Look at what I found!

*giggles* a while back, Carrie gave me this... I forgot to post it, but I think is hilarious!!! a knitting cat, or perhaps it is hiding under the knitting?

I.. uh... didn't know your size, so I guessed.

This has been a while in the making.
First, my laptop wasn't working, but it is at least turning on now, although, the dial-up modem is broken.. I can deal with that.
Second, I finally took time for taking photos of what I've been up to.
Third, I got into Ravelry.. it has been keeping my online attention lately, plus Kingdom of Loathing teehee!

Pattern: Ribbed Lace Bolero
Yarn: Merino Fine by Naturally
Needles: 5.5 and 6.5 mm
Started / Finished: During a weekend in July

I think this is an adorable shrug, I've warn it around a lot, gotten a few compliments. Hooray! I didn't make any alterations really.. I find it always kind of slides up my arms though.
My waist-cincher top is coming along well, I've finished the back, which I increased by a bit of length, made sure everything was "fitting" properly. Mostly because the girls making it on ravelry had run into some issues. Also, I have four inches done of the front, ready for a needle change, but I need the needles I'm using for the project below..


Thankfully I just have the one sleeve left! Knitting baby clothing feels so out of place, but, it's rather cute looking. I need to have this finished by Saturday.. eeep! It's being knit out of a soft cotton, and the white has flecks of green and blue.

Eeep, I move back to Ottawa next week, and I'm getting purple hair! Partially purple.

Nothin' but blue skies

That's right, I'm finally starting to feel better. I've been sick for about a week and a half.
This let me knit! But alas, no photos.. my computer is rebelling on me at the moment.
We had a bad storm, and although it was off.. something happened to it.. possibly damaged hardware. *sigh* So sad!

My projects:

• Ms Marigold is nearly finished, just one arm hole to add ribbing to, plus weaving in all the ends. I might end up turning it around and adding a button to make a cute mock neck thing and a sexy back.. Undecided though.

• The socks. Oh the socks.. I laced what I had done up, and realised I didn't like where the decreases were, thus.. rip rip. But, it will be better in the long run. Since I was annoyed about removing about 5-6 inches... I needed a diversion though thus I started to make a...

• Ribbed Lace Bolero! A very cute design. I'll probably be done it by Monday. It's in the left over merino from Ms Marigold. Perfect for me, since I get chilly easily...

Today though, knitting shopping trip. After recieving Naughty Needles from Kris and Jelena, I was inspired! Thus I finally bought myself Knitting Lingerie Style and Domiknitrix!! Plus a beautiful wool/cashmere blend to make the Waist-Cincher Top from KLS, and angora for the trim. Both in black. I'm changing the sleeves to short sleeves, and I think I'll add satin ribbon laced down the ladder lace under each bust. It will be sexy, soft and very pin-up girl-ish.

Now I have so many things on my list to make.

From Naughty Needles (apparently people think I look like the cover girl!):
- Straitjacket (with my own sleeve mod so it can be "vanilla" or not)
- Thwack! (the barbed version)
- Criss-cross Garter
- Lolita

From Domiknitrix:
- Snow Devil Hat
- L'il Red Riding Hoodie

Then I have my whole OTHER list, but I'll get into that later, because it's bloody huge. I also have things I want to make for people... if they aren't too nice, I enjoy my naughty people after all.

I like ribbon.

I decided today, that my mystery project no longer really needed to be so mysterious! Mostly because I just wanted to share my progress so badly.

I give you my "No name yet" knee highs!



They lace up the back with ribbon, or will soon enough. I know, I know! Kinky socks! What can I say, I'm a kinky girl. I'm hoping to finish off the decreases tonight.. Maybe get close to the ankle. I REALLY hope I can figure out my pattern for the second sock, because it's kind of messy. Also, Tiffany looks so sweet! She's been hanging out with me while I've been knitting lately.


But yes, these will look SO good with my black kilt! I'm also down another 3-5 lbs. *flexes*

BUNNY!!

