Knit Brains

Check this out!! Amazing brains!

http://harbaugh.uoregon.edu/Brain/

FO's

Unfelted French Market Bag and small unplanned bag. The French Market bag was knit in 2 colours of Peer Gynt 100% wool. The unplanned bag has left over yarns. Peer Gynt wool, Lopi, and Alpaca.

I thought that this picture would turn out better but I loved being in the morning sun. It turned out to be more of a bowl than a bag but I like it.

The Peer Gynt felted really well! It is probably the best felting job that I have ever done! The bag has very floppy sides. I don't know if it is the way it should turn out or if I made an error in knitting it. It will be a good bag for carrying fruits, cheese,a baguette and a bottle of wine!


This is the bag that Rhea started on our camping trip in July. She is much too social a person to sit and knit for long but it did get done and it is felted. Good job Rhea!

Bathroom Humour

Ok, KT, you want it? You got it!

5 things that I don't want to admit are in my bathroom:

1. A Chicken Soup book
2. 4 cans of paint
3. A wrench for a tap
4. soap scum
5. hole in wall (covered by folk art Whale)

But...I also want to do...

5 things I wish were in my Bathroom:

1. a rain type shower head
2. bamboo flooring
3. a toilet that has a lid that closes automatically after use
4. ocean sounds
5. a view of the ocean

It is 7 AM Sunday Morning....I think I am ready to go lie down again....

Saw Mona Lisa Smile last night. A little cliche but I enjoyed it anyways!

Five Things Meme

I read this meme at KT's who got it from Suze who got it from Bec and then I changed it just a little bit. So here is my own five things meme.

Five things I wish were in my freezer:

1. Tiger shrimp
2. Mom's "earthquake" cookies (ginger cookies)
3. strawberry jam
4. Pralines and Cream Hagen Daaz ice cream
5. Belgian Chocolates

Five things I wish were in my closet:

1. space
2. shoes for every day of the year
3. a tiara
4. Stacey and Clinton
5. lights

Five things I wish were in my car:

1. teleporter
2. seat heaters
3. a maid
4. surround sound
5. a chauffeur for when I am tired

Five things I wish were in my purse

1. a gold card with no limit
2. a Blackberry
3. Werthers
4. Keys to the castle
5. keys to my little red Corvette

Consider yourself tagged if you want to play!

Grey's Anatomy is Back!!

Note: If you are an ABC watcher DO NOT read this! I saw the CTV feed and they accidentally aired the second show!!! I am very preturbed!



She is going to date!!! OMG! We get to see both hunks for a while!! Who should Meridith go for? Dr. VetDreamy or Dr. McDreamy? I think I'd like to see her end up with the dreamy doctor but what a kiss the dreamy vet laid on her!! And he brought a sandwich for Izzy! How sweet. A good not so good boy, hmmm.

Can you believe that McDreamy's wife went back with his ex-best friend? She is just a tramp that one!!

So much more to talk about but I'm on lunch right now and don't have long! I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say!

I didn't get started on the Sock Monkey Hat because I have no 6mm DPNs! Like I need a excuse to buy more knitting needles. Maybe I should splurge and get some Addi Turbos? I have never tried them and I think I need an excuse to.

TTFN.

My Firestorm Brain

Your Brain's Pattern

Your mind is a firestorm - full of intensity and drama. Your thoughts may seem scattered to you most of the time... But they often seem strong and passionate to those around you. You are a natural influencer. The thoughts you share are very powerful and persuading.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

Ho-Hum..Life Goes On

I have hit a ho-hum spot in my daily knitting. It carries on but it is not much to speak about. I am doing SS in green and in brick, the two Fetching gloves still need to be completed and my Poncho is still on hold. All because of the day job. Which I love. I also love knitting. Knitting is on the back burner as I put energy and creativity into teaching. Till I can take it off the back burner, my friends, I am not going to have much interesting to show you. Hopefully the Grey's Anatomy KAL will spur me on.

I have started the French Market bag which I thought might be a good project for a one day course but I am now realizing that it is too much knitting for one day. I have to find a smaller project to teach the techniques. Maybe I'll try adapting it to a smaller version. The other thought I had was felted pumpkins in October sometime. I gotta get a move on it if that is my plan though.

I have my first back to school cold. Yug...It took me 2 weeks to catch it this year. It usually takes me one week. I guess that is an improvement. I have to make sure that I get enough sleep though and try to avoid all the great 10PM shows!

I hope I have pictures of something for you next time!

Fetching

I have been knitting Fetching...over and over again....For Christmas presents. It is a nice quick knit but I am growing weary of it.... I am sticking to it until the end because I want to prove that I can and be sure to have these prezzies done!

Currently I am knitting my LAST TWO! On hand almost done in both greens....



