Sad Knitting News For Me :(

We went to get our hair cuts done on Saturday. Our hair salon just happens to be right near my favourite knitting shop so of course we had to go and visit. Walking up the stairs a notice was posted on the way that the shop is closing. Yep you read it right its closing. I had to read it a few times to believe it. The lady that owns it has decided to move to California near the beach. She gave me all the little critters and stitch markers that I had made for the shop. I realized when I got home that I forgot one and will have to call her on Tuesday to check if its still there.

I will definitely be going back before its final closing date which is April 18th. She is marking down everything with the last 2 weeks being 40% off. That could be a great bonus for me but still I would rather the shop still being around than getting a bunch of sales.

Last week we went and checked if another craft shop I had visited before was still there because we hadnt visited in quite a while. Nope, thats not there either. What is happening around here? The only one left locally is in Bemus Point about 30 minutes from here. If that goes, there will be no more local cool yarn shops left for me to drool over. Although there is still one I have left to try. It better not be gone before I can get there.

I guess a silver lining in getting my items back from the yarn shop is I now have a bunch of new stuff to add to my shop. I will have lots of photos I have to take now to be able to add them. There is quite alot. It may help generate some sales. I think I will do one a day type thing. It should be interesting.

A Couple Of Finished Things And Prettiness

Yep its another monkey. These are the items that I made for the lady at MOPS who is having a baby. The monkey is for her two year old son. I figure you cant go wrong with a monkey. I like the colours of this one. They turned out really cute. Before I started him I went back and forth on brown with blue accents or blue with brown accents. I think I like him being mostly blue.


Monkey butt shot. As you know each monkey I make turns out different from the last. This one is no exception. His tail isnt very curly this time. Go figure on the monkey thing.

Dont ask me why this photo is sideways when all the other ones showed up the right way. I have no idea hehe. I will just count it as a little quirk in this post. This is the baby hat that I made. I made the booties first which are suppose to look like mary jane's. I just thought I would make the hat match. I went back and forth on the ribbon colour. I thought red would pop but then thought maybe black on black might be nice as well. So I just stuck with the original plan of red. I hope she likes it.



These are the little mary janes. Arent they cute. It may be hard to see in the photos the details with them being in black. I think you can see it a bit better in the next photo. I used the very soft washable wool for this project. I have been able to use that yarn for alot of projects and still have some left over.

Here is the set together. Now you may be thinking there is something wrong with this picture. There is, and I will tell you what that is in case you havent figured it out. Usually with booties there are two of them, right? Well I was right at the end of getting this ready the day before just tying on the ribbon when I realized I had made two left booties. It doesnt usually matter with booties but with them buttoning at the side it kind of mattered. So the night before I wanted to give them I had to whip up another one for the right side. I decided to take these photos with just the one bootie because when the other one was done they had to be wrapped up. Wouldnt you know it, the lady who was to receive these didnt end up making it to the meeting because her son was sick. Oh well, they are wrapped and ready to give at the next meeting.



I mentioned before that St Patricks Day was our 8 year wedding anniversary. Well on that day my husband came home with a dozen pink roses. I just love roses and they filled the kitchen with their beautiful aroma. I just had to take photos of them. I still have them but Im afraid they are going to have to get thrown out today because they no longer look so great. Its always sad to throw a bouquet of flowers out.



We did end up having our fancy dinner for our anniversary. Megan and Victoria went to a friends house where they each had someone to play with. Victoria was so excited she was calling it Maggie Day. Joe and I had a fabulous time at our fancy restaurant. I dont think we will be back there too often because it was very expensive but it was definitely a nice treat. I actually went a little crazy with all I ordered because I figured I wouldnt be back there any time soon and wanted to try all that I could. I had my first ever martini. Im not really a drinker but this was a yummy Cappucino Martini and I was up for trying new things. I had these very scrumptious scallops wrapped in bacon with Teriyaki sauce. So yummy I can taste it just thinking about it. I had a coconut chicken with mango stuffing and a raspberry meringue for dessert. We were so full by the end. It was well worth it. We gave the lady babysitting the children a dozen doughnuts from Dunkin Donuts as a thank you. We always bring a Thank You gift when someone watches the children for us.

Well better go and catch up with the husband, he just got home.

Is It The Real Pippo?