I am so excited!!! and what could possibly bring this excitement you might ask?? well... a YARN SHOP!!!

Today I decide to discover a new yarn shop, so after work I walked towards this mysterious address which I had only seen from a map on the yellow pages.. I knew I had to go south and then east (I was really hoping it was east.. because otherwise my sense of direction would have failed me.. but it was east), when I finally got there I saw some women knitting on the porch, and that was very sweet and as I entered the store I was greeted with a "You are a knitter" to which I answered YES!.

After such a greeting, they told me to go feel free to walk around (I guess if you are a knitter you are okie) and so I did.. and I began to see all the beautiful yarn and the needles, after a little while a woman came out of the back room and asked me if I needed any help, if I had any questions and how did I find the place.... we talked for a bit about needles and then she mentioned she was feeding the bunny.. and I said.. OH YOU HAVE ANGORA BUNNIES.. to which she enthusiastically answered "Would you like to see one?" my eyes lit up and I think I said yes.. I felt too excited.. can't really remember.

She came out with this adorable cute bunny in her arms.. and he was cute and friendly and soooo soft.. I just wanted to cuddle him forever!!!!... seriously I need one now.
In the end I got some needles, got to meet an adorable bunny, found a new yarn place and somewhere I can go and ask questions and go hang out. For all of that CHEERS!.

Oh.. I also finished my cloud bolero, but pictures of that shall come later, perhaps with some bunny pictures. ^_^

Sweetly Kinky Market Bag (pattern)

This is my first pattern I'm sharing with the world! It knits up rather quickly. If you have any questions (and or notice errors in the pattern) feel free to send me a message!

Much love my pretties,

-Miss Carolyn (or Zsanica)





Materials:

Eco fil, recycled earth-friendly yarn [75% cotton, 25% acrylic; 225g ball]; 1 ball
1 x 4mm straight needles
2 x 4mm circular needles
4 x stitch markers
2 meters of velvet ribbon
2 x 1 7/8" D-rings
2 x 1 7/8" D-ring clasps

Gauge:

19sts x 23 rows = 4" (gauge not that important, just stay within a decent range)


Picot Bind off:

BO 2 sts, *slip remaining st on right-hand needle onto left-hand needle, CO 2 sts, BO 4 sts; repeat from *



Bottom/Body:

CO 55 stitches.

Knit in garter st for 18 rows (ending with a WS row)

Transfer to circular needle.

Knit the 55 live stitches.
Pick up and knit 1 st from first short side of rectangle, place marker. Pick up and knit 14 sts from same short side, place marker.

Using a 2nd circular needle, pick up and knit CO row (55 sts).
Pick up and knit 1 st from remaining side of rectangle, place marker. Pick up and knit 14 sts from remaining side, place marker (this marker will indicate beginning of round).

Row 1: Purl to one stitch before marker, k1, repeat 3 times more (to beginning of round)
Row 2: Knit.

Continue working in this pattern.

When work measures around 2" from each corner, you can transfer all the stitches to one circular needle and continue knitting in the round.

Continue pattern until bag measures 3" from corners.


Begin Lace Pattern:

Row 1: K1, *yo, sl 1, k1, psso, k1, k2tog, yo, k1, repeat from * until 1 st before marker, knit 1, slip marker, repeat 3 times more.
Row 2: Knit.
Row 3: K2, *yo, sl 1, k2tog, psso, yo, k3, repeat from * until marker, slip marker, repeat 3 times more.
Row 4: Knit.

Continue until work measures 14.5-15" from corners.

Top:

Row 1: Purl to 1 st before marker, k1. Repeat 3 times more.
Row 2: Knit to marker, slip marker, k2tog, knit to 3 sts before marker, ssk, k1, slip marker. Repeat.
Row 3: Same as row 1
Row 4: K2tog, knit to 3 sts before marker, ssk, k1, slip marker, knit to marker, slip marker. Repeat once.
Row 5: Same as row 1
Row 6: Same as row 2
Row 7: Same as row 1
Row 8: Knit
Row 9: Same as row 1
Row 10: Same as row 2

Row 11:

BO (tightly) in Picot Bind off until 1 st before marker, BO st, drop marker, BO all side sts, drop marker. Repeat once.