Four Finished Fetchings viewed below. Four fine people will recieve these. A total of six pairs of fingerless gloves. Twelve fingerless gloves...Did I mention I am getting weary of them?

I like how they look though. Next up in the Christmas category, a Sock Monkey Hat.

The Poncho is on hold till I have another block of time to work on it. Getting back to work puts a crimp in my knitting time!

I have started knitting with my Junior and Senior Kindergarteners at the daycare! They love it! I do Nine O'Clock Knitting. Everyday at least one person is invited to come and "help" me knit. The children either place their hands on my hands or on the needles. Some just placidly lay their hands there and others try to move the needles themselves (it makes knitting much more challenging!) . I repeat a few times every time "in, around, out, off as kind of a knitting chant. It is a good tool to teach them left and right, fine motor coordination and counting (the rows and stitches). It also gives me one on one special time with someone new everyday! We have decided that every month we will knit with the colour of the month and by June we should have enough knit to make a blanket that we can take on a special picnic! This month is purple. I keep trying to remember to bring my camera so I can take a picture of their little hands helping out.

Nothing much else happening other than work or sleep with a bit of knitting thrown in there. OH! I did joint a Grey's Anatomy KAL. I can't wait for the new season! I think I'll start with the Sock Monkey hat seeing as it is mainly grey.

.

Strange Froggy Boy!

It's perfectly clear to me know that I have a very strange indivdual in my house. I decided to download a couple of pictures and I found this!


I honestly can't figure out where the boy gets his sillies from! Both his father and I are the most serious of people! ....RIGHT....

Now, on to the business at hand. The frogs have hopped! I now have yarn to repurpose and fabric to redesign! As you can see in the picture below I have just felted a bag which I am going to line with some of the de-garmetized fabric. The colours match absolutely perfectly! Who knew! A much better shot of the bag will be published upon it's completion. Not very visible in the background of both pictures below is the felted ungrateful boy sweater. I tried to frog the purple linen heart and just couldn't! It was knit in so many directions and I completely forget which end was the end. So that hopped into the garbage heap!



Pictured below are the two knitting needles I purchased. The red topped ones were made in Maine and then sent to Russia for the painted ends. The are called Joint Venture Knitting Needles and are distributed by Peace Fleece.

The green balls on the others are felted balls and I just loved them! I did!

I did very little knitting today because I had lots of running around to do. I went back to the Spiritual Fellowship today and got re-energised. They were finding a new home over the summer and have just started up again. This week I will "choose" to do the right thing for me. I will choose to be happy.

Waterloo County Knitters Fair

Today was THE day! Keary and I made the trip to Kitchener and attended the Knitters Fair! Man, it was busy and HOT! This year we arrived at 11 AM and I think that next year I will plan on getting there at opening time at 9:30. I am trying to think of what I was most impressed with and cannot think of an individual thing. It was the whole concept of being in a room of knitters and spinners. In a room of people who could speak the same language as me.

My purchases were few. I guess because I was hoping for bargains and they were few and far between (possibly there were more at 9:30). I did buy a book. A Second Treasury if Magical Knitting by Cat B. I am in love with almost every project in this book! My Secret sister should be expecting something from this book at sometime this year! The Interweave Knits was bought at Indigo while on the way to the fair as a warm up. There are lots of nice patterns in this issue of the mag.


I was impressed by the seagrass baskets and did buy myself one. I love the smell of the seagrass and they are such sturdy baskets. Mine isn't shaped yet but all that has to be done is soak the basket for one minute in water, shape and then let dry.


In the basket I have grey and red yarn for the Knitty Sock Monkey hat and yarn that was spun using recycled yarn. I got one ball for a bag. In front of the basket is a kit containing a pattern I have wanted to get. The Fibre Trends Hedgehog. I have a weakness for these hard shelled wee animals!


Above the is the basket alone and unshaped. I'll shape it tomorrow and show you the end result. I also bought 2 pairs of wooden needles. I forgot to take a picture of them so I'll show them tomorrow too.


Last, but not least, I present the expressive hands of Keary holding a scarf of felted rovings.

Now I am tuckered out. Goodnight.

Frogs in the Pond!

I am prepared for this weekends frog a long! I have gathered a few projects that have layed around unfinished or unused for a while.

Above in the extremely dark picture I have a pullover that never got finished. Too small for anyone I know. A cable scarf made out of the same yarn. Used needles too large, looks frumpy. A brown linen bag never completed. I got sidetracked. And, a purple linen heart I knit and then started taking apart shortly there after because I needed just a little of the purple yarn for another project

This Zip up cardigan is knit in lovely brown wool that I bought from a sheep farm years ago. I tried several times to make a sweater for myself. Finally I made a sweater for my son. He has worn it once, maybe twice. It is too itchy. (grumble, grumble) If I rip it apart I will have the yarn again. It is yarn that does not want to be anything! I will instead....felt it....and turn it into a purse! For me! (ungrateful boy) To tell the truth Patrick was so sweet about it. Only when I cornered him and asked him to tell me the honest truth about the sweater did he confess. He didn't want to hurt my feelings. (sweet but ungrateful boy) I promised to knit him something non-skritchy.


