which is the name of the pattern

 Here are the other 4 colours.

They took about 20 minutes to make per scarf. Just way too easy but loads of fun. I think the girls will like those for Christmas. Now who do I give which colour to?

And which one do I keep for myself??????

the Creative Festival was a lot of fun. The wall quilt was definitely something to see. It was amazing. Unfortunately could not take a photo.

That's all for today.

TTFN

Lilly

Fall is here...

Well I think fall is here. The leaves are starting to turn colour and it is much cooler during the nights. Time to take the cactus' in before the first frost hits. I'd hate to loose one of them to cold weather. The one I have had since my daughter was born. My mom "smuggled" a baby cutting from hers way back when - twice, because I killed the first one :)
Her cactus was as old as me, which she got as a baby from her father. So this is the third generation and I am growing the fourth one for my children.
It is slowly time to clean up the garden and winterize everything. I hate to see summer leave.
But with the cooler weather also comes more knitting - YESSSSS!
I finished my daughter's shawl. It still needs to be blocked though. Donna Rocco is nearing it's end and I have started the Opera jacked by Birgit Freyer - www.die-wolllust.de
Again we are doing it as a group, that way we can ask questions and get help where needed.
Photos to follow......stay tuned.

TTFN
Lilly

oh what a week!  the weather was most gorgeous, but today it's a bit on the cool side, a high of only 19 degrees. But...it is sunny and that's what matters.
Next clue done on Donna Rocco, now we wait again....till next thursday. In the meantime I continue to knit on Mia Bella for my daughter.

 

so  there are the pictures. It is growing nicely.

I have signed up to do Birgit Freyer's Opera Jacket. (www.die-wolllust.de) I am just curious how that will be blocked? It's one thing doing a shawl or stole, but a jacket?  That will be interesting. 

Even though last week was a short week for me, since I no longer work fridays (woohoo!!!) it seemed like a long week. We did have a visitor from Arizona and took her to the CN Tower for dinner at the 360 Restaurant. It was a bit hazy but otherwise a perfect day for going up there. She had a blast and so did we. 

the appetizer - Yum!!!

 

The CN Tower

  

Centre Island

  

West side of Toronto

  

more of the west side

 

looking north west and central

downtown toronto - north east view

 

 

east Toronto

 

looking down the glass floor

  

a gigantic woodpecker statue outside the CN Tower.

I think I have hundreds of CN tower photos  from various angles and different years. I guess every visitor we have ever had, went to see it right along with Niagara Falls.

Way too much fun!!!

 On a sadder note - my sister-in-law's grandpa died last night. He was 97 and one of the few survivors of the Halifax Explosion. Over the years, he became also part of our family. He will be dearly missed.

Then next week is my mother-in-law's 80th birthday. What does she wish for? Dinner at Milestones!!!

YESSSS! Should be fun. She is a feisty lady and full of life! 

And her daughter who is now in Scotland for fun, will be getting married next June. So, we have lots of things to look forward to..

Till next time.. TTFN

Lilly

ok so here are more photos of the Donna Rocco. It's starting to take shape. I still can't make out what it will look like in the end, but that's all the fun of the mystery.
We are having such lovely weather now and I am looking forward to enjoying this long weekend. My job has also changed somewhat. they have offered a 4-day workweek which I volunteered for and I am really enjoying fridays off. It just gives me so much more time to do things that I either don't have the energy for or no time. I sure hope I can continue this. They will review this in December and we'll see how it goes at that time.
that's all the news for now.

Lilly

Clue 4 finished, so now I have to wait till next thursday. I don't like those short clues. Therefore I have decided to start another Mia Bella for my daughter for christmas.
I have now had my first friday off and it was lovely. Lots more to come, at least until Christmas.
TTFN
Lilly

ok...so still working on clue 3, but almost done. In the meantime we took off on friday and headed to Niagara-on-the-Lake. We stayed only for one night at the Queen's Landing. It is a beautiful little tourist town with lots of attraction. We love peace and quiet and even in this tourist town, we always find that we are relaxed.
We were lucky enough this year to see the start of the Peach Festival. They had closed the street and had a little market set up. We bought of course peaches, which are absolutely delicious. I fried some up last night with our fish and because it was soooo good, I fried up some more with some Maple sugar for dessert over ice cream...hmmmmm!
We also visited wineries, one of our favourites "Peller Estates". We come here every year and have dinner here. The menu is superb as is the food. They have a red wine and a white wine tasting menu, which we always like to try. It comes with the appropriate glass of wine, so by the end of the meal one is a little, shall we say, drunk. haha!!! Not really, but sure ain't feelin no pain. ;)
On the way home we stopped in at some wineries, such as Kacaba and Gretzky's - yes Wayne that is!!! Very good wine I must say. The Riesling - Yum-O!
That is that for our little weekend adventure. I am hoping to do much more of those as I might be able to get fridays off now as the company I work for is downsizing a bit. Means less money, but I still have a job AND time off to do more crafts... YES!!!!