**If picot is too frilly for you, just BO normally.**

Weave in ends. Block to measurements.


Using left over yarn, whip stitch D-ring clasps to sides. Weave in ends.

Strap:

Loop D-rings onto ribbon doubled on itself. Pin at desired length.

Make seem along width at desired length, trim off any extra ribbon.
Press seem flat.
Pin ribbon together, sew up each side at 1/8" to form single strap.
Press.
Sew a parallel line as close to D ring as possible. That will help to keep it from slipping around.

Attach strap. Enjoy!

NB - Feel free to enjoy the pattern, basically, this is the section of, hey, this design is by Miss Carolyn (aka Zsanica), please don't claim it as your own, or use for profit, etc., etc..

Busy hands make for.. something... must be trouble.

New hair, new job, new knitting designs, new apartment soon... and what is missing? Confirmation from the school! I really need to find out if I'm accepted, because, if I'm not, I don't know what to do. Plan C needs forming, because I really want to move back to Ottawa no matter what. I miss it so..

I had my hair coloured today, it's a bit darker than before, I really like it. There's even a hint of red underneath. It will be nicer once it's rewashed, I hate gel so much.. It's wrong! I brought my knitting with me, or, one of my projects: the Sweetly Kinky Market bag. Apparently the other girls there were very intrigued by my knitting skills. This bag is of my own design, naming help by Miss Ifi. Not that many people check here, but, I'm planning to post the pattern once it's finished.



Why my own pattern? Because I could not find a market bag design that matched my personality, and desperately wanted something perfect and eye catching for weekend shopping. Trust me when I say, you may be surprised by it's finished form. I am sure that the name must hint slightly at this.

Lace me up, because I like it.

Finally, after months of knitting, I have finally knit something in my favourite colour! That's right, black.
I give you:


Lace-up Fingerless Gloves (I don't know why my fingers are burnt out in the photo, I didn't use a flash.. apparently I'm just too pale.)

Pattern: from the book, Naughty Needles
Yarn: Bamboo, bamboo!
Needles: 2.5 mm
Started / Finished: May 15th 2007 / May 20th 2007

During my stay in Ottawa, mentioned in my previous post. We, Miss Ifi, Carrie and I, visited a yarn store, where I found this AMAZING yarn. Fell in love with it, and made these gloves to wear out to Zaphod's. And wear them I did! Even though they were kind of toasty. The bamboo has such a lovely softness. Once I move back there, I will buy more to make a matching garter belt, sexy, yet good for fall nights.

Of course this is knit.. *coughs*

It looks knit, right?











I hope my blog doesn't hate me for crocheting... *hides the picture from the Mesdemoiselles' blog eyes*

That being said, this is my precious learning to crochet project. Naturally knitting is my love, but I can proudly say I approve of crochet. It's different, rather fun, quick, strange. But, I have a SCARF, and scarves are one item that I never make for myself, at least October now has something to look forward to, since I won't be able to really wear this until then.

Boteh Scarf!
Pattern: Boteh Scarf from Spring 2007 Interweave Crochet
Yarn: 1.5 balls of Patons Classic Wool Merino in Leaf Green
Hook: 4.5mm

Started / Finished: May something 2007 / May 14th 2007


I was in Ottawa with Miss Ifi for a few weeks, it was great! Minus her landlady who I find rather scary... But on a walking trip through the Glebe, I met her friend Amelia who knows me as "the other Miss of the Knitting Mesdemoiselles"! How neat is that? Soon, Miss Ifi and I will take over the world! Maybe then I can knit my cozy for the moon.. Which everyone giggles at, but really, how cute would the moon look in a cozy?

