Yarn Along ~ Lepidoptera

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I finally feel like it's that time of year to pick up knitting needles again and found this great lacey sock pattern called Lepidoptera :)

I had bought this soft alpaca yarn earlier this spring thinking it was going to make a great baby sweater for my sister but alas she had a little boy and the pink was definitely not going to do! So into the yarn stash it went until last weekend when I finally found the perfect use for it. A soft pair of socks for my daughter. 

And she is just itching to get her feet into them! We are constantly having little 'try on' sessions and I haven't even got one sock half finished yet LOL. It's a super easy pattern though. Nothing tougher than making a few extra stitches and it has my all time favorite heel to... short rows. Yay!! If I can avoid doing the regular heel flap type sock heel I will and in this pattern she simplifies the short row process even further by taking out all of those yarn overs that you normally find making it faster than ever and there is a video tutorial to go along with it so you can follow along if you happen to get stuck.

For my book I'm reading Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe by Charlotte Gill and it is a must read!!  It's the true story of her life as a tree planter here in BC for 20 years and was absolutely fascinating to read about areas right here in my backyard and get a peak at what their lives are really like as we see them so often around this neck of the woods and I must admit I've always wanted to know more about them. Her writing transports you instantly into the thick of the BC rainforest and leaves you wanting more :)

I'm looking forward to seeing what you all have been knitting and reading this week to!

Happy knitting,

Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Socking it Out

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

My little stash of socks is growing!
I decided not to stop with one finished pair since I have tons of yarn still to knit with so three down and at least one more to go to make a matched pair *grin*.

They are so stinking adorable that I may just have to make another pair when this one is finished to :) You can find the pattern here. For my book this week I just got a copy of Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of the Continent by Andrew Nikiforuk.

I've been all riled up lately over the Northern Gateway pipeline that Enbridge wants to ram through our province and I shared some videos here last week and I've got another one to share with you today below.

The tar sands are sort of 'out of sight, out of mind' for most Canadians. Even for myself I hadn't given them a heck of a lot of thought in the past but with the pipeline possibly being built through the Great Bear Rainforest, our coastal temperate rainforest, in ecologically sensitive land I wanted to get a bigger picture of what the tar sands and their sticky bitumen means to the rest of our great country!



What does environmental devastation actually look like? In this video above at TEDxVictoria, photographer Garth Lenz shares shocking photos of the Alberta Tar Sands mining project -- and the beautiful (and vital) ecosystems under threat. Please, please take the 17 minutes it takes to watch it and learn a little more about the tar sands. Those pretty commercials they show on television of the environmentally friendly mines with gorgeous forest in the background won't be there for long and is not a true representation of what it truly is.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox... for now *grin*.

Can't wait to see what you all have been knitting this week!!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Baby Socks

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

It seems like ages since I've joined in with Ginny's yarn along but then I haven't been doing to much knitting lately *grin*.

My sister is pregnant though and due to have a little boy around the end of April so I thought that I better get my knitting needles out again and get cracking on a few special baby gifts for her. I couldn't resist making another pair of the little Bambino socks that I made last year. In fact the adorable little pink and purple pair that I made the first time around were meant for her but now that we know it's going to be a boy I guess they just aren't going to do! So I picked up this lovely multi colored cotton sock yarn by Super Soxx and I'm halfway to having one pair finished :)

I know I raved about these socks the last time around but I've got to say it again that this pattern rocks. The toe and heel are worked in super easy 'short rows' and they just form the toe and heel cup so that there are no bulky seams when you finish off or anything.

For my book I'm reading The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua and it is HILARIOUS! I'm only a few chapters in so far but the mother is Chinese, born in America, but wants to raise her two daughters the Chinese way vs. the western way and the stories of music lesson practice and the battle of wills with her youngest daughter Lulu have me in fits of giggles as I read it because in some ways I see myself when my first son was born as I was very determined to raise the brightest, smartest and most achieving little boy possible. Over the years my parenting goals have changed tremendously but I can't help but find humor in the things that used to drive myself bonkers LOL. I'm really looking forwards to reading more of it :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Bambino

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I am so in love with this little baby sock pattern :)

I had to temporarily put down the baby sweater I was knitting as I'm missing the necessary circular needle for the next step so in the meantime I decided to use up the leftover yarn from the shawl I finished last week and make a pair of these adorable socks.

There's just something about sock knitting that is so darn addictive! For me it's when I get to the heel, working the rows and watching as the cup of the heel emerges. From that point on I just can't put down my needles as I can't wait to see how it all comes together *grin*. This particular sock had something new to me. The heel and toe were both constructed from the same identical 'short row' stitch pattern and then as the toe flipped up it was finished off with the coolest zig zag stitch of slipped knits and purls to create the finished seam across the toes in the above photo. There is absolutely no bulk inside the sock to bother delicate little baby tootsies *grin*.

