wicked needles

After a treacherous journey home Friday night (I literally pushed Sadie's stroller through the snow as though the wheels never even existed) I realized that I wasn't excited about any of my knitting projects. Enter above result. I sifted through pattern books and decided that a bikini top was in order, Queen of Hearts from Stitch 'N Bitch to be exact. Somehow in my exhausted but seemingly dirty mind, I thought this would be nice for Valentine's Day...you know, for the day in February when I pretend my house is carpeted with sand and it's the ocean I see from my window instead of snow covered outdoor furniture we meant to take in. Oh wait, maybe it's for the day my dirty mind was imagining. Gee, suddenly I've entered into slutty knitting.

Must be all this snow.

(As for the pattern details, I did attempt the intarsia bit, but it was annoying and I figured I could embellish the hearts instead. The black is 100% cotton, and the hearts are embroidered with leftover Koigu from the socks I recently finished.)

little old lady

For the past two weeks Jay has been putting Sadie to bed every other night. Luckily it's been working, but the one trick is that I have to disappear from sight at least 15 minutes before bedtime. So I retreat to the studio which is PERFECT! With only these small pockets of time I finished my Month of Softies submission. The theme was "Something New from Something Old". I have a collection of linen napkins and doilies in all shades of white, so I cut up a couple to create the whole body. I only used the machine once, otherwise I hand stitched her together (which minimized the sound - Sadie's bedroom is next door!) Her hair is mine from many years ago, carefully braided and secured. The only other old thing, the tiny MOP button to adorn her collar. I kept wanting to add a photgraphic face, but it just wasn't working. The blank face, reminiscent of Amish dolls, just worked best. She stands only 7" tall, but her ghostly nature is a nice break from the colourful wool creatures of the past year.

have gadget, will sew

Before the holidays I ended up with a Blackberry for work, and not only was the plastic holder ugly, but it did nothing to hide the fact that I was carrying around something that made me blush (I've held out on having a cell phone until now, so I have this earnest look any time I try to make the thing work). So with an extra week away from work and a desire to spend time sewing, this is what I came up with. My other cross-stitch project inspired the text detail, along with 6.5 stitches wonderful quilt. Black denim, toile and ribbon round out the rest of the materials, and because of its' tiny stature it took two attempts and a lot of handsewing to get it right.

I'd really hoped to get a submission for the Month of Softies done, but we've been watching Twin Peaks all week and other than some knitting I just relaxed. I did sign up for a sweater making class at Knitomatic (and chose wool for it twice before I got it right...which I hope my Cascade Heathers choice is) and got to the show Fray at the Museum for Textiles. I was particularly drawn to Sarah Maloney's work - her knit vertabrae and foot bones were delicate but seemed to possess great weight. While there, I wrote down this portion of a quote: "the ability of textiles to communicate human stories." With a little luck, and a bit more effort than I put in this week, I hope that this is the year I add to the communication.

Fingers crossed.

for special feet

You'd think socks have taken over my life, but I swear it's not true. On Christmas Eve we were running extremely late and just as we were loading up the car my midwife came around the corner - carrying a two month old. I didn't even know she was pregnant and it was so wonderful to see her again, especially with her new mother smile. She really is the most gentle woman I've ever met, someone I will carry with me for the rest of my life. She is going to be such a fantastic mother and her little baby boy is in perfect hands. It also turns out that she has moved just a few streets over from us so I thought I would try baby socks and walk over to deliver them.

These socks are the same Debbie Bliss pattern, size 3 needles and Koigu Merino. Luckily I think babies like crazy colour choices, and these are certainly no exception.

year end

I like to think I am not a procrastinator, but the only things I made this holiday season were a bunch of mini "bundlies" to give out as ornaments to a few special people...and I made them all the night before I needed them. Even though I had to stay up into the wee hours, it did remind me of how much I miss sitting at the sewing machine watching something new come together. And foolishly I thought I could keep the creative urge alive over my vacation from work, but a nasty, miserable cold left me glued to the couch with only knitting needles and a toddler to keep me sane. I still have a few days before I go back to work and the cold is (fingers crossed) letting up, so I may have hope yet. Inspiration isn't the problem - just before Christmas I got this wonderful package from Tamar containing two caged birds. We had just the place to hang them and they are the loveliest lovebirds ever, and I need to take more photos to really show the stitched details. I'll be in New York at the end of the month and hopefully I'll get to see more of Tamar's work in person.

At the very least I finished a pair of socks between blowing my nose and watching Tornado Sadie play with her new things. They took longer than Sadie's - of course - but they are still magical to knit and I love the feel of them on my feet...as long as I don't wipe out on the hardwood. Here are the details:

Pattern: Fleece Artist Basic Merino Socks

Yarn: Koigu

Needles: 3mm Pony DPNs

Mods: just the ribbing, I kept it shorter than suggested.