the day the lemon pearl came to be

last night as kyle and i were sitting down for dinner my phone rang the ring it rings when someone wants to come in and visit. Not expecting anyone, I was surprised when my parents showed up with roses, a bottle of wine, a bowl of cherries and chocolate bars. My mom had apparently come accross my horoscope in the newspaper which said something about how I needed some R&R this weekend and that I should sit down with cherries, wine and chocolate, so my mom went out to make sure I had the right ingredients. It was very sweet and lovely. We also, fortunately had enough pasta for the four of us so we had a nice impromptu dinner visit before they headed out to the cottage. Thanks parents! The roses are beautiful, the food delicious and I love surprises.

After dinner I went to Christie's house where Lindsey, Christie and I had tea and cookies and chatted. Somehow, before we knew it, we were in the middle of an unplanned craft party. While we sat and talked we started fiddling with some random paint chips that happened to be on the table and soon enough (well, a couple hours and some very sticky fingers later) we had this:





we named our boat the lemon pearl after one of the paint chips and lindsey took pictures on her phone to make sure she (and therefore i) could blog about it (you know lindsey's having a good time and the day's a success when she says 'ooh i can blog about this!')

and then i came home and found that my lovely husband had cleaned our minor disaster of an apartment. there's something very wonderful about surprises, fun with girlfriends, creative accomplishments and a nice clean apartment with fresh roses on the table and somehow i managed to experience all in one day. thanks to everyone who made me a very happy girl yesterday. i love you all.

i have a pretty great boss

my boss cecely is an altogether lovely person. she's one of the most enthusiastic, sweet and encouraging people i've ever met and i love her dearly for it. we got to know eachother because one day, a couple of years ago, i stopped by her store and she commented on the scarf i was wearing (which i had felted myself) and wanted to sell them in her store, and thus our relationship began. Since then, I started working in her little store and I enjoy it very much. She's a very relaxed, supportive, generous and friendly person.
and... one of the added bonuses of our relationship is this:
Cecely and I are exactly the same size.
Last Friday, Cecely came in to work with about 7 pairs of virtually brand new jeans for me (and also a couple of tops). She was cleaning out her jeans drawer (she owns a lot of jeans) and brought in ones she hasn't worn in a while. All of these jeans are worth about $200 a pair and I was a very excited girl. It came at a time when all of my jeans were starting to wear out and I was starting to think about saving up to replace them. Every pair she brought in fit me perfectly and I am so grateful for my generous Cecely-friend.

swap questions

For reference, I have decided to be a part of a yarn swap this fall. In order for us to get to know our secret swap partners we have to post the following questions to our blogs. For those of you who have no interest in my knitting related answers and have felt left out of my dazzlingly interesting life due to the fact that i haven't posted in a while, don't fret! I will post soon! (one of the swap rules is that you have to post to your blog every week, so you'll see more action here in the next couple months)

Do you knit or crochet? How long have you been at your craft?
I am able to and enjoy both but I prefer to knit. I learned to knit when I was in grade 9 so 10 or 11 years.

Do you spin? What type of spinning do you do?
I do and I quite enjoy it although I would say my skills are limited. I have a lovely Louet S10 that my dad bought for me off ebay.

Are there any other crafts that you participate in?
I like sewing but again have limited talent for it. I am interested in embroidery and needlepoint but haven't had the chance to try it yet. I like making cards and other papery things... I have a desire to hook a rug one day...

What are your favorite yarns/fibers?
hmm. i love wool. i love soft things. i love alpaca. i'm not sure i have specific favourites, though.

What are your LEAST favorite yarns/fibers?
acrylics. anything that's scratchy or plasticy. i'm also not a huge fan of machine variegated yarns (like the red heart ones or others that you find at walmart) but i do think haindpaited ones can be very pretty - but i prefer a subtle variegation - not too much colour change. i do love self striping sock yarns though, they're quite enjoyable. also, i'm not a big fan of novelty yarns like eyelash or feathery things.

Are there any types/brands of yarn that you are dying to work with but haven’t gotten a chance?
I heard recently that alpaca is 3 times warmer than wool and have since been dreaming of alpaca socks and mittens and anything to defend me from winter weather. i love being warm.

What are your favorite types of projects to knit/crochet?
I have a new found love for sock knitting. Socks are probably my favourite project but I do enjoy a sweater here and there and some hats and mitts thrown in.

What are you currently working on? Anything you plan to start this autumn?
I'm currently working on a big cozy sweater with deer on it. i have to make two of them because my friend/boss cecely has comissioned one as well so that will keep me busy for a little bit. i also have some sock patterns to try and i would like to build up my collection of winter apparel - mitts and hats and whatnot so the change to cold weather is fun and exciting rather than ominous and depressing.

What is your favorite FO? (Please, post a picture if you would like.)
hm. i love my socks because i get a lot of wear out of them. i made my first wearable sweater last year (actually i had to make 2 again because of cecely buying the first one) which i liked. it was my first attempt at colourwork and i was rather proud of my little whales and bows. the hat i made recently out of llama yarn is so soft and comfy and a pretty colour.

What is your oldest UFO?
my very first sweater attempt which i made 2 or 3 years ago. i made it out of blue sky bulky and it had all kinds of cables and bobbles and it never occurred to me that bobbles in a bulky yarn end up sticking out about 3" and they might make you look rediculously huge. by the time i had it put together enough to try it on i knew there was no future for us. i've started to rip it apart to use the yarn for other things. it's beautiful yarn and working on the sweater gave me more confidence in my knitting abilities, even if it reduced my confidence in my pattern choosing abilities.

Are their any knitting/crochet techniques that you would like to learn?
i'm in the process of learning stranded knitting. i love colourwork. is it normal for stranded knitting to be much tighter than normal knitting? cuz mine sure is... i've also never knitted on double pointed needles. i usually use 2 circulars unless i don't have 2 of the same size, the i magic loop. i would be interested in trying double pointeds.

Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
i love sock knitting. i wear about a 7 1/2 shoe and my feet are quite narrow. to be more specific, my feet are 24cm (9 1/2 inches) long and 21 1/2cm (8 1/2 inches) circumference.

Do you have a yarn winder and/or a swift?
sadly, i do not. although i do hope to acquire on in the near future and in the meantime i make my husband help wind... that way he knows how wonderfully useful it would be to have one.

Where/how to you keep you needles/hooks?
I don't have a great system right now. i have a polkadotted tube that was originally supposed to be a gift tube for a wine bottle that i keep my straight needles in. and i have a set of interchangeable circulars that stay in their little case.

Do you collect anything?
no, not really.

What is your favorite type of music? Are you MP3 ready?
I am and I like quite a variety. for some reason this question is too hard for me right now. i'll edit this to have a real answer soon.

Do you like sweets? What are your favorites?
i sure do. favorites are hard... i'll edit this one too.

What is your living situation like? Any pets? Children?
i have a cat and a husband.

Are you allergic to anything?
nope

Do you have an online wish list (Amazon, Etsy, Loopy Ewe, etc.)? Please include links for your swap pal.
not at this time but it sounds like a fun thing to have. i'll post the link if i make one

Are you having a birthday during this swap?
yes i am... i turn 25 on october 21st

Favourite colours?
I love grey. it's my neutral of choice, followed by cream (i'm not a huge fan of black or brown). i have recently been rather taken with golden yellow. i love peach and i like purples, pinks, blues and greens... i really like all colours when they're in the right context... dang these favourite questions are hard.

What is your Ravelry ID?
tiffanythomas