Day 5, or why I didn't have time for days 2, 3 and 4...

I was supposed to follow the blog suggestions for the Knitting and Crochet blog week but life sort of got in the way and I fell behind, far, far behind...

Today the topic is blogging in a completely different way... I don't have time to look into this, the same way I didn't have time to make a graphic yesterday or to write any of the other posts. So, I'll just tell you what's going on here on the shores of the mighty St-Lawrence for this procrastinating knitting manatee and I won't show you any pictures. That's almost completely different for me!  ;-)

I'm still spending a whole lot of time trying to convince people that a public library is a must for our little town, especially since the government subsidies mean that our property taxes won't even increase! Can you believe that our library project has become a pawn in a political battle? It's all very disconcerting and a bit discouraging... I'm so disappointed with many of the town's citizens...

The polls will be open next sunday and on May 5th. Send us positive thoughts and wish us luck!!!

Luckily, to keep my cool, I have my knitting. I don't know what I would do without it!

The Drop's Puddle and Briggs & Little Sport sweater coat is coming along nicely. Even though the weather is finally getting a lot warmer, I still love the feeling of that cushy yarn in my hands! It's so scrumptious!!!

I didn't have enough Briggs & Little Sport in the right colour and they were also all out at my LYS, so I've decided that the yoke and sleeves will be knit with a strand of Briggs & Little Heritage instead. It's thicker, so the upper torso and sleeves will be even warmer! I haven't tried it yet, I hope it won't be too thick and that it won't look strange... We'll see...

If it is, I might try to un-twist the Heritage and knit with one strand, which would make it the same thickness as the Sport yarn. I sure hope it doesn't have to come to that, untwisting that much yarn would be a pain in the...

Day one of the Knitting and Crochet blog week!

O.K. This is the first post of the week, I'm supposed to tell you if I'm a bee, a manatee, a monkey or a peacock. Well, I first thought I was a bee, but after thinking about it for a while, I've come to the conclusion that I'm really a manatee. I live in a part of the world that's really cold for a big part of the year and I love to wrap those I love in warm clothes and accessories. Even though I share some aspects of the other candidates, I have to go with the manatee, a knitter that goes for the soft cuddly part of knitting.

As a matter of fact, I'm presently knitting something that's completely cuddly and cosy. The epitome of comfy and warm knitwear. A sweater coat in Drop's Puddle!

Look at that! It's called Puddle but it sure looks like a baby lamb to me! I'm knitting two strands of Puddel together, with another strand of Briggs & Little Sport (that I soaked in hair conditioner to make it bloom and to make it softer). Those 3 strands make it very thick and warm without being heavy. It's very close to my ideal texture/warmth/weight/looks ratio! ;-)

I'm having fun knitting it but although I'm using 8mm needles, it isn't going all that quickly because of the loops in the Puddle. The needles have a tendency to get stuck in those loops if I knit too fast, so, I'm taking my time, enjoying the cushy feeling of the yarn through my fingers.

I don't have a pattern, I'm making it up as I go, but I can already tell that I won't have enough Puddel, so today I ordered all the yarn they had left from the same dye lot. Now, it's all systems go!

Knitting and Crochet blog week!

Have you heard of the "Knitting and Crochet blog week IV"? Well, I have to admit I hadn't but thanks to Olgalynn's post at O!jolly! , now, I do! Go check out her post about this, she explains everything a lot better than I ever could. Plus, if you've never read her blog, it's a great way to get to know it! ;-)

The Knitting and Crochet blog week is an exercise in blogging fun! If you want even more information and discover another fun blog, just go to eskimimimakes.

On the home front, I'm knitting the sweater coat in curly Puddel yarn and... preparing a yarn bombing for our local projected public library!

We don't have a library in my little town. Some of us are working very hard to convince part of the town's people that a library is an essential part of community life and an invaluable asset for our children. The problem is that mayoral elections will be held next november and that the library is caught in a tug of war between competing candidates... Arrrgh...

Since the library would be located in an historical building (a very old presbytery), we've been accorded a ton of subsidies, so many in fact, that having the library wouldn't even raise our taxes!!! Even after doing a lot of door to door canvasing of the population, I still can't understand why so many people are against it...

But, the town's teenagers are on our side! They've prepared a petition and we're holding a big party next sunday during which they'll present the petition to the mayor (who is for the library). That's where the yarn bombing part takes place. We decided to yarn bomb the presbytery's porch with colourful knitted decorations and pompoms! It's a good thing I have a lot of yarn, knitting machines and also that a few other crazy gals (who don't even know how to knit) will be coming over saturday to give me a hand!
I think they'll be making pompoms! :-)

An almost perfect knitting bag and something to put in it!

A few weeks ago, I told you I was looking for the perfect knitting bag. Well, I found the next best thing, an "almost perfect" knitting bag. Exactly like this one:

I found it here at The BagSmith.

It has everything I wanted, a folding metal stand, an adjustable strap, a whole lot of inside space, pockets for needles and patterns and a neutral colour!!!

The one and only problem is that it doesn't have a flap to close it at the top. Not very practical when it's snowing or raining... I need to find fabric that matches the bag (since it's black, that shouldn't be a huge problem) and make a long flap to go up and over the top of the bag.The inside pockets were also a bit small for my taste but with a bit of seam ripping that was easily fixed.

I've been using it for a few days and I'm a happy camper! :-)

On the knitting front, I spent the past week still looking for inspiration, I remembered that one year ago, I started knitting a Vitamin D which I wear a lot, so I decided to make another one. I cast on with a greyish green merino, knit for several inches and then, decided that the colour I had chosen was very similar in tone to my existing Vitamin D...

So, I put it away for a while until I decide what to do with it. Since I have a habit of modifying patterns, that's probably what will happen...

That didn't solve my problem! I rummaged around my stash and found something I want to knit and wear!

Up to an hour ago , this is what was hiding in my new knitting bag, a modified version of  the peacock eyes cardi! I had started working on one last year and I had frogged it because I didn't have enough yarn. It was still in the back of my mind when Justyna published a new version that rekindled my interest. I love the lace pattern at the yoke (I know you can't really see it in this picture)!  I want something different for the body, so I'm doing some modifications, it'll be slightly flared with a lace border at the bottom, maybe...

But for now, the cardigan has to be patient, I just got the yarn I ordered from Nordic Mart. It's  scrumptiously loopy Drops Puddel to knit a sweater coat for a friend's daughter. She told me exactly what she wanted and it's going to be a lot of fun to make it for her. If it turns out as cute as I hope it will, I might order more Puddel and make one for my daughter and maybe even another one for me!!!

Since it's snowing right now, knitting warm weather clothes seems quite normal! ;-)