The only tricky part I found was getting used to the little size 0 DPN's. Those suckers are tiny!! They flexed quite a bit as I knit and I was a little worried that I would snap them but it all worked out great and I've just about finished up the second sock so that I can go back to my little baby sweater for next week :) I'm still reading Deeply Rooted to. I just haven't had enough time to read this week and I'm dying to find out how it ends!

Can't wait to see what you all are knitting up this week :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I'm finished...
Two socks, a complete pair and one very happy little girl *grin*.

The second one went SO much quicker and the kitchener stitch did work out much smoother this time around :) The only thing that I'm wondering if I could have done differently is if there would have been some way to get the colors on the second sock the same. I actually really love the quirky look but the leg portion of the socks are definitely different. Anyone knit with multi colored yarn like this before? Is this just what happens?

Aww heck, who cares if they are a little different. All that matters is that there is one huge smile on my daughters face as she parades around the house in them *grin*.

I think my next project is going to be a pair of gloves. My oldest son requested some for his birthday so how can I say no. I did let him know that I have never made any before and that I couldn't be held responsible if one ended up with 6 fingers!! LOL.

I'm completely itching to get started with some seeds. I always get the gardening bug at the beginning of the year even though I know it is way to early to actually do anything just yet so to feed my planting need I borrowed a copy of Fresh Food From Small Places by R.J. Ruppenthal. I've just started looking at it but so far I have found a little plan on creating self watering containers and there looks like there might be some interesting info on vertical planting which is such a great space saving idea :)

Can't wait to see what you all are knitting this week!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I am so very proud of myself this week *grin*.
I have finally finished one of the socks for the pair I'm making for my daughter! I absolutely encourage you to try this sock pattern if you have never tried making a sock before, never used double pointed needles or are a beginner like me. I am still amazed that I could create this without anyone showing me how :)

I ended up adding 23 additional rows of stockinette stitch to the body of the foot before shaping the toe for a total of 55 rows and it worked out to make the foot eight inches in length which fits her just perfectly. For the next pair I will definitely make them a little longer so she has more room to grow but I wasn't sure how much length the toe would add exactly and I didn't want them to turn out to be too big.

To finish off the toe the pattern asks you to 'graft' the toe which I had no idea what that meant so I googled it and found that others were using a 'Stockinette Stitch' to close the toes of their socks by weaving the tail of the yarn through the stitches for a seamless look with no bulk which is great for kids.

I found a great little youtube video which I've added below to show you how to do the stitch if you have never seen it before. After I got the hang of slipping stitches and doing the 4 stitch sequence correctly it was quite easy and I'm fairly happy with my first try. It looks a little funny in places and it may be because the yarn that I'm using is not entirely uniform in its thickness so once in a while you get an odd pattern but I'm hoping that now that I've done it once the next toe will finish up much more smoothly!

Hopefully next week I'll have to socked feet to share with you as I'm just about to the heel on the second sock :) On the book front I'm still reading Waldorf Education ~ A Family Guide and enjoying it very much.

I can't wait to see what you all have been up to this week!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

I know that Ginny isn't hosting a yarn along this week but I just couldn't wait to share with you how my first sock is coming along :)

I did it! I can hardly believe that it is actually taking shape but I'm really knitting a sock *grin*.

I was a little worried when the instructions got to the part about forming the heel but I just followed them step by step, slipping stitches and knitting and purling and it started to take shape. It's absolutely amazing what just a few knitting stitches can create!

Now if only I could stop but I have a feeling that I may be knitting into the early morning hours tonight just to see how my little sock is going to turn out *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina

Looking for more crafty ideas or inspiration? Pop over to Natural Suburbia's Creative Friday and see what others are up to :)

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I've been eyeing up the gorgeous socks that everyone has been making these last weeks on the yarn along posts and I finally just had to give it a try :)

I came across the ravelry pattern 'Most Basic Kids Socks', picked up this fun rainbow colored finger weight sock wool by Marks & Kattens and set to work trying to figure out just how to use a set of double pointed needles *grin*. Those are some tricky sticks! LOL

The first 13 rows were a basic knit, purl rib stitch and now I'm working on the 52 rows of straight knit which is going nice a quick but I'm finding it hard to steal little moments during the day to work on them so I think they will be my special project when we go and visit the inlaws. I always try to take something to occupy my time while we visit and this will be great! I just hope that I don't run into any problems with the pattern being a knitting newbie *grin*.

I'm still reading the Secret Garden but I also picked up a copy of Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman. I can't wait to have a peak inside of it but that will have to wait until after Christmas is over :)

Hugs,
Rosina