The Knitting Bug

I've moved!

2007-06-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

I've made the switch from Blogger to WordPress (with a lot of help from my son). You can find me at theknittingbug.ca. Drop by and let me know what you think. And remember to change your bookmarks!

Summer knitting

2007-05-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

Summer knitting is fast - no sleeve or necklines to worry about. Here we have Vanesa in the blue tank top Gloria made. Gloria and Anne are modeling their matching tank tops - all made in cotton. Gloria is also modeling a poncho she made. She insists that crocheting is faster than knitting and I'm becoming a believer!

Sandra came to knitting group for the first time last week and has completed a scarf that she's donating to our homeless Christmas gifts! We now have 14 scarves and only have 186 more to go!

Florida knitting

2007-05-01T19:20:00.002-07:00

I'm here in Florida with my mom who had surgery. I've had hours to knit down here - at the hospital and at home. Here are some hats I made for my dear cousin, Stam, who is currently having chemo treatments for breast cancer.

Fareda, the owner of the Knitting Basket LYS, gave me the pattern for this black hat. It was very easy and FAST to knit.

This other pattern I found in a magazine ("Knit 1" I think). It was a lot of knitting for a hat but it turned out great!

Both hats were made with cotton since they are for Florida. I was really pleased with them - and my cousin says she wears the white one in the house to keep her head warm.

Since making these hats I have completed a sweater for my cousin's new addition and started and completed a sweater for my nephew down under. I'm working on a matching sweater for his brother. I'll post those pics soon.

There is a LYS downtown that I'm looking forward to visiting tomorrow. It's close enough for me to walk there. Can't wait!

Happy Birthday, Niko

2007-04-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

This is the jacket I made for my nephew who is 3 years old this month. It was a kit from Mary Maxim. As you can see, most of the knitting work is done on the back. Niko has a thing about fire trucks and I have a thing about knitting for kids!

A visit to a sheep farm

2007-04-05T17:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was in New Hampshire to celebrate the baptism of my niece-in-law, Tracey. She took me to visit Riverslea Farm that's just down the street from her home. It was so cool! They raise sheep for slaughter and sell the wool as a side line.

This is Tracey and Liz, who is the owner of the farm. You can see all the wool displayed in one of the two rooms she has for selling knitted items as well as hanks of wool. She shears and spins and dyes some of the wool herself. Some she sends up to Nova Scotia for spinning and dyeing. Those round things Tracey is holding are "nesting balls". (If you click on the photo you can get a closer look.) They are made from grape vines and stuffed with small pieces of wool for the birds to pull out and use in making their nests. How cool is that? I was a bit concerned that my nesting ball and 3 hanks of wool would be confiscated by customs but I had no problems at all. And I even checked off the little box that asks if you've visited a farm!

Listowel Yarn Sale X2

2007-03-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

I simply cannot pass up a yarn sale - no matter what the weather is. If you click here you'll see what I mean . . . enjoy!

Batman Two!

2007-02-02T15:35:00.000-08:00

Two more batman heads - Kaleb & Jensen - big brothers to baby Chloe.

Meanwhile, I am busy knitting for some upcoming events. Must have one completed by mid week in order to start on the next one . . . why do I do this to myself ? (Only another knitter can understand)

Knitting Group Rules!

2007-01-31T16:19:00.001-08:00

I know I haven't posted in a while. Kind of taking it easy after all that power knitting and posting during the holidays. BUT, how can I NOT show off these great FO's? First, here is Gloria in all her glory.

Isn't this top amazing ? ? She managed to complete this entire halter top with absolutely no pattern - beads and all. Way to go, Gloria. You win the January Knitter-of-the-month title! I'm scared to find out what your next project will be . . .

Here is Lynn, one of our new members, showing off the scarf she made for her granddaughter. I LOVE the colour combination. Congrats, Lynn - great job!