Here is the Pippo that I made for Victoria. She has fallen in love with him which is just great. I had visions of me giving him to her and her saying "This isnt Pippo, I dont want it." When I gave him to her he didnt have the belly circle. For some reason I was having trouble with that so I gave him to her to see if she liked him better without it. The Pippo in the story doesnt have one, she just wanted him to have one. As soon as she got him I knew what the answer was because she looked at his belly and said "He doesnt have his belly circle." I knew how important it was after that hehe. So I sat down and figured it out. She says it looks just like she wanted it too. Thats all I wanted hehe.


These were taken last weekend when Victoria and I went on our walk. It was Pippo's first tour of Sinclairville. She says he liked it. He has been everywhere since he was finished. I still have to make his overalls. He has to have his red and white striped overalls. We found the right material, now I just have to sit down and try and figure that one out.


Here is Pippo getting a rare moment to himself.


You've gotta have the butt shot.


I figured if I could get the face right then the rest would look like him. The face was the most important part so I took my time on that one.


Here is the real Pippo. We have read all his books many times over. They are so cute. Do you think our Pippo looks like the real one?


This is the real Pippo just hanging out.

I am so excited for tomorrow. Joe and I are going on our annual date. We are going to a restaurant called Ye Hare 'n Hounds Inn. This is their website. http://www.harenhounds.com/
We've never been there before but heard good things about it. The menu online looks good to me especially the desserts. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will get to go because Victoria has been sick for the past week on and off. There is something going around and it reached her. I thought she was over it last Thursday but she got sick again on f Wednesday night. After that I realized that I dont think she had been over it all week from last week because she wasnt eating like she usually does. I hope yesterday was the last of it. We cant send her off to get babysat if she isnt feeling well. I did manage to find someone to babysit. Megan is happy because its her friends mum. Meg is friends with Maya and Victoria is friends with her sister Maggie so if they do get to go they will have a great time. Victoria says at least once an hour that she cant wait to play with Maggie so I hope we dont have to tell her its cancelled. We shall see, there is still time.

Well I better end this post so I can get to the post office. I am still waiting of four things that I bought on Etsy and I am hoping that at least something will be there today.

Spring Is Coming I Just Know It

These are the signs that show me Spring is coming. When you have the cold for so long sometimes its hard to believe that the warmth will ever come back. It is very exciting when you start noticing the changes that indicate we are nearly through the cold stuff. Victoria and I took a walk on Sunday around our neighbourhood because it was pretty warm and the snow was melting. These are my signs of spring. The tree up above is being tapped to make maple syrup. I found out living here there is a big difference between real maple syrup and pretend. My sister found out when she visited here too. She found out she cant handle the real stuff hehe.


Another sure sign of spring is all the robin's everywhere. This little guy decided our dusty car was a good place to hang out for a while. Soon these robin's will be all over our yard. Our backyard is apparently a great place for birds to find food. The robins always make me think of my mum and how I wish she could see them. Her name is Robyn so she is a big fan of the robin. I also love finding their cute little blue eggshells around.


The big fat grey squirrel has been hanging around alot finding all the nuts they buried in our backyard before winter. I really dont think he minds to much when I photograph him as long as I am quiet. I bet he feels like a superstar.


Here is the little red squirrel who is also finding his buried nuts in our yard. I love this little guy. He has some spunk. I once saw him chasing away the big fat grey squirrel so he could have prime position. This little guy is half his size so either the red squirrel is tough or the grey squirrel is a big wous.

These horses live around the corner from us. Doesnt it look like they set up this pose just for my photo. They stood like that for ages while I took photos and we chatted to them. They still have their thick coats on from winter but Im sure they are loving being outside in the sun.

Other than getting excited about the warm weather I have also been working on some projects not for Knitted For Ewe. I know I should be adding new stuff but these are projects I have been wanting to finish for a while and just got the urge to get them done. I am hoping to get photos of them today. I made a pair of mary jane booties and a hat for a lady at MOPS who is having a little girl, she already has a little boy so I made him a big brother monkey. I also finished off Victoria's Pippo monkey. This was the most important project of them all. Victoria has fallen in love with the monkey in the Tom & Pippo books and wanted one of her own. This week Pippo has been finished. She just loves him to pieces which I am so happy about. In the book Pippo wears these red and white striped overalls so on the weekend we found some red and white striped material for them. I now have to sit down and figure out how to make those. That should be interesting. I will try to get some photos taken of these projects today. Its kind of cloudy so I dont know how good they will turn out, should have done it yesterday.

Now that those projects are pretty much done I am at the beginning stages of a bunny pyjama bag for the shop. I figure its a good time to put it in the shop because Easter is coming and bunnies are popular this time of year. I have made this pattern quite a few times and its easy so it shouldnt take me too long.

