a cowl-tionary tale...

Yet again this year Winter still has us in its icy grip...and even despite a whirlwind trip to Ottawa by rock star President Obama, we are still suffering those winter blues...I myself absolutely refuse to even think about shovelling any more snow...so it better just stop.

By the way, is it just me, or is it kind of ironic/scary that people flocked to Ottawa from all over the country to catch a fleeting glimpse of Obama, most of them not even knowing if they would see even his limo, much less the man himself. They waited for hours and hours in bitterly cold weather, brought their children, and cheerfully stood and cried when his car came down the road, and every Canadian TV channel pre-empted coverage all bleeding day so that they could chatter on ad-nauseum about the lunch menu that would be presented to the president, or wondering if he would even bother to come out and wave hello. I'm glad he did, but hey, part of me is ashamed because in my whole life I've never seen anyone do that for one of our politicians...even Trudeau....not that everyone liked him, but still...what does that say about us? Or him, or the times we are living in? I think that Obama has a lot to live up to, and I hope for his sake that he can, but all this worshipping of him is kind of troublesome to me.

Since Spring won't come to me, I came to it, in a matter of speaking. I finally finished my daisy square afghan that I've been working on and off (mostly off) for the last two years or so. And here it is....you may need sunglasses...



Like wow, man...groovy...or something like that. I used up a lot (although not all, much to my chagrin) of my variegated acrylics. It's a large one, fitting the top of a queen size, so it would make a suitable double coverlet. Not sure what I will do with it...it may get donated, I haven't decided.

This daisy square is cute and really fun to make, and call me crazy (and believe me, a lot of people do!!) but I like it just as much from the back/wrong side:

Then, since I have been the recipient of a large amount of inherited yarn from different sources lately (it seems like word gets out when you knit, and all of a sudden yarn starts appearing from this aunt or someone's grandma or cousin, not that I'm complaining) I decided to try a little cowl with some yarn (no label, no idea what it is...probably acrylic, I think it wants to be mohair-like)....

It knitted up so well, and the pattern came so easily for me (since I seem to be brain-dead about knitting lacy patterns) I knew it was too good to be true...and I was right...because, dear friends, this is what happens when you knit with gifted yarn and you're not sure how much you have, and you try to be careful with your tension and not knit too loosely in case you run out, and then you make it to the very end and are casting off and feel very smug about your victory....

And then you run out of yarn with 30 stitches left to bind off....Sigh.

I will probably frog it and make it into yet another beret (another one!?) because while I was knitting it, it reminded me so much of the colour of Martha's tam in the Doctor Who episode "Human Nature"--I know, GEEK!!!!

If you wanted to get the charity daisy square (it's crochet) you can contact Krystal via her blog
Krochet Krystal The pattern is free but she does ask that you make one square and send it to her for her charity afghans.

The cowl pattern I used is called A Noble Cowl. A lovely pattern, that is a fun knit. You can find it for free as a Ravelry download.

six. more. weeks.

Oh yeah, that's right...the fat rat up in Wiarton, Ontario predicted six more weeks of Winter today...I don't know why I was so upset...oh yeah, that's right, I do...'cause winter sucks!! I thought last year was bad, but we must have been extra bad again this year. Sigh, oh well, it does no good to whine about it, and it doesn't even make me feel better. I thank Heaven everyday for our neighbour who bought the snowblower and does our sidewalk and driveway for us every time we get a dump, he's an angel, to be sure.

Aside from not blogging regularly (sorry!) I've totally been in to fair-isle/stranded knitting! I am currently making the "We call them pirates" mittens--sorry, no pics yet, I'm only half-way through one of them... but took a break to make up a couple of hats for Cee's elderly second cousin in the UK...sounds like she will need them soon because they got 30 cm of snow in London today...I think that much would shut the city down for sure.

The first hat I made was Shedir, from Knitty, this was a bit of a challenge for me, all the cables and twisties...


It didn't help that it called for dk weight and I just used worsted...the tension was a bit tight on the 3.25 mm needles...but at least it will be warm! The colour choice is hers....I'm not a fan of beige yarn...for some reason it brings out the anger in me....it's not rational I know, but neither am I most of the time! She made the request by phone, and when I repeated the colour and style choices she wanted, she pronounced she couldn't understand me because 'my accent was too strong'....I guffawed laughing at that, because I've never been accused of having any kind of accent before, so I handed the phone back to Cee's mum and she 'translated'...I swear she didn't say it any different than I, but for some reason, her cousin understood....

My favourite part is the top of the hat, which reminds me of a Clematis flower or a Pointsettia. I think I did screw up a bit towards the top, as not all of the lines are meeting up as they should, and some of the twisties aren't that even, but I don't think she will care all that much.

She has a very small head (or so she says, I've never met her) so I whipped up a 3 am Cable hat for her as well. Talk about a fast knit.

You can see them side by side here...the 3 am is so much smaller than the Shedir, but it stretches like crazy, so hopefully it will be okay for her.

And lastly, my most favourite, made purely for the fun of it and not for an elderly British cousin:

If you are in to Doctor Who, you will recognize the Blue T.A.R.D.I.S. and the grey Daleks, with their metallic cries of "EXTERMINATE!!!" If you aren't into Doctor Who...my sympathies, as it's a most excellent show...you should watch it, you'll like it! Or not, no biggie.

You can find all the patterns I used by clicking:

Shedir, 3 am Cabled Hat, Exterminate