Ice

It's been cold here, but not too cold as long as you have plenty of knitwear (which, surprise surprise, I do!)

There have been a couple of good snowflake falls but my camera doesn't like to photograph very small white things

But you can see how delicate and lovely the snowflakes have been

We've had some magnificent ice-formations on our windows too

And a very cold door-handle to the balcony

I love the early mornings on cold days how the air hangs over the St Laurence River and all the building thermostats are working very hard to keep it lovely and warm indoors

Sunset through foggy windows reflecting off the building opposite made it glow and amazing orange colour

Clear blue skies in winter makes it seem so much better. This was the moon in the daytime a week ago

What happens when the snowflakes don't fall on my windowsill where I can photograph them...

Bird Watching

We finally got some interesting bird action here last month when what looked like a Hawk came and sat on the opposite building at sunset. Unfortunately the light was fading and it was starting to snow, so we didn't get a clear look.

But from the photo you can see the bird has a short probably hooked beak and a white breast and underside of tail.

Then about a month later I looked out the window to see another big brown bird sitting on another building, surveying the terrain. Not a pigeon was to be seen.

I managed to snap this photo just as it was taking flight. It has a huge wingspan and is really amazing to see in flight. It flew almost past my window :)

Then today I looked up and saw the bird again!

Today we had plenty of action as a Crow tried to scare it off by dive bombing and sweeping past really close.

But the Hawk didn't care. He just watched the crow nonchalantly fly past. The Hawk sat there happily looking around for at least 45 minutes before he flew off. A few minutes later I saw a large number of crows flying really sporadically much further down the street. I think it must have been the Hawk causing a ruckus.

I wonder if it is the same bird. I've read though this list at the Hawk Migration Association of North America and can't work out what it is. It looks like the Red-tailed Hawk, apparently the most common one in North America.

Books!

I've got some new books in recent months so I thought I'd share them with you.

The Black Apple's Paper Doll Primer by Emily Winfield Martin:

I brought this book for myself for my Christmas present. Its lovely. There is a few customisable paper people in the back where you can paper doll yourself. This I want to try. I think I'll have to make myself wearing a grey cardigan and red shoes with bows on them. Then I'm going to make a paper doll of the Mr and possibly the pet rabbit I want to have but don't. Then maybe I'll keep going and make a small village with a grocery store and a pet shop...

Jane Austen's Sewing Box: Craft Projects & Stories from Jane Austen's Novels by Jennifer Forest:

I got this book for myself for Christmas too. It has interesting history, contemporary illustrations and projects from the novels. Like who knew what a 'huswife' was? Now you can make one... I was very inspired by the little handbags.

Handmade Living: A Fresh Take on Scandinavian Style by Lotta Jansdotter:

This is for inspiration for my own apartment when I finally get to live in it. The Mr. and I are very particular, having several degrees in architecture between us but can agree that this is a very nice table. The Swedish meatballs in this book are also highly recommended to carnivorous friends.

Eat Love: Food Concepts by Eating Designer Marije Vogelzang

This is for school but its a fun book to look at. You will never see eating quite the same way again. You can check out her website which has lots of interesting stuff and a link to a talk she gave on her philosophy. Its good stuff.

Creative Paper Cutting: Basic Techniques & Fresh Designs for Stencils, Mobiles, Cards & More edited by Shufunotomo:

And this book which was also a Merry Christmas to me present. It has really lovely photographs of the paper cuts. I haven't made any yet, but the deer are very inspiring.

The Artful Bird: Feathered Friends to Make + Sew by Abigail Patner Glassenberg:

I also brought this book for my happiness present (the present you buy for yourself cause it makes you happy). Its nice. I think I need to make the wren or the lark with its nice tail. I think a peacock would be great or maybe an elegant grey dove. The penguin was love at first sight.

The Art of The Table: A Complete Guide to Table Setting, Table Manners, and Tableware by Suzanne von Drachenfels.

They weren't joking when they called this a complete guide. I never knew there were so many different types of forks! This one is for school too (i'll tell you what for later on!)...

In which I go a little crazy with the knitting...

The Christmas Tree was just taken down a week ago...I've been a busy birdy with school but I've also been busy knitting.

