Pure Bumfuzzled!

In other words, totally baffled.

See this?



Yes it is crocheted, but that's not the point. I'm stumped by this thing, not because it took me three tries to figure out how to make a single crochet, or by it's shape (it's a hyperbolic plane). But because this pattern (from Interweave Crochet 2005) called for 200 grams of yarn, and this little baby only used about 20 grams. Typo? I don't know, there are no corrections on the web site. Did I make a mistake? Don't think so, I followed the instructions exactly and even "got gauge." That in itself is a minor miracle for me in the crochet department. If anyone has any insights please help me out.

Aside from the confusion this was so much fun. I'm not a crocheter, this is actually the first crocheted thing I've ever finished, but once I got the single crochet thing sorted out it was so easy. I'm already planning another one, a big one that will sit on my coffee table and just look neat. Another great thing about it is that you have to use cheap old worsted weight acrylic to get the stiffness it needs to keep it's shape and that is totally in my budget right now.

...And it's still hot!

I can't believe how hot this summer has been so far. It's not even August yet. Yuck! I'd better call my parents and thank them again for the air conditioner.

Well despite the heat I did turn the oven on last night to make some pizza. I was craving what I call a white pizza (no tomato sauce just olive oil and herbs. It ended up looking as good as it tasted.


Gotta love homemade crust! When I was out on the balcony cutting herbs for the pizza I noticed this,



My tiny tomato plants now have lots of tiny tomatoes on them. I think I counted 9 in all. I can't believe they're actually growing.

I'm hoping to get lots of knitting done this week as I've got another week's vacation. I've got so many new things I want to knit. I'm already thinking about fall, dreaming of when I can wear sweaters again. I'm thinking of frogging my hourglass sweater to make something that fits a little more comfortably. I've got a vest design in the works which I may use the hourglass yarn to make. There are a couple of patterns from the first Knitscene that I have been wanting to knit for almost a year now, one (a scarf) that I found some stash yarn for this morning.

I have been making progress on the Vintage Knits cami.



I promise you it is not that colour (very reminiscent of Barney), it is actually somewhere between plum and eggplant. I'm so glad to be finished with the ribbing (for now) and the moss stitch is just flying along since I started carrying the yarn in my left hand. I started my knitting life as a thrower but am now considering a full conversion to continental. I've been knitting continental style in the round consistently for about a year now, but found it more awkward to make the switch on straight needles. I think I just needed more practice.

Yesterday I joined the Monthly Dishcloths KAL. I can't wait for the August KAL to start. That reminds me, I need to go pick up some dishcloth yarn. Take care all, try to stay cool.

Because it's freakin' hot...

I took a picture of my latest sock project on top of the new air conditioner.



That is the Yarrow Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. I'm loving the feel of that yarn (Knit Picks Dancing) but I'm still a little lukewarm about the colour. It's darker than it looked on the website but I figure I can always dye it later.

Now back to the air conditioner for a moment. My parents brought it just in time because southern Ontario is a hot humid mess right now. So humid in fact that the plaster in my bedroom is beginning to literally fall of the wall, and the Super can't do anything about it until the humidity lets up because the new plaster will not stick. Oh well at least it's only in the bedroom, I can close the door when I have people over.

Ok the crafty stuff...

For some bizarre reason every year when the weather gets stinkin' hot I dig out the quilt I started oh, about 5 years ago.



That is a machine pieced, hand quilted, pinwheel star twin sized quilt that is about 3/4 of the way finished. Believe it or not last week it got cool enough in the evenings with the breeze I get off of lake Ontario that it was quite nice watching t.v. with a big quilt on my lap. Well see how long it lasts before it gets jammed back into it's bag and shoved under the bed for another 6 months or longer.

My other new project is a cotton camisole from Vintage Knits by Sarah Dallas. I'm using yarn from a sweater I bought at Goodwill and unraveled. This is the second sweater I've begun using this wool. I mentioned in my last post that I had started a short sleeved sweater from the same book. Obviously I've abandoned that but I am much happier knitting the camisole. Here is where I'm at...



Last but not least I have to mention this great website I read about over at Wooltopia. It is called Drops Design from Garnstudios yarn and it has tons of free patterns. Check it out there's loads of neat stuff, and visit the Wooltopia link to see the great baby sweater Tina made.

What I did on my summer vacation,

So, this week I was on vacation. Let me tell you about it while I eat my miso soup(please don't mind the slurping).

I thought I'd be bored out of my mind, but I managed to keep myself pretty busy. The most exciting thing for me was Wednesday, my Dad and I painted my Living/Dining room. I finally have some colour on the walls and now I feel a little more at home here.



The colours (they're a little washed out in these pictures) were inspired by a teapot that I got for my birthday last year (you can see it on the bookshelf). That citus green and turquoise blue are my favorite colours.

Thursday was the big day for knits. I finished not one but two major projects. The lace blouson from Interweave Knits that I started way back last summer.




And the first sweater I designed all by myself, What I'm calling the Bones sweater.



I came very close to running out of yarn with this one but I made it. It turned out just as I wanted. Unfortunately in this 30 degree (Celsius) weather it is way to hot to wear it. I wasn't planning on blocking it to much but I think I'll give it a quick bath and lay it to dry.

The rest of the week was spent enjoying the many thunderstorms we've had over the last few days, and hanging out with some good friends. Can't beat that!

I think that is enough for today. I just started a short sleeved sweater from Sarah Dallas' Vintage Knit using yarn from an unraveled thrift store sweater. I've also got to come up with a last minute toddler gift, so stay tuned.