Here is baby Chloe wearing the Debbi Bliss sweater I made for her. I think you'll recognize her from other posts and can see how fast she is growing.

And last but not least we have BATMAN (also known as Graham) wearing the helmet toque I made him for Christmas. Little did I know his mom had made him the entire costume to go with it!

OK Gina, you are next girl - keep working those needles so I can post your FO next. Anne, Margie, Nicki, Pat A - get those knits and purls moving! Ricky, where are you? Pat B - come back to Canada soon - we miss you.

Our Knitting Group has started . . .

2007-01-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

We had our first meeting of 2007 this morning. Gloria came with her daughter who is still on Christmas break. This is Vanessa wearing the sweater jacket that grandma Anne knitted for her. Isn't it beautiful? I especially love the ruffles she added to the sleeves and bottom. There's a matching scarf that really makes it a great outfit. Way to go, Anne! ! !

Pat A and Lynn joined us for the first time. Margie came too and has completed the back of her sweater for Garry and is now knitting a cable in the middle of the front. Zachary also joined us and just didn't get why we were ooing and ahhhing over the cashmere wool Lynn brought with her. We told him it's something you are born with . . .

So next week all the kids will be back at school and hopefully Gina, Ricky and Nicki can join us. I will be moving my office upstairs tomorrow and hope to make some changes to our library area which will be right outside my new office. I'm thinking of converting it (just a tiny bit) into a KNITTING ROOM! So, if you are reading this and have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. For starters I want a bulletin board and maybe some pictures of our handiwork. Again, any ideas are welcome!

Three little bears . . .

2007-01-02T18:53:00.000-08:00

Here are my three little bears from New England sporting their new hats, mitts and scaves that they got for Christmas. Love it!

Hat heads!

2006-12-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

I have a "thing" about pictures of family and friends wearing the things I've made. My son, Jason, took this one on Boxing Day when we were together with my husband's family. It's a great picture!

Power Knitting for Christmas

2006-12-27T12:15:00.000-08:00

If my records are correct I made 35 hats/toques, 2 adult scarves and 4 children's scarves. If you click on them you can see more detail or go to my 2006 link.

On top of that I also made 4 Christmas Tree hats which are posted below. Some of the projects were not photographed and so I'm hoping to take pictures of them with heads in them!

My daughter is showing off some of her Christmas knitting in a typical fashion. As usual, she did an amazing job!

More O Christmas Tree . . .

2006-12-22T11:56:00.000-08:00

This is Miss Meli and little brother, Jake, in their Christmas Tree hats. This pattern is so much fun and so fast to knit - I just change the needle size and it seems to fit all heads. The pattern is HERE.

O Christmas Tree . . .

2006-12-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

Guy is holding baby Chloe who is wearing her Christmas Tree hat. I will put the link to the pattern in my next post as I have two more Christmas Tree heads to share. She looks like a little dolly ! !

Show and tell . . .

2006-12-12T12:43:00.000-08:00

Here I am with my newphew Niko who is wearing his truck sweater!

And here I am with niece, Erin, in her ladybug hat.

And this is Mackenzie wearing her Christmas Tree hat. OK - THIS IS WHY I KNIT ! !

Mary-Jane's by Irene

2006-12-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

My amazing daughter is now such a pro. These slippers were made for a Secret Santa gift at her workplace. They are SOOOOO cute. I love the two colours together and the embroidery adds so much. If you click HERE you can get the pattern. I think I would enjoy making them too. Yay Irene! !

2006-11-19T17:31:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of my newphew, Geoff, wearing the toque I made for him last Christmas. This pattern is so cool - I enjoy making it over and over with different colour combinations. Found it in some magazine a few years ago.

2006-11-14T13:29:00.000-08:00

OK - this one is a bit strange but I feel obligated to post the link. My friend, Scott, sent it to me. Click here to see an old lady knitting . . .

Another great free pattern

2006-11-13T12:26:00.001-08:00

From knitting FOs ...

