My Monkey

I love, love, love knitting socks. They're fast-ish, they can be simple or technical, I can use colour ways I'd never be caught dead wearing on the rest of my body.... They're just fun.

I'm currently making Monkey from Knitty Winter 2006. Such a brilliantly simple lace. I've lost the yarn label... But it's bamboo and wool. 75/25? Something like that. The lace part is sagging right now. Hopefully it will block up okay.

I picked up the heel stitches and started decreasing the gusset, but one side looks so much nicer than the other. One is neat and smooth, the other is loopy and saggy. Time to rip.

Loopy and saggy pick-up

Neat and smooth pick-up












I need a new camera. Sigh.

The Nisse

I'm going to Norway in June and have become a somewhat obsessed with Norwegian knitting patterns. I really want to make some traditional cross-country skiing socks. But, alas, I've got way too many projects on the go to start a new one, so I've been satisfying this all-knitted-things-Norwegian craving by gazing longingly into my computer monitor as I surf and surf and surf.

And who did I find hiding amongst the fairisle? The Nisse.

I MUST MAKE ONE! And how will I accomplish said task? By patiently waiting for the pattern to arrive inside the British magazine that I just bought on the internet for 11.95 Pounds. I think that's about CDN $25. Ha! For a magazine. That's one coveted little troll. The unnerving part is that there was no description of shipping costs in the check out process. Oops, should of bought it on eBay.

Anyway, the pattern is by Alan Dart, designer of soft toys, and appears to be so popular that it is printed in 3 magazines by Simply Knitting. I ordered it in Irresistible Gifts to Knit. I think the photo above comes right from the publication. There's lots (173 and counting) of these on Ravelry, but I didn't want to poach photos of anyone's project. I'm new to blogging, and to Ravelry, so I don't know if it's cool to take other people's photos. What's the ettiquette?

Perhaps I will knit this little fellow before my Norway trip, bring him along and take a series of photos with him in unusual locations. Just like the ever-tacky, but ever-amusing, international traveler extraordinaire: the North American garden gnome. Hmmm... An unlikely agenda.

Oh, and finally, to learn more about the mythical creature called Nisse, click here.

Next mission: Figure out how to make my blog look good.

Baby Chloe's sweater

I am long overdue to record my knitting projects, so like many other knitters, I've chosen to blog about them.


Here is a sweater that I completed this weekend for Ben and Anne's baby girl, Chloe. Little Chloe should fit it by September, when the autumn season begins and she'll want to bundle up.


The pattern is from Debbie Bliss's Essential Baby and the yarn is Debbie Bliss's baby cashmerino. I typically enjoy knitting outside the box, but this time I used all suggested materials. My husband picked out the wooden buttons for his contribution to the gift.


I found the yarn very easy to work with and incredibly soft. The colour saturation is beautiful and there is a lovely sheen. The yarn, not surprisingly, requires washing in cold water and laying flat to dry, which isn't a method that new parents likely appreciate. The pattern is simple and classic. I will probably use it again, perhaps with superwash next time, since there are pregnancies abound in my circles.