Dear blog and world attached to you, I've missed you.

Here are the longies I knit and forgot to show you.


Here is my new weaving partner.



Here is some of my favourite work from this past year.

Pair of Shovels

Sigourney's Dream

Copper Ikat: Red

Waiting

Green and Blue, Art and Knitting

Fragments 2010

Handwoven, distressed, manipulated copper, patina, wax pencil, shellac.

It has occurred to me now and again that I should make this blog more about my journey as an artist. Call it a New Year's resolution of sorts. There will still be plenty of knitting, but here I can let go of ideas and thoughts too. The whole stay-at-home mom/artist bit is hard but not so hard that I dare complain about it. My time is limited and shared, but I do find time and when I'm thoroughly distracted it's because an awesome little girl wants my undivided attention and she may only think I'm awesome in return for so many years, so I should take it while I can.

I really wanted to call this piece (above) Fragments of Zebra as I've just finished reading the book VALIS by Philip K. Dick but my husband helpfully informed me that would be both trendy, obvious and clichéd. Okay, he's right. But I still like to look at it and imagine that the layers are the universe cut apart into sections and the splashes of pink interrupted transmissions from Zebra. Personally, this piece is also about process and repetition, as well as what happens when one allows something to patina undisturbed for several weeks. I am always surprised by the results. No two patinas are exactly the same.

Under Water No. 2 2009
Handwoven, manipulated copper, patina, wax pencil, shellac.

More leftover summer knitting...

Inga-boo

I was determined to modify the pattern and post it, but by the time I began a second version, it was September, and he it dawned on me that 'hey! It's not going to be warm out much longer and I have no idea what size Bunky is going to be next summer. So it's stashed away in a bag with a few basic instructions.

On this page I discovered the best bind off method ever, posted by a woman named Doris. I love her.

Recommended for triangle shawls, cuffs on toe-up sock or necklines:

1. K2sts.
2. Slip the 2 sts from the right hand needle to the left hand needle.
3. K these 2 sts tog. K1.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all sts have been bound off.

Test the bind off on your swatch to make sure it gives the look and
flexibility you desire.


To Bev, who asked about the pattern for Sigourney's Christmas Stocking. It a modified version of the Holly Leg Warmers from Handknit Holidays.

Where have I been?

I am really still here and I am really still knitting. I don't know how I let it go this long between updates? There is no excuse. I will simply post knitting photos.

Sigourney's Christmas Stocking

I've had the same handmade one since I was a baby and I wanted her to have one forever too.

Stormtrooper Toque

This was a gift for a little boy. Needless to day, now I want one for myself and I think Sigourney needs one, and maybe even my husband...

More knitted stuff

Although I wanted to strangle myself with this yarn at one point, the Biased Eyelet Stole by Eunny Jang is finished! It wasn't a hard knit by any means, but the knitting went on forever and ever. Or it felt like it did.









Now I just have to decide what to knit next. Or do I tackle an unfinished object? Decisions, decisions...

Little Majolica

Little Majolica by Kristin Nichols from Interweave Knits, Fall 2006

This was the first project I've knitted quickly since Sigourney was born. I knitted it up in about a week and a half. It's an easy, pleasing fair isle pattern and I will definitely knit another one. This particular sweater was a gift for my niece. I'm happy with how it turned out, although my seaming skills need more practice.


A close up.


Is it time for five month old pic-spam? Yes...


At five months, my daughter is wonderful and so much fun. If she had her way, she would stand up all day long.


At the moment, I am a single mom and always looking for things Sigourney and I can do together. Montreal has the most beautiful Botanical Gardens. I bought an annual pass so that we could go every week. As this is my first summer in the city in over a decade, I find that I need to be outside as much as possible. The Gardens are terrific because I can pass an entire day there. Even better, there's artistic inspiration to be found in the plants and flowers.

This one reminded me of a fishtail braid.

Strange pods.

Here is the Bonsai greenhouse.


And flowers!



These last plants I photographed because the name cracked me up. Bloody Begonias. They belong in a Harry Potter book or herbology class.

Early May

Just a little experiment.