*shifty eyes*

Right, so while there, I managed to hang out with a lot of old friends, and met some new people. This picture is of myself attempting to climb a cave wall, but failing miserably... At least I have shiny hair. That's what counts right? Shiny hair? I thought so. Apparently, once I've moved back, I get to go rock climbing more frequently! Exciting. I think this means I need a new hair colour though, for moving I mean...

As for knitting, I made a very sexy pair of fingerless gloves, which lace up. Unfortunately, they're not at my house at the moment, so a post about these will take a little longer. I also made a wicked purse for Miss Ifi, who should really post a picture of it! >_>

hand cuffs?

I am back from my awesome Midland vacation... there was lots of nice walks with Miss Carolyn, lots of gooood food made by Josh, lots of cuddles (I am going through withdrawal), some good movies, lots of popcorn, and pretty flowers (now I have a little rose plant to take care off).

And you are probably wondering was there any knitting?? well I began my socks.. but I didn't do much knitting, my hands were busy playing Guitar Hero *rocks out*

But... there was a present for Josh that I knitted before I left .. knitted handcuffs!!! that is right, he asked me for some, and now he has some, these are my own design and I plan on refining them some more one day, but for now.. they are just totally fun!

Look into my sweet, innocent face cupcake.. look deeply...

The cupcake cannot resist the allure of Miss Carolyn... it wants to be her friend, keeping paper and notes in place all day long, and providing much glee!

Isn't it cute? I've wanted to make one of these for so long and now it's mine!!! I must make more soon..


Pattern: Cupcake!

Yarn: Base - Easy Knit mercerized wool in Stone, Icing - Bernat Cot'n Soft in Parade Print and white hand spun mohair (by my Mum!)
Needles: 4mm dpn
Notions: 1.5ish yards of ribbon, a large button, 10 glass pebbles, a plastic lid with the base removed, stuffing!
Started / Finish: April 23rd 2007 / April 24th 2007

Modifications: I ended up working with 42 stitches, instead of 36. To achieve this, I added one more round of increases, but left out the middle increase on each needle. Also, when starting with the icing, I increased to 48 to make it puff out more. To work with these additional 12 stitches, I decided to decrease by 8, instead of 6, every other round, which works out to the same number of decrease rows called for in the pattern.

Today was so pretty! I managed to get out for a 30 minute walk, and burnt 150-ish calories playing DDR. It's hard staying on track, but I have goals, and I will reach them. I'll look super cute for school too. Plus, I really want to lose 5lbs for going apartment hunting in Ottawa. Miss Ifi, this really means we'll be out walking ALL the time when you visit! Also, you and I must play Guitar Hero. It needs us to rock out!

Back to knitting, Ms Marigold is coming along nicely! I'm almost ready to join her together. My mystery project is pretty much ready to go to, I just need to find the PERFECT yarn. Something very silky, and dark in colour.

mystery project or curiosity project?

The mystery project is finally done, yes.. for all of you curious people out there that were wondering what I was knitting, well you finally have your chance to see what it is.

I have to say, that I had some problems, first the prototype ran out of yarn, but I learned from it that I needed to redesign it, since it is the first thing that I've done without a pattern, but after all the problems.. HERE IT IS... drum roll please..



That is RIGHT!! It is a knitted belt, whenever I wear this little dress I feel that it is missing something, so I finally have something that makes the outfit unique with something I knitted wheeee ^_^ .. I am so proud of it..

Now... back to those handcuffs.

Carolyn on Carolyn action!

Take one girl named Carolyn, give her a pattern named Carolyn, and look what you end up with:


Carolyn

Pattern by: Jennifer Thurston, Spring Knitty 2007
Size: Medium
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino in Evergreen (2.5 balls) and Peacock (2.05 balls grrr..)
Needles: 4mm and 4.5mm straight, 4mm circular
Notions: 8 - Teal 1.5" buttons
Started / Finish: March 14-ish 2007 / April 17th 2007

Modifications:

The only modifications I made were on the sleeves. Instead of increasing right away after the ribbed cuff, I knit the 14 rows, then started my increases. I also left out one stripe on the sleeve shoulders, because it wouldn't have match up with the body otherwise.

