Back, Birthday and Busted

I got back home last night from my vacation in Switzerland. The trip was awesome and DH and I had a great time. I took lots of pictures and I hope to have time to share them with you soon!

Here’s one for now:

The sock you see in the picture is my Noro Kureyon Sock sock in progress. Although I didn’t get to knit much while on vacation it is now at the heel.

I have the chance to share today’s birthday with two wonderful ladies which I have had the chance to meet and spend some time with. Go and wish Alyson and Tina “Happy Birthday!” Here are some flowers for you!

After getting home yesterday afternoon I found out that my computer was busted. It just wouldn’t turn on. We’re guessing that there was a power surge while we were away and that it fried something in the computer. DH is guessing it is the power supply that fried and we ordered a new one. He also was able to set me up on his old computer, which is why I am able to post at all right now. As of now I’ve lost the last 5 years of pictures, all of my work files, my personal documents, my music and all of my favorites. I try not to think about it too much…

Here’s a cute picture to cheer me and you up! Baah!

Blooming

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Beauty shots

Peonies have got to be one of my favorite flowers. I always look forward to finding the first ones at the store so I can bring some home! When I bought these they were still unopened and I just loved seeing each bud open one after the other, every day another one. There’s just one now that hasn’t opened yet, but I bet it wont be long!

I made sure to buy them when I first saw them so I could enjoy them now before I leave on vacation. DH and I are going on a trip to Switzerland in a few days and when we get back maybe there won’t be any more peonies to be found!

Handmade for mom

My parents came down from Quebec for the weekend. It was a coincidence that if was Mother’s Day weekend but it was a good coincidence. Two years ago, on one of my mom’s previous visit we sewed a quilt top together.

It had been waiting to be finished all this time. After taking my quilting class I finally knew how to finish it properly. So I decided to finish the quilt and give it to my mom for Mother’s Day.

Last weekend I quilted the quilt and prepared the binding. Then last Friday, I sewed the binding on. I sewed both sides of the binding with the sewing machine since I didn’t have time to hand-sew. It didn’t take really long to finish it and before I knew it I had a finished quilt!

The next day, just before my parents arrived the sun came out and I was able to get some nice shots of the quilt.

Some of the fabrics I used were bits of fabrics that my mom had used in some of her projects and some were fabrics that I had in the stash. I’m really happy how the colors go so well together, a blend of pinks and greens. I used a cotton batting so the quilt is very light and thin and will be nice for the summer. I know that it will be well loved by my mom.

Happy Mother’s Day mom!

We’re back to sewing

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that I had done a lot of sewing. I never posted about it back then because what I made were made for two special packages. Both packages have now arrived so I can now share them with you.

The first package was for my friend Kelly who lives in Iowa. She’s a knitter too and she likes to knit socks too. I had noticed though that she would carry her sock knitting in little plastic bags and that I just had to make her something nicer than that.

So I sewed her this little set:

My friend likes birds so I made sure to use a fabric with birds on it.

I had also knit her a pair of socks, the Ripples pattern from the Sockamania KAL. Here they are on her feet:

They’re a tad on the tight side and a pain to remove, but she likes them, so that’s what counts. I might need to knit her another pair though at some point!

The last package was for my May Day Sock pal. The packages were due out on May 1st and the package arrived to my pal’s doorstep on Saturday. So I can now show you what I made her!

My pal was Karen from Needles and Wool. She’s the one I was knitting the Schaefer Lola Red Dwarf socks for. I ended up giving her the Hand Maiden Casbah Sangria since they were too big for me and I knew she’d like them just as well if not more.

I also made her this little box bag and zipper pouch set:

She seems to have liked everything I sent her and the socks fit her perfectly. If you’re interested you can see her post about her package here. I really enjoyed putting everything together for her, it was fun!

Spinning Monday

Over the weekend I had time to spin the other half of the Iron Horse Farm roving I posted about last Monday. I also made sure to ply it and skein it so I could have some photos for today.

The roving didn’t come with a name so I asked DH if he could name it for me. He picked the name: The North Side of the Tree because it the yarn looks like moss. I liked the name so it stuck!

I found out more details about how the roving was made. It is made of long strips of 3 different colors that were carded together to make one strip. The first half of the roving I spun as is, leaving the 3 colors together. The second half I tore the 3 colors apart and spun one color after the other. That way I would have a subtle striping effect if and when I knit it.

I didn’t split the roving in two really well so my first half ended up being quite bigger than the second half. So I ended up with only 150yds of a fingering/dk weight yarn.

My friend Debbie from Iron Horse Farm told me to make sure to not overtwist it because the yarn would feel like rope if I did. So I tried to keep the twist to a minimum and I think it came out pretty nice.

The yarn still needs a soak but I didn’t want to wait! I’ll practice my Navajo-plying on the rest of the single but I’ll have to wait a bit for that.

I’m not sure when I’ll next get to spin because the next several weeks are going to be very crazy with my new job and two big trips, so maybe my next Spinning Monday will be in June!

Even if there’s no time for anything else…

There is still time to knit socks…

Things have suddenly gotten busier here at Knitting in Pink. After two years of working only part time for yarn4socks I’ve gone back to working full time. I’m still working for yarn4socks of course, but on top of that I’ve added another part time job, this time in an office in a neighboring town. So I now have the chance to share the joys of commuting…

I’ll probably be blogging a bit less than I already am until I get into my new schedule and figure out how to do everything else I need to do like everyone that has a full time job. Sadly, all my new found crafts will have to step aside for a bit too, but I’ll get back to them as soon as I can! I don’t feel too bad for myself though, because I’ve had a chance to enjoy a relaxing life for quite a bit now.

Nevertheless, there’s always time for some sock knitting and here is my latest finished pair.

These are my mismatched New Year socks from the Sockamania KAL. I’ve just learned that they’ve been renamed On the Run socks. Details here in Ravelry.

You can more clearly see in this picture the different dye lots that were used.

These socks were originally knit for my MIL but I didn’t want to give them to her like this. They’re a bit too big for me so I can’t really wear them either. I’m hoping they’ll fit my mom. My parents are coming down to visit next weekend so maybe I can give them to her for Mother’s day!

After finishing this pair I cast on for the second Simply Cables sock, also from the Sockamania KAL. I’ve got one repeat done so far. I hope to be able to get a bit more done this weekend!

I just love the color of this yarn, it really reminds me of being on the beach in the Caribbean. I can’t wait to wear the pair!

I finally broke down and got my hands on one of these…

I think that I’ll soon be casting on for a pair of simple stockinette socks! (Noro Kureyon Sock 185) I’ll let you know what my thoughts on the yarn are as soon as I start working on it. A good friend of mine has been knitting a pair of socks with this yarn and didn’t dislike it at all so it got me convinced to give it a try myself!