Yesterday I got to do a little Etsy shopping. Its always a big event when I get to buy stuff on Etsy. My favourites list is ridiculously long and I always have a hard time choosing what I want. Joe is always laughing at me because it literally takes me hours to figure out what my final selection will be. I have to write notes and lists figuring out what I want the most and how much its going to be. Its a whole big process hehe. In the end I got a double pointed needle case which I really need. I need a bunch of needle cases for each style of needles I have so I thought I would start with the double pointed needles because they are the easiest to lose. I got this very cute monster knitting pattern which I cant wait to try out. I got a knitting needle gauge because I keep losing the other one I have and the one I have is really flimsy plastic. I got a very pretty business card wallet because its very embarassing having to keep my business cards in an old gum box in my bag. Not very professional but it makes the cards have a nice minty scent hehe. Finally I got this really pretty knitting bag that you can use for keeping your current projects in when you making small stuff. I will have to take photos when they all arrive which I hope is soon. I already got the monster pattern because they just email that to you. We really need a printer to print this stuff out.

Last week I made $20 when the lamb that I made for the coffee shop sold. That was exciting. My friend Joyce told me a man bought it. I am curious who he bought it for but I guess it doesnt matter hehe. I should be getting anything that hasnt sold back soon which will be nice because it will make it easy to add new stuff to the shop without much effort. Lots of stuff already made and ready to add.

Today is my 8 year wedding anniversary. Our anniversary is easy to remember being on St Patrick's Day and the day after my sister's anniversary. We always get excited about our anniversary because its the one day a year that Joe and I get to go out on our own without both the children. We always make it a point to go out somewhere for our anniversary. Every year we do it we say we should go out on a date more than once a year but it never really happens. We have planned out what we want to do but I have been slack in the organizing a babysitter and Im still working on that. Hopefully I will be able to find someone by this Saturday.

Well I guess I better get some stuff done today while its still nice and quiet in our house. Enjoy your St Patrick's Day.

Something Cozy and Something Tasty

I just added two new things to my shop this week. The first thing is being modeled by the wonderful Megan. She has no problem posing for photos for my shop because she says that she is famous now she is on the internet hehe. These wristwarmers were made from a felted jumper. I cut the end of the sleeves and cut slits for the thumbs. I sewed the sides in a bit so that they were more fitted. I needed to jazz them up a bit so I embroidered leaves down the front. They turned out just like I wanted them too.




The next item I listed is this knitted cupcake. I made a couple for Megan for her birthday and thought they might be interesting to add to the shop. It is a quick project that is fun to make. I found these silver beads that look just like the silver nonpareils which always make me think of Megan when I see them. She had a fascination for cake and any cakes that has these on them when she was little. Actually she still does hehe. I love how the blue turned out. I was looking for some purple yarn that I know I have somewhere to use for this but couldnt find it. I went with this blue instead and it came out perfect.


Mmmmm doesnt it look yummy. It would be cool to make a whole bunch of them and display them in those cupcake holders they have. That would be fun to do.


Last week I had a terrible cold. It took me about 4 days to get through it. I dont usually get sick so it was strange to feel that way. It seems like Im the only one who is going to get it because everyone else in the house seems fine so far which is good. There was alot of sleeping going on once the girls went to school last week.

Hehe I just looked over and I see our kitty laying half on the vent with the heat blowing his very fluffy belly fur. He has a big kitty grin on his face and is in heaven. He loves to lay on the vent when the heat is blowing in all sorts of positions. Sometimes he is completely covering it and other times he just likes to sit up with it blowing his whiskers and chest fur. Oh such is the life of a cat. Today is sooooo cold outside so I dont blame him for wanting to get warm. It was brutal waiting for the bus to come this morning and of course it was running late.

I am trying to decide what my next project is going to be. I think it might have to be another lamb because the other ones were bought and need to be replaced. We shall see what takes my fancy.

My stuff is still at the coffee shop and has been for about 2 weeks now. We went in to check it out and see if anything got sold. Nothing so far but it was an excellent excuse to go in there and get a caramel cafe latte. I think we will have to check in every week hehe.

Finally A New Addition

I finally got to add a new addition to my Etsy shop last night. This is the brown heather wool bag that has taken me a while to finish but Im so glad its done. I hope the photos do it justice. Its not the model in the picture that would bring it down. Thats the lovely Megan, more than happy to be a model for me.