Brief Review:

This pattern was fun to knit up, rather quick knitting on the body sections. (The sleeves take much longer!) It has a very nice fit as well, hugging your body in the right areas. I do look forward to how it will fit once I lose more weight though! Having more room in the sleeves will be lovely.

Since this is a striped pattern, you really need to plan out ending your body and sleeves in the contrast colour. For the medium, this means starting the armhole bind-offs in your main colour.
Also, the medium size has a few miscounts on the sleeves. If the pattern is followed exactly, you end up with 16 sts left, not 20 sts. As mentioned above, I left out a stripe so that the raglan seams would match up perfectly, thus I ended up with 18 sts left on each. As I hadn't made a sweater before, I was worried about this, but I just went with my instinct. It worked out fine!


Now I have my sights set on finishing my French Market Bag, and once I lose a little more weight, I can't wait to start knitting up Intolerable Cruelty! So many things on the go. Even Ms Marigold has gotten attention lately!

yaaaaaaarn!!!!

The yarn store in the Glebe had a yarn sale, so I couldn't resist going and getting some stuff, after all I do needed yarn for 2 projects.

I must confess that I get nervous when buying more than 2 skeins, for some reason just looking at all that yarn is as intimidating as a blank canvass but it is also like.. geeesh I hope they made a mistake and the price is lower, heh.. however that is the nice thing about a sale.

So... I got this yarn for Petunia, or what will one day be Petunia.. I am in loved with the colour and the texture of the yarn... mmmm



getting yarn was nice, but there is bad news.. I ran out of yarn for the mystery project, the good about that.. is that it needs some redesigning so, I can now re-start the mystery project with my new idea and make it work this time and have enough yarn .... mystery project here I come!!! ... again

All we knit is love

Today was a really fun day..... except for the working on essays for school >_<

Val is in town, though I really think she should move back to Ottawa.. we need her here (We need you Val!!!). Anyway.. she is in town so we went out for dinner, and for the past week I've been working on a little something for her. My goal is to give every significant person in my life something I knit, because I love knitting little gifts for friends, it makes me happy!!. I also saw Emily.. I miss Emily, hrmmm I wonder what will I knit for her .. mwahahahaha!!!

So... I made a Calorimetry for Carrie and a pretty friendship bracelet for Val, and here they ARE.. the loveliest ladies I know



mmmmm I also had some wings that had mild sauce and maple sauce ohhh so delicious... and CAKE!! mmm cake ^_^

What do you call beautiful? A tree. You'll look like a tree.

Why am I so sleepy? It makes no sense. I slept til 11:20 today, yet, I'm tired. Maybe it's the weather again, all rainy, and it's getting colder again. I wish spring would just make up it's mind...
It's supposed to snow this weekend, and my aunts are putting together an Easter egg hunt. At least this takes the pressure off of finishing my Carolyn cardigan. I wanted to wear it outside for the event. But it will be too chilly for it, plus I haven't gotten a response back yet for what to do with the sleeves, sadly. So I don't know what I should do. Wait, or, do what I think is right. Decisions! I will get to wear this hat below on the weekend though.

Odessa
Pattern by: Grumperina
Yarn: Magic Garden Tinsel in colour 120
Needles: 4mm circulars / dpn
Notions: Blue Moon seed beads
Started / Finish: Mid-March I think.

I was watching a lot of What Not to Wear this weekend, and one of the girls on the show was shopping at H&M. To my surprise she had picked up my skully shirt to try on! Apparently Stacey didn't think it was good to wear in class as a teacher. *cackles* As far as I'm concerned, it's a great shirt to wear to school as an art student though. Or out to the kind of club I would go to.

cranberry fetching

I decided to whip up a pair of fetching mitts, the day I picked out the yarn I began craving cranberry juice, now I used to drink that stuff ALL the time, but haven't in a while.. well I've been knitting the mitts and drinking cranberry juice like crazy!!!

