Ooohhh ...

I am a big fan of pretty handpainted yarns, and contests too ... hop over to Wandering Cat Studio to check out their new shop . While you are there, enter their contest, it ends tonight!


Pretty yarns, and they are Canadian to boot! What's not to like!

And Another One

Yeah - I know - my knitting posts lately have been as dull as dirt.

I should be in Grrlfriend Rehab by now! I guess I should count myself lucky that knitting is my only vice - I wouldn't have time for and couldn't afford another!
Pattern: Grrlfriend Market Bag

Needles: Size 4.5 mm dpns and 5 mm circs
Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton in Hot Green, and Bernat Cotton Stripes in Lime Stripes colour (a little clashy re: the greens, but I am mostly OK with it)
Time in: Most of the bags I have knit have taken me about 3 days (work, and busy evenings stretch the knitting time out), but this one was knit Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon ~ pretty quick, and good to know if I need a last minute gift sometime (much faster than my felted bags, and no drying time needed)
Again?: I probably don't need to answer this, if you've been reading the blog lately, you know the answer

(In case you are wondering about the recent flurry of blogging - there are 2 reasons behind it ... T is away, and I have some time on my hands, and a friend who reads this blog ~ HI AP ~ told me that she reads me, and that she noticed I had been not blogging much ~ and I got to thinking "I should blog more often, then it isn't so much work to do a post, because I won't have as much to tell". I have blogged more up to the 5th of July than in the entire month of June, and iit was pretty quick and easy.)

Another

This time around, I thought that blue would be a nice change ... and I really like the way this bag turned out.

Pattern: Grrlfriend market bag
needles: 4.5 mm dpns, and 5 mm circs
yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Solids in French Blue colour, and Bernat Handicrafter Culinary colours in By the Sea colour
again: of course! This was the sixth bag I have made from the same pattern in 3 weeks ... I am really liking them alot (and the stash now reflects my new found love of cotton!)

THIS ...

is what has been keeping me busy for over a week --

THIS is the float that I help to assemble for the Privateer Day's Parade (held earlier today). It is all about history in our community -- and let me tell you, Queens County, NS is steeped (actually, saturated) in history! -- this year is the 250th anniversary of the founding of Liverpool Township (we've been a town since 1759, that's pretty old!). Since I work for the whole County, and like to be inclusive and celebrate all of our community, I decided to do some research and find out what other anniversaries are this year or in the next few years -- there have been saw milling businesses in Greenfield for over 180 years; our local paper mill, and largest employer in the county, turns 80 this year (November, I think!); Port Medway lighthouse is going for federal heritage designation as it turns 110 this year, Samuel de Champlain mapped Port Mouton 404 years ago, and the Queens County Fair has been operational for 130 years in 2010.


There are a lot more big milestones, but we only had a 16 foot trailer and a half ton truck -- to do all the history, we'd have needed a whole parade!

Anyhow - the parade is over, won't need the float again until Fall - Queens County Fair parade!
T and I built the little replica of the Queens County Fair main building ... it was kinda neat to do, and actually looks a lot like it. I also pulled together the costumes (thrift store finds, modified with the sewing machine to look like 1700's clothes), and a small team of us at work assembled the float -- I enjoy doing the float each year; it helps me to flex my creative muscles.

The back 40

I have been so busy with work and whatnot for the past two weeks that I haven't had much time to have a look around to see what is growing and blooming in the yard (and if I had had the time, the rain, fog and constant drizzle we've had for the past two weeks wouldn't have allowed me to see all of what has been growing).

I did a walk about a few minutes ago, and I gotta say - despite the neglect, our yard is looking pretty good, and the gardens are really filling out (some to the point of overflowing!).



This Clematis (Mrs. Somebody or another) is one of my favorite early summer flowers ...

with these peonies a close second!

I thought this was kinda funny --
every few years we give this rose bush a severe pruning back, and a few years ago, we cut it right down to ground level ... it grows to be an enormous bush, and has been in the yards for over 13 years (we've been here 13 years, and it was huge when we arrived). Anyhow, I laughed when i saw that it has decided to retaliate to all of the abuse inflicted on it ... by eating our bench as revenge! It IS pretty ... but holy moley hugeness!

And in the produce section - T bought some mixed tomato transplants and planted them in containers on the deck ( we usually do this, as it is really convenient and kinda fun to go out on the deck and much cherry tomatoes, right off the vine).

The grapevine is taking the adage "Go big or stay home" to heart ,

as it makes a break over the fence to our neighbors yard!




The blueberries should be quite prolific come August

... T added a few more plants to the Blueberry Patch this spring (3 new ones in the same area as the 4 well established plants we have, and last year he added 3 other ones to a separate area of the yard - you can call me Mrs. Blueberry!),

and they will start producing next year (we pick the flowers off the first year so the plant will focus on root and plant development instead of making fruit - it worked well for the 4 older plants -- I can't even guess how many quarts of berries we got off them last year before we got tired of picking and decided to let the bird have the rest!).

Last summer was the first summer for cherries off our cherry tree (I think it is about 4 years old this year) -- and I am hoping we get lots and lots of cherries this summer

-- "they" (dunno who "they" are) say that cherry trees need to be consistently watered or they will dry out and drop the fruit (that wasn't a problem at all in June!). We should start getting ripe cherries near mid-July.

Well, that's a tour of the back 40, not much knitting news so I thought you might enjoy some florals and fruit pictures -- I am so gosh-darned-happy that the rain and fog have gone away (even if just for a few hours!) ... I want to enjoy the sun and the green growth!

