poor neglected blogger

so i'll make my peace offering with some socks! these are my first pair of socks for my c-mas gift stash. i have decided to make some knits for gifts, and made these

i love them so much, i really want to keep them for myself....but they got tagged for rob's mom.....so i showed him what i made for her, and he says "well....mom's birthday is next week, why don't we give her these???"

....so my c-mas stash is empty again! but she really loved her homemade socks...so it was totally worth it!!!!

well i'm off to make some more socks....i'm dabbelling in toe up socks and making two socks at the same time! oh what fun!!!

sock it to me!!!!

if i make something for one, i have to make something for all....or at least so it seems.

so for my sister b-day i made her a pair of socks from zauberball, and since Rob's oldest loved the colorway so much....I made her a pair of ankle socks

so while these were being knit up, i tried my hand at hand dying yarn. and made these for my son who was anxiously awaiting something from the colorful yarn that he had spotted drying.

so i made these.....

and when Rob's middle daughter saw the boys "rainbow socks" (as he likes to call them) she wanted a pair too. so to prevent confusion i knit her up a pair from another "rainbow" type colorway

and then Rob's youngest had to have a pair too.....she wanted a black pair, but since I would find that too painful to knit.....she got these

so in a little over a month i got 4 pairs ready for the kids....plus during all this i made a pair for my dad for father's day.....and a shawl.

all in all....my sock knitting is improving....now to just find the time to knit myself a pair

my cladonia is complete

yesterday was the big day! i wore my new shawl for the first time

here is the cladonia all finished!!!

i had a capped sleeved with it, and the madeline tosh was so soft on my arms. a true dream to knit with and to wear. really i think my whole stash should be of madeline tosh light!!!!

since this knit up so quick, i am going to start another shawl by the same designer....so stayed tuned!!!!

enjoy the sunshine today!!!!

thanks for stopping by

through the loops

designer kristen kapur sure outdid herself on her shawl cladonia!!!

the through the loops group on ravelry has a summer knit along. each person is knitting the shawl of their choice and the cladonia was mine.

so i had a pattern, now for yarn....well since my favorite shawl is made out of madeline tosh light, and the pattern calls for the tosh light....i dig out my skein of nostalgia. when i bought this yarn i was really on the fence for the color. i coudn't decide if i loved it or hated it. but when i wound it up and began to knit, i knew it was a good choice! i am in love!!!!!

the grey was so prominent when it was in a skein, but now it gives such a beautiful tonal change...almost done my increases and then the lace work begins!!!!

hope all you canadians had a wonderful canada day, and to our friends down south....enjoy your fourth of july!!! i really wish i was in nyc this weekend to celebrate! :(

rockefellar anyone?

this will always be known to me as my rockefellar shawl, because the first time i wore it was to dinner in front of the statue at rockefellar. In the summer the skating rink turns into an outdoor restaurant/bar. do i have a picture of me wearing the shawl in nyc you ask???....well no! because there seems to only be a hand full of pictures of me in nyc.

so here it is on my front steps. and yes that is sunshine you see. something else that is hard to come by these days.

this beauty was initially going to be all made from madeline tosh lite (which i bought on our last trip to nyc @ purl soho), but when i ran out, i had to add in some fibra natura yummy! which sounds simple right? not in my life..... what a time i had finding something that would make me equally as happy with the shawl as i would have been with my initial plan.

my next step was to add more lace, which was done to help make the change in yarn/color/and texture blend nice with the dreamy madeline tosh. but when i went to add the beautiful border.....the varigation made it look funny.....so i swapped it out for a ruffled border.

not what i planned, but i love it just the same.

so in the end, i did get to wear it to nyc!

and it will be a lovely piece this summer on those cool nights

(that is if the weather improved enough that we can actually put the winter clothing away)

thanks for stopping by, hope you all have a lovely week and get out and enjoy this little bit of sunshine we are fortunate enough to be getting today!!!!

sylvi is almost done

the finishing touches are about to go on sylvi! it was a long and winding road, but she is blocking right now. Once she is all dry I will attach the petals and be done!

the only room i was able to have large enough free floor space, that we wouldn't have to step over her all the time, is in the living room (which is under construction). hopefully once she is dry i can get some better pictures of the cables up the back.

life has been busy with all the renovations and trying to get sylvi finished up. next on the list of things to knit, socks for my dad for father's day and rob's sweater.

have a great weekend

what's new????

things have been even more crazy than usual around here. renovations have been in full swing, and luckily we can slightly see the light at the end of the tunnel.....it's fait, but it's there.

as for my knitting, well i still can't put the needles down. and i hope to share some of the things that i have been working on. haven't finished a whole lot as i have a few larger projects on the go.....but i have two shawls to share (once i take some pics).

but first, let me introduce you to "sylvi"

after many many attempts, i finally have 2 sleeves and 2 fronts to put together. elizabeth had sewn hers together to make it look more like the jacket that it will be someday.....so i joined along....and i am so glad that i did, cause it made my sylvi mojo soar!!!!!

check it out!!!

here is the back

off to knit up some more of the back!

thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for my first 2 attempts at shawls.