It was a gift for a former teacher's retirement party. Students past and present contributed to a box of 'samples'. It's my first official piece since the wee one was born.

Yet another woven scarf.

This one was a gift for my friend T. Note to self: black on black doesn't photograph very well.

I'm intending to redesign around here and make a new banner but I a)suck at banner making, b)forget, and c)remember, but only at inopportune moments. Bah!

Anouk

Anouk by Kate Gilbert.

I think every new mom or mom-to-be (or auntie-to-be, godmother-to-be, grandmother-to-be) finds Anouk hard to resist. This pattern is fun because it’s so easy to personalize it. I made the six month size Anouk. My Estelle Cloud Cotton yarn required size 5.0 mm needles, so I used the same number of stitches as the 3 month size but used the six month measurements. I decided to go with a single pocket, only two tabs, and I wrapped my buttons in yarn.

I haven’t blocked it yet and I’d like to sew a simple shift to be worn under it. It won't fit Sigourney until the summer so I have plenty of time.

Thank you....

I can't believe the fluffy blob of knitted yarn in my previous post came out looking like this.


Blocking really fixes everything.

This was a very slow knit for me. Partly because of the wee one - some days I only knit two rows - and partly because I found knitting with lace-weight yarn on large bamboo needles awkward. I kept expecting the awkwardness to ease up as I progressed with the pattern but it never did. In the end, it was all worth it. This pattern is fabulous and I would/will knit another one.

Here is a glimpse of it in the gift box.


My husband made the box out of black cherry wood.


The gift was for someone very special... specifically, our wonderful, wonderful midwife.


I have a few thank yous and oodles of good karma to send out too!

First, thank you to Gannet! This will fit the little one in the fall and it is exactly her colours.


Thank you to Sarah! This will fit her any day now. I can't wait! (And I will post photos for you).



Thank you to Donni! The print is beautiful. The yarn is inviting my creativity.


And thank you to the many people who have sent me e-mails, ravelry messages and comments.

This post makes me look more productive than I am....

What can I say? She's cute, feisty, always hungry, has some sort of internal radar that goes off if I am more than twenty feet away from her. Every day she is bigger, stronger, more alert, and more interested in the world around her. We're having fun getting to know her.

The week before she was born, I knit her a few hats (pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts). Let me go on record as stating that this pattern is both simple and adorable and if you are ever in need of a last minute baby gift, this can be whipped up in two hours.


In December, I also knit a Ribbed Soaker. It's still in need of buttons. It will probably need buttons until she's five.



My husband hopped on the handmade bandwagon too. We needed a changing table, but I didn't want to buy a freestanding one - it seemed like such a waste of space. So he built one that fit over an old dresser we intend to give to her. I am very happy with it. He even built a custom shelf for the wall above it where we store all her cloth diapers.


New project underway...

A scarf for Ally

Knitting a lace scarf is perhaps not the wisest breastfeeding project. For one, the needles are too long and that means holding them in an awkward position so as to avoid poking your infant. Two, babies don't understand the time old knitter's expression, 'wait until I finish my row.' Which means I'm always counting religiously. And being sleep-deprived means I've done my fair share of tinking. I hate tinking. I hate tinking lace more than anything in the knitted world except for tinking fisherman's rib with lace-weight yarn. However, this scarf is a very important gift and I'm determined to continue. I am holding out hope that once it is blocked it will look like the one in the photo. I also hope those are not famous last words...

My loom arrived at the end of December. I thought I would give it a name (as everyone seems so fond of naming their spinning wheels and looms) but due to the sheer size of it, it has been dubbed 'the Beast'.

The first thing I wove on it was an alpaca scarf.

Valerie's Scarf.

I meant to 'full' it more than I 'felted' it and I am annoyed with myself about that but getting over it.

Finally, I finished the cowl (also from Last Minute Knitted Gifts).

It's wonderfully soft, but (alas, alas), my one complaint with the pattern would be that it's too big. I knew better. Beforehand, I browsed the project photos at Ravelry and noticed that everyone's cowl drooped a little too low around their neck. Did I listen to my gut instinct and reduce the number of stitches??? Noooooo. I may find a way to fix the problem, or give it someone with a head and neck begger than myself.