Knitting progress will come later in the weekend (I mean really, how many mesh bags can you be expected to look at, without switching your reading to another blog, eh? LOL!). The knitting is STIll mesh bags ... got one almost finished, and another one ready to go on the needles! I know, you can hardly wait to see it. When I am stressed and life is too busy, repetition is soothing -- I have been making these bags since mid June - I am finishing number 6 - in a period of just 21 days ... yeah, repetition is good :)

I 'm like a record player ... stuck in a groove

I can't stop knitting these bags ...



Every day, even when I am really busy, I try to do a few rounds on a bag. I talk about them to everyone I know, whipping the current bag in progress out of my ever present knitting bag, stogged full of cotton (you know, in case I finish the bag I'm working on, and can cast on a new one ... the sign of one fully obsessed).

I've even been dreaming about them ... I wake up wondering if the strap should be modified to be ribbed, instead of garter, and if the people I dreamed I gave bags to would really like one in real life. I've been buying cotton like there is no tomorrow (and like I am able to whip up a bag in an hour or two ... which isn't likely - but I have enough yarn stockpiled now that if the yarn store closed for a few days, and my car was broken down too, I could get through without the possibility of having to stop knitting the Grrlfriend market bags until all was right in the knitting world).

I am trying to get a bunch of them done up for Christmas and Fall birthdays coming up in my circle of friends and family (and maybe try a few at a craft sale in the Fall)... but I like each of the ones I have made so much, that I am having trouble saving them until Christmas or Fall - they keep making their way into my purse to use at the store.


Details about these 2 are on my Ravelry project page.

(Edited to add - If you've been in my kitchen before, you'll probably be wondering about the chair ... and the floor. We just did a "kitchen transformation - new paint, new hardwood floor - birch - and new kitchen table set - pub style stools and high table. I am lovin' it!).

Happy Canada Day, eh!

Just got back from the Canada Day celebrations in the park near my house ... lots of people out and about, despite the drizzle and fog. We'll probably go back later on for some of the music, and then later tonight we'll watch the fireworks from our backyard.

Lots of people in the spirit of things ...



And also getting ready for our local Privateer Days Festival, which takes place over the weekend (concluding with fireworks again on Sunday evening). Privateer Days celebrates the privateering heritage of the community, and activities that took place in Liverpool in the 1780s ...
lots of fun, people dressed as pirates and privateers.



At work, I have been putting together a float for the parade on Saturday ... and haven't had much time to blog lately (but oddly enough, there has been time for knitting! LOL!). I'll do a show and tell post on the knitting later on this week.

T is going away tomorrow for a few days, and will miss Privateer Days, and I have to help him pack this afternoon for his trip -he flies out tomorrow to Newfoundland for a fishing trip with his dad and one of his brothers. I should have lots of time to blog :0P

What do I do for kicks?

This is the third Grrlfriend bag I have made ... and it isn't getting old yet (LOL!). This one is a bit more subdued than my other 2 -- Jute and Tumbleweed coloursways in the Bernat Handicrafter Cotton. The Colours remind me of the Holly Hobby doll I had when I was about 10 ... she had a tan, pink and mauve calico dress, just like the colours of the stripes in this bag.

Ditto

Y'all know that when I like something, I tend to make a bunch of it ... this bag is number 2 of what will probably be many, many!
It is now on its way to Newfoundland, as a birthday gift for T's grandma (along with a few hand knit washcloths). It is a bit bright, but T says his grandmother will love it ... so now it is hers. For details ... check Ravelry (its all there). I don't have time to do a proper blog post about it - I have another one on the needles, and want to get a few rows knit tonight.

I hope she likes it and uses it as much as I use mine :)

P. S. T fixed some water damage in our kitchen ceiling, and now we have to repaint the kitchen (first time in about 12 years). currently it is Snow White (I hate it - long story, I will explain why it is a colour I hate sometime!). We are picking a colour tomorrow and will probably paint over the weekend -- any suggestions (my counter top is a forest green, the cupboards are oak with cherry crown moulding, and the floor is white/cream and green (and hopefully will be going this fall or winter - replaced with wood - fingers crossed!). What colours are trendy, pretty and will help the kitchen feel warm and cozy -- it gets full sunlight from about 6 am, until about 2:30pm, and has a big window. I am not great with colour, and it is a big room, with lots and lots of cutting in to do - so we don't want to do it again for another 7 - 12 years :) Link me to some pretty coloured rooms, please!

Lickedy Split

Inspired by Lexa, I decided that my project to work on during World Wide Knit in Public Day would be a mesh market bag ... so I wouldn't be a total copy cat, I picked a different pattern than Lexa. Mine is the Grrlfriend Market Bag (the bottom is a bit different than Lexa's).


Quick as a flash to knit, and fun too - I cast this on Friday, June 12th in preparation for WWKIP Day, so I would have something fairly easy/repetitive to do -- so my mind wouldn't have to focus on talking AND the pattern (I still managed to screw up/add a unique design element - in 2 places in my bag, the diagonal ridges zig zag and go in a totally opposite direction. The Knit Nite girls think it looks cool- but I can't figure out what I did wrong to replicate the nifty design element! Ah well!).

The bag was finished today at lunch, and immediately after grafting the handle, We went to the grocery store, so I tested it out -- and am very happy with the result (I had a 2 litre Diet Coke and 2 Kilos of Cherries - YUM - and the bag could have held much, much more easily. This bag is going to live in my car for shopping trips :)

I see more of these in my future, and am currently working on another one (same colour).

I'm not sure how much yarn this used - I am using a one pound ball and didn't weigh it before I started bag two to see how much is left. I used 4.5 dpns and 5 mm circs., and made the bag 30 repeats long. I don't think I would go any longer on my strap - it is 56 ridges long before shaping and grafting, and once the weight is in the bag, the bag hits my hip - perfect length for me!