I finally finished the long-suffered Rebecca knitted dress, the Rare Books cardigan and I've finally finished the Mittens of Loveliness (see below). I also managed to squeeze in a very quick cowl neck-warmer for myself and some leg-warmers and have started on a warmer hat for the Mr.

Proudly presenting the Not-Really-Rebecca Knitted Dress:

The finished product. Took just under 4 months to knit with a couple of wrong turns, deviations, heartache and banishment. But it turned out perfectly. I like it better than the original Rebecca magazine design which inspired it. I decided to go with short sleeves so I can choose whether to wear it with a long-sleeved top underneath like a tunic or as a sleeveless dress with a slip under. (Hanging Arm courtesy of the Mr).

Arm/Sleeve detail. I made a little band of ribbing around the opening. The dress is knit entirely in one piece without any seams. (I knit in the round from bottom hemline to neckline with bind off and picking up for sleeves (to make the sleeve holes). I did have to come back and do the ribbing around the sleeves and hem by picking up stitches, but otherwise its technically seamless :) ) This is because this airy mohair shows up all the seams through it and I wanted it to look really neat.

The neckline drapes really nicely around and can be worn as a cowl neck or as an off-the-shoulder number. I would have made it more like a hood, so it can warm your ears, but I ran out of wool :) The neckline was inspired by this dress I posted about ages ago. Its a really flattering neckline.

Now to the Rare Books Cardigan, the replacement for the unruly Twinkle cardigan. This cardigan was developed to withstand the freezing temperatures of the Rare Books room at the library. It also held up outdoors nicely the other day when it was -25 degrees celsius here, keeping me nice and warm under my outer jacket layer. The neckline doubles as a scarf, keeping the neck warm too. I haven't got a nice button for it yet, so I'm still fastening it with a safety pin. The body of the cardigan is knit seamlessly from hem to armpits, then splits into 2 fronts and back. I then knit the sleeves (several times cause I made them too small then too big!). The collar is a crochet rib because I wanted some more chunky texture. Plus I find its way easier to crochet a collar around a curve and calculate the reductions than it is to knit it.

Crocheted Neckline Detail

Worn Crossed-Over and Fastened

Overall Cardigan Unfastened

Magical Back 'Darts' for shaping

The Mittens of Loveliness are finally done and have been subjected to serious mitten-testing procedure and found very satisfactory. The Mr. says they are too big for me and claims that I knit them for him, but he will let me borrow them if I take care of them nicely. I am inclined to agree on the too-big part. But the pattern is one size, with no dimensions given, so it was really difficult to know if they would fit or not. I calculated my gauge and guessed they would be a little big, but I'm not clever enough yet to re-write a fair isle pattern myself. So I just wear the mittens a little loose in the hands. I'm planning on stuffing my old mittens inside these ones for extra warmth, so there is at least plenty of space for the extra layer. I estimate that the Mittens of Loveliness are good down to -5 outside a pocket, and good down to -15 inside a pocket. With the extra old mitten inside they should be good down to -25 inside a pocket and to -15 outside. We shall see. The weather here is yet unpredictable (even to the weatherman it seems). Today we have snow where none was forecast.

Behold!

Just as nice on the other side

Happy Together at Last

The neck-warmer was developed from a vogue knitting email I got last week with their 'sand cables' stitch. I had seen a few months ago someone design a cowl with a similar type of cable stitch inspired by a Burberry scarf. I thought theirs was rather nice and when I saw this stitch pattern in my inbox, I thought it would look great as a cowl too. Having about half or 3/4 a ball of wool left from the Rare Books Cardigan, I got knitting. I had made excellent progress (ie: at least 30cm) when I realised that I'd messed up somewhere with my over/under cable business. Being the perfectionist I am, I ripped it all out and started again. But on 10mm knitting needles, I was still done by lunchtime. I took it for a test run yesterday and found it satisfactory, though not as warm as a triple wrapped scarf. It was nice though not to worry about catching scarf ends in the zipper of my jacket for once. Worn about the forehead this also makes an excellent (and hilarious) turban-style headband. I don't recommend this unless you want laughs. If you want to make your own its easy:

Let's call this: Snow Drift Cowl (there's no sand around here, but plenty of interesting wind-driven snow patterns)

Get some 10mm knitting needles and some chunky chunky wool. I used Bernat's Roving in 'Bark' and less than one ball. Probably could get 2 cowls out of one ball...

