Resistance is Futile...

... he has been assimilated. M has finished his first project from a pattern. I tried very hard with B, but she just didn't seem to allow knitting to take over her brain. M loved it from the start. On our way to B's skating dance tests today he knit Resisty's feet in the van. He finished the second foot on the way home and I sewed them in place for him.

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Other than casting on, tinking here and there, rescuing a few fallen stitches and sewing on the feet, this was entirely his project. I was impressed with how quickly he took to reading a pattern, and understood increases and decreases. There was one sad incident when his bamboo dpn snapped under the finish-line excitement and stress of knitting a k2tog in stitches that were a bit too tight.

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B passed her European Waltz, but missed the Keats Foxtrot by a hair. She'll retest that one at the end of April. She was very happy to be done with the European as she hates it, but felt it would have been a hollow victory if she'd passed the Keats. She felt she'd skated it horribly, possibly due to the fact that her excitement on passing the European didn't have time to fade. She says she's glad to have the opportunity to show case her best on the Keats next time.

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Resisty needs feet

M has found the Resisty the Resistor pattern from Mochimochi Land. He thought Resisty was the cutest thing. Monday was the last day of March Break so I cast on for him. Working on the leg (17, 8 sts rounds) was a bit tedious for him, but once he hit the colored section, he's been zipping along. This is the first time he's read a pattern for his knitting. As well as the first time learning to increase, decrease and switch colors.

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This pattern is wonderful for teaching a beginning knitter. The small size gives instant gratification and the frequent color changes and diameter changes give that "I'll just knit one more row" encouragement.

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We didn't tackle the travelling jogless stripes Anna suggests, as I figured he was learning enough "firsts" with this project.

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Bijouterie

I survived the snowboarding - but I don't think that it's fair that those teens and kids make it look so easy. That is probably the hardest thing I've ever tried. And it was scary. But the kids enjoyed it - so that made it all worthwhile!

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I loved the Bijouterie from the winter Knitty since it came out, but so far hadn't tried the pattern. I checked out sterling silver findings and wire at the local Michaels, but came up empty with the exception of the wire guards. I figured that without sterling silver wire, it wasn't worth the $10 for the 50pk of wire guards, so I bought some inexpensive 28 guage silver-colored wire to give things a try. Here's my attempt with some silver colored E-beads that I had in my craft bin and some Dollarama earing hooks that B had in her bead stash.

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I think they turned out beautifully, and B is hoping I'll knit up a second one so she can wear them to school tomorrow. I think it's a great pattern and will definately spring for the silver wire and findings in the future!

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I'm Terrified

This may be my last blog post. I promised to take the kids snowboarding, and suspect severe injury or death may be the result. I've never snowboarded before in my life. I used to downhill ski when I was a fit and flexible teen, but now I'm an unbalanced (that's as in I loose my balance easily) and not-so- fit adult. I may be unbalanced in other ways too, come to think of it. Going off snowboarding seems to fit with that hypothesis.

I'm in Love

I plied the singles this morning and am so very pleased with the results. This photo is the most accurate as far as the color goes compared to the photo for the fluff and the singles . Must be the sunny morning we're having.

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Georgia Peach Yarn

• wip 17
• about 200 yards
• spun from a 2oz batt

I think I'll buy some KnitPicks gloss in cocoa to pair with this for a pair of anemoi's.

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Darker When Spun

I've spun the singles from the 2oz mini batt of merino in peachy colors. I think I have roughly the same amount on each of three bobbins. I'm loving the color of the singles, although I think they look darker than the batt did.
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average wip: 24
spun: worsted
attempting a long draw, but not quite getting it.
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I spun the singles starting Thursday evening and I'm going to let them rest tomorrow to deactivate some the of the twist. I'll ply this Monday or Tuesday.
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The Thrummed mittens I made for myself have been done for about a week. Unfortunately them have been stolen as I suspected. I managed to convince B to at least let me take a photo of the finished mitts. They're a bit pilled already, but obviously work well in the snow.
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I'm quite happy with how these turned out!
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Nesquik: Quicker without Milk

A quick pick-me-up before heading off to her skating tests.

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She and Dad assure me that they poured in milk and shook it up to get the last bits out, but I'm not so certain. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was straight up chocolate syrup.

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Peach Campino Yarn

The dip-dyed roving that reminded B of Campino candies is spun. I like it, but think I'd like it better if there was less contrast. Perhaps, bright pink and bright orange as opposed to white and bright.
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Details:

• two ply, fingering to heavy fingering weight yarn
• 100 % Merino from Jela's Fibers
• about 400 yards

Some parts are very even, other are very much not. Probably not my best yarn, but not bad. I also knitted up a 3inch by 6 inch swatch to see if I liked it. By the time I was ready to bind off, I had only just started into the brightest orange part of the yarn. Looks like I have some pretty long color sections in this yarn.

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I'm still considering whether I'd like to over-dye this with bright pink. Hmm. I'll think.

The Big Cook

This weekend, well including most of Friday afternoon too, was spend doing or recovering from The Big Cook. Their website describes the concept better than I could. Two teams of 4 friends decended on our church kitchen with $2400 worth of groceries and each brought home 28 meals for our freezer. We could have reduced these cost considerably if we hadn't needed to shop last minute. These are main dish meals, ready to thaw and cook, with only simple side dishes needed to be made the day you serve them. One friend who's expecting is planning to use these dishes the month after the baby arrives. I'm planning to use 2 a week on our busiest days - I'll be able to spend my limited time on those days welcoming the kids home from school instead of freaking out when they interupt my precious cooking time.

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We worked from 9am to 7pm, which was considerably longer than the Big Cook's creators suggested, but we did no food prep prior to our Saturday big cook. We had a supplier lined up who was going to provide chicken/beef/pork cubes, stirfry strips, boneless skinless pieces, etc... as well as diced onion, sliced carrots, etc... but this fell through at the last minute which left us scrambling a bit to say the least. So all the Big Cook's authors pre- cooking day suggestions were impossible for us to complete. The biggest problem we encountered was with no name zipper bags that wouldn't seal. Next time we'll be sure to go with the name brand!

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All in all though it was a great day with a wonderful end result - 28 meals in my freezer. I even had energy left over when I got home. Although in hindsight I realize I might have been running on adreneline since I slept for 2.5 hours this afternoon!

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