Last in the line up, a sewing project gone terribly wrong. I LOVE this fabric. Years ago I decided to make pants and a long vest to match. Half way through I stopped. What was I thinking of. This fabric was not meant to be on my short wide legs! And a matching vest? I am just not a matchy poo person. So I am hoping it is enough to line the purse I will make out of the felted sweater or maybe to make a quilted purse.

I am two days into school and tomorrow is a full moon. Children and full moons are a bad mix. Children bounce off the walls and test every fibre of patience a teacher has. All in all the children are independent, smart individuals. What you want children to be. I can't wait to see their learning curve this year!

WIP and FO

This is the front of my Rowan Poncho completed. Not a great picture. The yarn is much more lilacy in real life. I imagine the fact that I took the picture in The Red Room comes into play. Next time I get a picture it will be in the grand outdoors.

I finished the pillow for the sew?i knit! sew along this month. A pillow for The Red Room. I used the curtain fabric, left over dress fabric and silk from a no longer worn shirt. Again because the wall were red the colours have come out much redder than they really are. The silk plaid has some goldy beige in it that doesn't show up.

The distance view.....cropped in to hide the piles of clothes that have once again appeared all over the room... (Pause....Breathe...remind myself what I was like as a teenager....remind myself that I do not set the best example of organization...Breathe..)


Some of you may have been wondering about my biopsy results. I have no conclusive answer as of yet. I pretty sure all is ok but the radiologist didn't aspirate enough from the cyst to run a conclusive test. He punctured the cyst once and got a small sample and then could not find the cyst again. He said that sometimes a needle can burst the cyst if that is all it is. Well, fine and dandy. BUT...the report sent to the surgeon just said that the sample was too small for a result. No mention of the lost cyst! Thankfully I am a person who asks questions and supplies information! The surgeon (not having all the info) decided that the best thing to do would be to open me up and get the thing out for biopsy. I supplied him with the information about the lost cyst and thankfully he agreed with me that there should be another ultrasound first before anything else is done. So back to square one. Sigh. I'll fill you in when I have a result.

I am getting excited about the Knitter's Fair in Kitchener this weekend! The funny thing is that it is also the weekend of the Frog-a-Long started by KT over at Why Not?. I am obviously going to have to take some frogging with me to do while walking around the fair and in the hotel room and in the car and maybe in a bar. I'll get Keary to take pictures, don't worry. I'll be posting pics of the projects to be frogged this week! Join us won't you?

Dreary Long Weekend

This Labour Day weekend is as dreary as dreary can be. Rain and clouds and cool weather. Ernesto left overs. I'm glad we often only get the left overs.

Yesterday we had a small family get together at my Mom's place. Jim bbqed in the rainWe had no lounging outside as we were hoping but a good time was had by all. We played a fun game of Mexican Train dominos.


My sister and her family!

I of course knit a bit. A sock.



A beige and brown sock. Must say that the colours do not do much for me. Kind of goes with the weekend though.



Then there was the brother that liked to bother the sister! When taking this picture I was focussed on a lovely smiling Rhea. I clicked. I saw the result (above). That second delay between press and click was all he needed! That Patrick!

On Friday Jim and I went to Ikea and got 2 new dressers. I feel like an adult now with a dresser big enough to hold all my clothes. The dressers are identical too. So I feel even more like an adult getting matching furniture that actually works with the pine bed we have. Next...a new mattress! Then I'll really feel like I've gone up in the world! I don't know how everyone else in blogland is with furnishing their place but I have decorated mostly with used furniture. Granted alot of the pieces are antique but some of them are most definitely not. For the most part I just don't do co-ordinated too well. If something strikes my fancy I'll get it otherwise I just put up with what I have. Sometimes I feel as if I still emotionally decorate like a university student. Jim is just building my dresser now. I gave Patrick his old dresser (a used one that I did buy straight out of Uni) and my old dresser is now my bedside table. I managed to gather all the books I had lying around the bedroom into 3 piles. One for books I just like to have beside the bed. One for books to read. A third for books that I have read and need to give away or sell. Wait let me count them.... 36. Half are waiting to be read. There is never enough time in a day....

I am oh so close to finishing the front of the poncho!I have finally cast off olong the arms to 88 stitches and am ready to do the shoulder cast off. Pictures will be shown very soon!

Thanks to all for the nice comments about my knit art pieces! They were pieces that just evolved of their own accord almost. I was the vessel for their creation. Both of them have seen the inside of the Whitby Station Gallery. They usually do a display of local artists work once a year and I was grateful to have been included in two of the shows.