Cast on 24 stitches (thats 2 repeats of the 12 stitch wide sand cables stitch pattern). You can do 3 if you want it to be a wider cowl. It will curl up at the edges, but the cable kinda holds it flat a little, so you wont have the whole cowl roll up into a tube.

Following the stitch pattern, knit merrily being very careful not to mix up when you are cabling in front or behind.

Make about 7 repeats of the pattern (about 70 rows). You can keep knitting if you want a longer cowl or want to twist it or loop it twice when you wear it.

Finish with two plain old rows of stocking stitch and bind off. (72 rows + cast on and bind off)

Mattress stitch the ends together to form a loop.

Weave in your ends and you are done.

Looks sort-of like a braid when worn

Laid flat

How the 'sand cables' look

Right, so Leg-warmers. These I also used Bernat's Roving in 'Clover'. I think calling it 'clover' was a stretch, its more like dirty acid green (but I guess that doesn't sound so appealing!). Anyway, these were another self-invented pattern. I used 2 balls of wool, one for each leg. There's no shaping, they just stretch to fit your legs. These make thigh-high leg-warmers (its cold here) but you will look slightly silly. But hey, everyone looks silly in leg-warmers. Measuring your own legs is essential here, or you will have arm-warmers, not leg-warmers. Its also important not to cast on or bind off too tightly, or you will have tourniquets, not leg-warmers.

Folded in Half

Stitch Detail

The full length is 36 inches

No More Cold Knees:

You will need 10mm knitting needles, 2 balls of chunky chunky wool such as Bernat's Roving and a measuring tape.

Measure your mid-calf and mid thigh. Pick a mid-measurement between the two. I've got shapeless legs, so I made the leg-warmers straight. You can test your chosen measurement by making your tape measure into a loop around you leg and seeing if you can get the loop up to the level you want your leg warmers to end. You will look pretty silly doing this, so I recommend doing thus only amongst good friends. Adjust your measurement accordingly. Remember that the ribbing at the top and the bottom of the leg-warmers makes them stretchy at least an inch or three.

I've you have shapely legs, you might want to add some shaping at the thigh-end. I would make some little increases 1 stitch in from the end of a row on the right side of the stockinette. Near the seams, a M1 is hidden quite well and its easy to make. The chunky wool makes about 2.5 stitches to 1 inch, so if you have several inches different between calf and thigh (more than 3 inches different), you will need make some increases. Eg: for an extra 2 inches, you need to increase 5 stitches on right-side rows. So it will take you 10 rows to make your 2 inch increase.

Right. So my calves are 13 inches and thighs 16 inches (don't judge!). I made my leg-warmers 13 inches (flat measurement un-stretched, they easily make 16in stretched), so at the calf, they are comfy (and I can stretch them over my winter boots if I want) and at the thigh they are stretched and stay up nicely. At our gauge of 2.5 stitches to the inch, that equates to about 32.5 stitches. Allowing for my relaxed (lazy) knitting tension and love of whole numbers, I rounded this to 30 stitches.

So I cast on 30 stitches and then made 10 rows of K1, P1 ribbing.

I followed this with 50 mesmerizing rows of stocking stitch.

Then finished off with another 10 rows of K1, P1 ribbing.

Bind off loosely. This is important for avoiding tourniquet.

So, really, the measuring and calculating is the most difficult part, the knitting is easy. I made mine while reading this.

The Mr. requested a warmer hat. For this I'm using the lovely thick Peruvian wool from Cascade which I got at my favourite shop in Montreal. Again, an invented pattern. This one is still in testing though, so we shall see how it turns out! The wool feels good and should be nice and warm. I'm knitting tightly, hoping it wont be too stiff a fabric but will be warm. We don't want the Mr. to have a silly hat.

I love the colour of this wool, its the perfect blue for me and looks great on the Mr too!