New haircut

I feel all sleek and sophisticated with my new haircut! I suppose it was time, as I haven't done anything with it since the chin-length bob I got last February. Yep, my hair grows super fast, because she cut off about 4 inches.

Lots of layers, happy Linz.

So, now that I actually feel like a grown-up, I'm off to run around with the toddlers and do some singing and dancing! We'll see how much the layers get in the way!

I haven't been knitting much lately, forgive me. I had an incident with a baby sweater, and have needed a little break. Besides, my sewing machine is all shiny and new and needs me! But soon, there will be stuffed animals! I've promised them for Easter, so I should get cracking! One purple bunny, and one to be determined...

Sign of Spring

I know it's wishful thinking, but I really need Spring to be coming... or at least around the corner. It feels like it's such a long way off these days, especially as it's snowing again today.

When I saw fresh buds on a plant that I thought might not flower again, it just made my day!

Sewing Project!

Now that I have my new sewing machine, a lovely Janome S313, I'm practicing sewing straight lines. That means little projects, like my first real project: a 30x30" Furoshiki I sewed for a friend last week from this pattern, (I printed and included these excellent folding instructions from the government of Japan!).

Yesterday, I knit up the Magic Rice Bag in this photo, (it's the same fabric I used for the Furoshiki). I used the pattern from Mommy Cooks as a guideline, and used plain white 100% cotton for the inner layer. I did divide the inner bag into 3 compartments, to hold the rice in place. I'm already glad that I included that modification. It added maybe 10 minutes of extra work, but made a big difference.

I know I did a good job, because 2 minutes after it was done, it was out of the microwave and on my boyfriend's head. Yes, his head. Apparently, he had ear tension. I'm not asking.

Lunch!

Mmmm, kiwi.

They were on sale, and I'm trying to eat more healthily again. Kiwis are definitely an easy way for me to get my fruit intake in!

And nice to photograph, too.

Stay tuned for Pink Lady apples, grapes, and pomelos. (Don't worry, I'm not exclusively blogging fruit on my knitting blog - although, that could be fun.)

In actual knitting news, I've been gifted some purple cotton to knit Isabelle's bunny, (thanks, Vanessa!). I had no idea mercerized cotton could be so soft!!! Once there's been centre-pull-ball winding, I'll get some knitting done!

Sweet Pea Hat

And the Surprise Baby Prezzie has FINALLY been delivered to its intended baby recipient - Miss Piper. Isn't she lovely? Now I can show you some photos!

As Piper's initials are P.E.A., it seemed only fitting to knit her the Sweet Pea Hat. It turned out a little large (two inches is a lot on a baby), so it's rolled up in this photo. What this means, is that you can't see the darling brim - knit in the contrasting sage green you see at the top of the hat.

I loved this pattern, and adore this hat. The vines, peas, and pea pod were so fun to knit. (I actually knit the hat top-down following Susan Pierce Lawrence's directions. I love avoiding swatching at all times.)

I can't wait to knit more of Susan B. Anderson's designs, like this beautiful cupcake hat that Alison at the Blue Blog knit for her one-year-old!

Project Details:

Pattern: Sweet Pea Hat by Susan B. Anderson, with some modifications (knit top-down as per Susan Pierce Lawrence's directions, in the round)
Yarn: Moda Dea Washable Wool in 4474 (Raspberry) and 4440 (Moss).
Needles: 5.5mm Addi Turbo Circular Needles, 24" long
Ravelry Link: Here.

Pretty Pashmina

Here is my lovely new pashmina that I was gifted today by my boyfriend's mum. Yes. I love it, and was just thinking I needed a brown pashmina!

There are little sparkly bits of ribbon-yarn in it. Pashmina + silk + ribbon yarn = perfect.

Project 365: Day Three

Because I have such lovely brick in my loft, it only seems fair to show off the pattern it makes, as a part of one of this week's themes for Project 365, Patterns.

Happy Valentine's Day, all!

I've managed to catch another cold. Bleagh. I'm giving Cold-FX a try, cross your fingers that it works -- Thursday through Saturday are my busiest teaching days!

Project 365: Day Two

One of the Themes for this week's Project 365 is Patterns. The explanation mentioned how brick can create pleasing patterns, and I immediately thought of my new loft. Not only do I have pleasing brick patterns, but I also have pleasing pipe patterns.

Project 365: Day One

Here is my very first photo for Ravelry's Project 365. Info about the project is in my previous post. You can click on any of these photos to see them enlarged, at my Flickr site.

Winter is prevailing here in Toronto, and I think we've had enough already! As much as I love snow, it's getting a bit tough getting around the city. There are snowbanks the size of cars, and the side streets (and my parking lot) are all crusted with a sheet of ice. I just know I'm going to glisser* any moment now, and land on something that shouldn't be landing on ice!

If you pull up the Large Size of this photo on Flickr, you'll actually see individual snowflakes! Huzzah for the macro setting!

*The Word of the Week from CBC Radio's show "C'est la vie" - it means "to slide")

Ravelry's Project 365

I've joined a group on Ravelry, called Project 365.

The idea is that you take a photo a day for a whole year. At the end of the year, you have a photo-journal of the year, day by day.

Hmmm, this might just be the inspiration I'm looking for!

NB: I'm also streaming the RSS feed from the "365ravelry" Flickr tags. If you can't get into Ravelry, you can at least add photos here, and get the feed!