TTFN
Lilly

My oh my- time flies when you're having fun!
Donna Rocco has started and I finished clue 2 which was rather a short one, but that's ok. Maybe I get the chance to continue on the jacket I am working on now.
The photos show the choice of yarn colours, clue 1 and clue 2, where I am now starting to use the colours. I can't wait to see how the colours will blend in on this. Now I have to wait until next thursday to get the next clue. It is so frustrating to be working on another project in the meantime when I am having so much fun with this one. Now my daughter has asked for a Mia Bella for Christmas in black. I have already bought the yarn, but I really think I shouldn't start a third project. I'll only get confused...haha.
Oh well. Today the sun is out and I really should get going to enjoy some of this lovely day. After working all week, the weekends always seem so short. sigh!

TTFN
Lilly

Finally got some printer ink so I could do my test swatch for the new KAL Donna Rocco.
Sure didn't take long to knit that one up.
The details are hard to see, but I think I got the gist of it. Tomorrow the pattern clue 1 becomes available and at least now I can print it out.
The wool I chose should be fantastic. Can't wait.

TTFN
Lilly

It has been a cold summer so far.
My "helper" Toby ( seen in one of the photos below) passed away July 13/09 very peacefully. One minute he was sleeping in his favourite spot and the next we found him dead in front of his waterbowl. I am glad he didn't have to suffer and went purely because of old age. It was heartbreaking to see him lying there, but he truly looked like he was sleeping. My son took it the hardest. But he is ok and we still have Phoebe!!!! ( and then there is always the pet store - will a new kitten arrive on our doorstep at some point in time? Who knows..)

Last week was holidays at the cottage for us, and we did have some warm days, but most was cool and rainy. Too bad! We managed by playing games and just keeping our noses in our books or in the wool bag.

Next knit along will start soon and I can hardly wait. I received my wool while I was away and I am thrilled with the colours. We'll see what this will turn into or now.

TTFN
Lilly

Baby Shower

I went to a baby shower for a friend's daughter's first baby. Wow! Hard to believe she is having her own child. I knew her when she was just a wee little thing.
I remember seeing her in the school play Alice in Wonderland. She was the Queen of Hearts. My children were still quite little at that time, but were amazed at the show their school mates put on. One could only dream to aspire to the same kind of talent. As it turned out, both my kids ended up taking drama class in highschool and my daughter was a ballerina up until she started work. So it must have had an impact.
I of course had to make something homemade. Not everyone likes home made things, but as luck would have it, Erin was worried that her child would never know the love that goes into making something for a little one. Well now she has something to put away when he outgrows it and give it back to him when he has his own child. I am sure a story will go along with that.
Now her mom has picked up knitting needles once again as well, so I am sure this little "nugget" as they affectionately call him, will have plenty in his memory box to oohh and aaah over in later years.
Here is a photo of the outfit I made. There is also a blanket that goes with it, but unfortunately no photo is available. All I can tell you is that it is made of camel colour Bernat Satin solid in an argosy pattern. It is the softest and warmest little blanky. I am sure she will get lots of use.

TTFN

Lilly

Woohoo! Mia Bella, c'est fini!!!
She is done and drying and stretching on the spare bed. What a blast this KAL was! I am impressed. I have always wanted to make a lace shawl, but never had the nerve to try one. I always found it too overwhelming. Well, now it's complete and I am absolutely thrilled. I can't wait to use it somewhere.
Even my husband likes it!!!! Every time I picked up the knitting needles, he wasn't allowed to speak to me, because I would mess up on the counting. :)
He already asked what I am going to do now, since I am finished. And honestly, I have no idea, but I do need to find something else quick, that's for sure. Maybe I'll make another sweater.... a summer one....which means I have to go to a wool store.....oh he'll be so bored...haha..
Notice my helper? He always has to be around what I am doing. I'll have to watch the kitten though. She loves the string...

So off to scout out a new project for me to do.
TTFN
Lilly