And THIS is the result



I made them longer than what the pattern calls for, and I thought it had been a mistake, but in the end they turned out all right ^_^

When I was knitting them, a guy said.. but WHY are you knitting those.. it's like.. spring.. yes! I did feel like punching him... but really, in Canada is the PERFECT time to wear them!, I wore them yesterday when I went out for supper with Carrie and Amelia was jealous of my knowledge of knitting cables *giggles*

I feel so special!!! *hops away with fetching mitts and cranberry juice*

SUSHI?

YES indeed! sushi it is..... I know there is a rule a curse even about knitting your man a sweater, but no one said anything about SUSHI!!!!!.

Josh (the handsome guy in the picture) is always talking about how much he likes sushi and how he is always craving it, so... when I found this pattern, I simply had to knit it for him ^-^



No.. wait!!! don't eat it....

I better take him out of REAL sushi ... soon !!

Mreow? Wool's food, right?

As I'm waiting on getting an answer back on the sleeves for my cardigan, it's giving me time to try out my new knitting needles and pattern!

While on a search for circular needles, we, my mom and I, found this set of thirteen interchangeable needles at Michael's for the sum of one hundred dollars (Canadian dollars naturally). That's a lot of money, still less expensive than buying all on their own, but, Michael's has a lovely 40% off coupon for out of town customers, and we are definitely out of town. Drum roll please. Only sixty dollars for my hot, sexy, delicious set of circulars. Rawr indeed! They make me so happy... the only downside, they're in US sizes..

Since working on my cardi was at an impasse, on Ms Marigold went in a lovely dark grey merino from New Zealand. The colour makes me drool a bit. Things are going well, but my kitty, possibly the one in the photo (Tiffany)...decided to chew through my wool! So sad! I need to break them of this habit. Bad, bad kitties.

Hi, my name is Carolyn, and I like to knit.

Happy new blog post to me! After much thought (a whole 2 seconds), Miss Ifi and I decided to make a joint knitting/artsy blog. To join the world of other blogging knitters out there! It's all very exciting. Plus, I love to ramble. Well, onwards to the knitting.

Fetching Fingerless Mitts

Pattern by: Cheryl Niamath
Yarn: Paton's Merino in the colour Peacock
Needles: 4mm double point
Started: Thursday March 22nd
Finished: Saturday March 24th (I think..)

My thoughts on knitting Fetching:
This was a very quick and enjoyable pattern to knit, taking only an evening or so to knit per mitt for myself. The cables would be excellent for someone who is a little intimidated to try a cabled pattern as it's very simple. This was also my first thumb ever! The instructions were very clear on it, and I didn't have any thumb issues. Downsides, the top edge has a tendency to curl a little, and for wearing symmetry, on the right thumb you'll have to adjust where it's placed. Other then that, I'm very happy to wear my girly mitts!

Also, in my hand, you can see the first sleeve of my Carolyn cardigan. (Hooray for having the patterns name!) I can't wait to wear it, the wool feels so cuddly...

In other crafting news, I made some demo cards for my mom's card making workshop this coming weekend.
She's teaching about reverse embossing which can be seen on the left card. I have one more to make up, something a little more masculine, but still spring-ish. I was having kitty issues while having my little photo shoot, so you may notice Tiffany's whiskers in the picture. She just loves cameras.

In other exciting news, in the second half of February this year, I joined a site called peerTrainer, it's a place to be encouraged by your peers to lose weight, eat healthier, etc. A month and a half later and I've lost: 9.5lbs!!! Today is amazing to me now! So happy!

Oh Spring!!!

I couldn't let the opportunity go by without posting today, because it's SPRING!!!! doesn't feel like it yet.. but soon.. oh sooon!!!!!
and... since it was such a special day I gave some mitts to Carrie!! she wanted some, so I couraged myself up and made them!!!



it makes me so happy to knit stuff for people and see their reaction ... it's great!!! oh.. I love knitting (all thanks to Miss Carolyn.. and will continue blaming YOU Care.. for my addiction)

That's it for the first post, more to come soon!!!!