This pattern was fun to knit and very fast. I found it here. I'm not sure but it may have been a link from Knitter's Review. Anyway, it knitted up in a week and I was able to give it to my friend, Susanna. She has a very CUTE little boy, Ethan. I will definitely make this pattern again. What I love about it is that it's made in one piece - no seams to sew - and starts from the top down. The pattern tells you where to put the button holes so you just keep knitting with no stops to calculate anything. My kind of pattern.

It finally made it!

2006-11-11T07:41:00.000-08:00

I sent a package to our nephews in Australia on August 8 and 3 (yes THREE) months later it arrived ! ! ! I checked with the post office at 2 months and they said it was too early to panic. TOO EARLY! It's now summer in Sydney and I sent two sweaters - one made out of WOOL ! I've learned my lesson - no more Canada Post - from now on I'll be using FedEx or Purolater. I hope the boys don't grow too quickly or they may never get to wear the sweaters made for them by their favorite Auntie Kathy!

I also upgraded to the new Blogger. Hopefully all the features will work the same. It took me quite a while to get all my add on doo-dads to work and some don't work as well as I want. O well - it is a beta upgrade so I shouldn't complain!

Check this out!

2006-11-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

I was on another blog and found this from YouTube about men knitting - It's great . . .

Remember me?

2006-11-09T16:38:00.000-08:00

It's been ages since I last posted - yet I've been power knitting like crazy. Our Christmas Gifts for the homeless of our city (Toronto) need to be completed by Nov. 21. There are SOOOOOOOOO many of us knitting - myself included. We have scarves, hats and mitts galore. They are beautiful. Last week four of us worked on putting the sets together - we had SO much fun. We were trying on the hats and wearing them as we worked. Jennifer actually saw a set (or was it two sets?) that she couldn't part with. Now she's has to shop for something to replace it since it was intended to go in our Christmas packages! I believe they were made by one of our super knitters/crocheters Francette. I think Francette made at least tweleve hats & scarf sets. Ricky made about the same number of hats/scarves/mitts and Pat B made eighteen complete sets! I know we have over 100 by now the we have another week and a half to go. It's amazing.

PLUS, I am trying to get some Christmas knitting completed as well. My hands just don't move as quickly as they use to and it's getting me down. Thankfully, our weather hasn't been too cold so my joints are still working. I should have some pictures to post very soon. Don't want to spoil any surprises but - my niece, Erin, finally has a completed birthday gift - woo hoo!

Too Cute!

2006-09-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

Here is Miss Meli wearing her Pooh Sweater. It's made from Bernat Chunky and I used the pattern on the wrapper. I've used the pattern several times and it's worked out well. Winnie's pattern is actually a cross stitch chart that I've used before. I wasn't sure he'd fit with this chuncky yarn - so glad he did. The biggest problem I had was with my tension. I used a 4.5 mm needle and didn't do the increases in order to get the proper size. The FO measured perfectly with the pattern's measurements. There's also a hat to go with this and I look forward to seeing Meli wearing it someday. Her birthday party was such fun . . . and now she's three!

2006-09-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

OK - here is the poncho that I crocheted for my niece, Sophie. Frankly, making this confirmed that I am a KNITTER! This was a bit too fussy for me - even though I was SO happy with the results.

Meanwhile, our cool Knitting Group has started up again. We met on Thursday and had "show and tell". Here Gloria is modelling her beautiful sweater - which was a bit of a group project (with Gloria doing all the work!). The photo doesn't really show the beautifufl cables and detail. It fits perfectly and we were all sooooo excited over it.

Great pattern

2006-09-05T19:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a sweater I made for my new nephew "down under". I found the pattern online and really enjoyed making it. I'm all for no seams! If you'd like to see the pattern, click here.

That's My Girl!