Here is a close up of the cables. This was knit with small needles so the cables sit pretty close together which makes it hard to photograph. It is three lines of a basic cable stitch.


This is the inside of the bag with its tan linen lining and magnetic clasp. I hadnt used a magnetic clasp on my bags before but have always wanted to. They are really easy to put in as well. I will definitely use them again.


I had to scrap the purple hobo bag I was working on. When I got to a certain part I was finding it impossible and not looking the way I wanted it too. Im not sure if it was they yarn or the needles but I will definitely have to figure out some other way to do that bag. So instead I felt the need to pick up the fabulous wool yarn that I got a few weeks ago on my trip to the Falconer Yarn Loft. Now that I started working with it I am wondering what took me so long to pick it up. It is wool that is taken from the closer to the sheeps skin that doesnt get exposed to all the elements so its softer. The colour that I am using is called wedgewood blue. Actually I got so into it I have now knitted and felted the bag and its drying as we speak. It amazing how the colour of the yarn kind of changes when you felt it. The wedgewood blue is now a paler wedgewood and so much prettier than before. Once its all dry I am going to figure out the way I am doing the handles. I am going to play around with it to figure it out. All I know is the handles will be light orange colour. If the yarn which is called Canteloupe gets paler in the felting process its going to look excellent with the blue. Aaaahhh only time will tell. Then comes the dubious task of finding a lining material. I know that that can make or break a bag sometimes.

Today I finished a ribbed slouchy hat in royal blue. It was a quick knit. I am going to wash the hat to soften the yarn up hopefully making it floppier. It needs to sit floppier I think. When Megan comes home tomorrow I will get her to be my model again. I also have some more leaves to embroider to finish the wool wristwarmers to list them. I feel like I have some catching up to do in the listing items department.

A Quick Update

I havent blogged in a couple of weeks. Its always been in the back of my mind and I just never sat down and started. So you may be wondering what Ive been up to all that time. Not really a whole lot hehe.

I managed to get the stuff ready for the coffee shop and gave it to my friend to put on their shelves. I changed my mind a hundred times on what should be sent there. Some of decisions were based on time and some were based on what would be good for that location. I really wanted to take some photos before they got sent out but my rechargeable batteries died and fingers crossed I get some more this weekend. Actually I really need some batteries because I need to add some new stuff to the shop and I cant do that without pictures. What finally got sent off the coffee shop was a pair of wool wristwarmers like the ones in my Etsy shop, a purple slouchy hat, a lamb who is naked because I ran out of time to make a cardigan, a seafoam felted bag that had leaves and a tree knitted into it and a bird ceramic button and three coffee cup sleeves. Two coffee sleeves were knit in black superwash wool, one was a ribbed design and the other was a cable design. The third coffee sleeve was knit in a cream organic, unbleached cotton in a rib design. Those were great because they were quick to make and very relevent to the location. Fingers crossed some items sell. That would be great. I also gave her a pile of business cards.

I finally finished with my 100% peruvian wool brown heather cable bag. It turned out better than I imagined. The inside handles had to be reknit a few times to allow for how much yarn I had left but it worked in the end. I lined the bag with a tan linen material with a magnet clasp. I really like how the bags look when they are lined but oh my gosh are they are a pain for someone who is struggling with her sewing skills hehe. When it works it makes all the difference to the finished product even if I have to redo it a couple of times to get it right. This bag will be listed on Etsy once I have my batteries.

I felted a woolen jumper with an argyle design a couple of weeks ago. A bag has been cut and is in the sewing process. Again I am not liking how it looks right now and will have to undo some parts and redo do them to my liking. Its coming along. From the sleeves I cut the lower section and turned them into wristwarmers. This is the first time I have tried this. I am currently embroidering leaves on them, they will be shaved for fuzziness and ready to list on Etsy.

I hadnt knit anything in about a week because I had been involved in sewing and embroidery. I was itching to start a project. I am now halfway through knitting a purple hobo bag. I havent tried this pattern before but hopefully it will look how I want it to. The yarn I am using is a bit different from what the pattern calls for. We shall see. One of my favourite things about knitting is you can always undo something you don't like and rework it.

The girls got their report cards last week. This was Victoria's first real report card. Apparently we have another super genius on our hands and Victoria acts alot differently at school hehe. They both did really well. It is exciting to see from both of them. It kind of makes me feel like I must be doing something right in all this.

Well we are off to do some shopping today. Its also Valentine's Day today so Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. I hope your day is full of hugs and kisses, oh and chocolate too hehe.