2006-08-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

Here is my daughter "modelling" the blanket she made for baby Orlaith who is due to arrive in October. She made it out of Red Heart yearn which gives it good body. She used two colours together and did the blanket stich all around the blanket and hood to bring out the dominant colour. This is the same Lion Brand pattern that I made (see previous post). I used "Pound of Love" and both work well for this pattern. Yeah, Irene - keep working those needles!

2006-08-03T17:26:00.000-07:00

Here I am in Glorious Greece with my knitting needles in hand - working on an Irish hiking scarf. My husband and I spent 10 beautiful days sight seeing and swimming in the Corianthian Gulf with my sister and brother-in-law. This picture was taken at the entrance to Ancient Corinth where the two books of the NT were addressed to. Sadly, the gates were closed and all we could do was peek in to see what's left of the city. The sight around the city from the mountain was truly glorious.

Confession - I wasn't really knitting. This was a set up. I did knit on this trip though. Started this scarf on the plane (yes, I did knit on the plane with no problems) and also made two toques. I took a break on the flight home and am now anxious to get back to knitting once I'm completely unpacked. I did manage to find a knitting store in a small town in Corinth called Kiato. I bought 5 balls of a multi colour wool blend for 10 Euros - about $15 Canadian.

The trip was magic!

It's a GIRL - and a BOY!

2006-07-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

Introducing Miss Chloe Freeman. This photo was taken on her birth day, July 7, 2006. She weighed in at 5 pounds 12 ounces - just a tiny little dolly. AND, she's wearing the little toque her mom made for her! THIS is why we love knitting - it just doesn't get any cuter that this. Congratulations Guy and Nicki!

This is what I made for Chloe. The sweater is a Debbie Bliss pattern that I LOVE to knit and it's made with Paton's Decor. Nicki placed her order for this one and I was happy to oblige. The hooded blanket is made with "a pound of love" by Lion Brand.

And now please meet Master Jacob Morris posing with me and his mom, Adrianne. This picture was also taken on Jacob's birthday - July 7, 2006! He weighed in at 6 pounds 10 ounces. How cool is THAT! Congratulations Steve and Adrianne!

This was my gift to baby Jake. Both made from "a pound of love" by Lion Brand. Soooo much fun to make. The buttons are little baseball gloves complete with a tiny baseball in each one - sigh . . .

Our Amazing Knitting Group

2006-06-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

Here we are in February. Some of us took a day trip to Listowel, Ontario for the yarn sale. Of course this is cheese country so we stopped to buy some great cheese. My daughter, Irene, joined us as she lives only an hour away.

This other group picture is of our last meeting on June 20,2006. We'll start up again in the fall and hopefully have another Listowel adventure in August. We've had some fun times together as we struggled through some tough patterns - mostly through Gloria's patterns! It's been great. In the fall we'll show off our summer completed projects.

And here is Nicki showing off her very first projects - booties and a little (very little) toque for baby number three who is due in just under three weeks. Way to go, Nicki!

2006 Knitting

2006-06-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

OK - here are some of my 2006 completed projects. I can't have them all posted now because I'm waiting for some babies to be born so I can give them as gifts!

The sweater my son is wearing was the made in January with Country Wool. The pattern was on the wrapper. This amazing wool blend has been discontinued and that's such a pity. It knits up quickly and feels so nice - not at all scratchy. I'm glad I have lots in my stash as I'm sure it's a warm sweater. The zipper took some time but it was worth it.

Some favorites . . .

2006-06-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

These were made a few years ago for my niece. They were fun to make knowing how cute she'd look in them. If I know what the kids like I can make a sweater they'll enjoy wearing. Sunflowers, however, are my signature as they are my FAVORITE flower!

2005 - a good year for knitting!

2006-05-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

2005 was a good knitting year. To view some of my completed projects please click here.

Welcome to my knitting blog!

2006-05-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

This is so exciting to me because I LOVE to knit! I will be adding pictures of my 2006 completed projects soon . . .