Me and the Piggies...

It's sort of a girls night. Just me and the guinea pigs. The boyfriend left this afternoon to visit his grandparents cottage for the weekend. I'm insanely jealous, but I have to work. *sigh*

I finished the frostbite mittens the other day.

I'm almost to the heel of what I'm calling my "superhero socks".

I had three chicken wings and three cookies for dinner tonight. From the size of the cookies, that's a higher cookie-to-chicken ratio then I'd like to admit. They were homemade though... so that makes it better... right?



I think I better go find a vegetable.

BUGS!

Eeek!

I was cleaning out my guinea pig cage this morning... As I swept some of the hay/bedding on the floor.... I thought I saw a little bug. But I wasn't sure. It was more likely just another bit of dirt flicked around by the broom. Brushing some old hay off the table (where the pig cage resides), I notice holy smokes, little tiny bugs! Ack! I'm perfectly fine with bugs. I squashed a few with my fingers... trying to deny that there was an infestation. I tracked down the source to the hay. It was quickly contained. I checked the pigs, nothing on them (thank goodness!). I'm not sure whether they're actual harmful bugs or just some little hay-lovin' critters... but I'd rather not take my chances. I'm pitching the rest of the bag (over half *sigh*), and I bought a new one (which I checked carefully). I also sent a frantic email to my mom (a petstore employee who is the source of my piggies' grass) warning her about it and asking her to check the bags she just recently picked up for me, that she was planning to bring the next time we visit. Oh the drama! The oblivious pigs were rather put-off about the bug-checking.

In knitting news... you know that blue mitten I was knitting? I finished it last week at a knit night (where it then proceeded to make out with a rainbow sock), and started it's mate. Unfortunatly, I've run out of blue yarn. Sooo... half of the second mitt will be knit in black. I'm calling them my "frost bite mittens". Classy.

Lots of Project Pictures!

I'm really trying to keep updating regularly - honest! I've been busy with work, and trying to find more (clearly, a part-time job cannot sustain a person for long... must find either a second part-time, or replacement full-time job to pick up some slack). Also busy with trying to get all some dental stuff done before my super-cool insurance coverage is up. Finally, busy with knitting!


A man-sized pair of black mittens

A little gift all ready for Christmas! And in the spirit of striking while the iron is hot:

up to the thumb on another pair of man-sized mittens
I really like this mitten pattern. It's really quick. Each mitten is knit flat on straight needles, and once they're cast-off, you just fold the mitten over, and seam up the one side. I imagine it would be really easy to line mittens like this with some warm flanel or something - just sandwich the lining inbetween and do a little extra sewing.


mmm, I'm liking these close-ups
Finally, a dishcloth that is another sort of present in reserve. I know who it will be for, I'm just not sure when I'll gift it, and what will go with it. I knit a lot of discloths... they're fun and functional, and it's good for the environment. Previously, I'd just use j-clothes and throw them out when they got gross. This way, dishcloths get washed and reused. They're knit with Lily Sugar and Creme cotton (bought on sale at Lewiscraft), they're durable, the colours don't run (though they do fade a little with a lot of use), and they're great for gently scubbing dishes!

On another note, I'm really going to miss Lewiscraft. I have a lot of memories of popping into them at the mall near my dads. They were there for me with inexpensive yarn when I was just starting to knit (and after that, when I was doing projects that didn't require anything too fancy). There was a Lewiscraft underground near my apartment when I first moved to Toronto (still not quite closed as of a day or two ago), and even though I've visited a lot of really great yarn shops in Toronto.... Lewiscraft was just so convieniently close and familiar. Maybe another little chain of craft store will pop up and fill Lewiscraft's place, and reach the market that Lewiscraft couldn't quite hold on to.

A lovely evening where I didn't take pictures

But here's someone who did. I had a great time, but in real life as in blog land, I'm afraid I was a bit of a lurker. I'm a very shy person. I plunked myself in admist everyone and knit and listened to the fun conversations around me and had a great time... but I didn't really participate. At least I'm getting out of the house - that's step one! In an effort to get more involved with my local knitting scene, I've finally applied for the GTA Knit Blog web ring. I've been reading a lot of the blogs in it, and I figured it's high time I got myself in there!

Updating, for once

Here's a picture of the cozy I knit for my boyfriend's DS Lite:

I asked him if it was long enough, and he said it was... but we're both now thinking it might've been better a tiny bit longer. He's satisfied with it though, and doesn't want to let me add a couple more rows!

I've also knit up a dishcloth with a rooster in the middle of it using this pattern. The rooster doesn't appear as prominently in my dishcloth as it does in the website's photo, but it's definitly there and visable. I think it would've looked better if I'd used a smaller needle size (the pattern didn't specify a size). I knit up a regular dishcloth as well. Finally, I knit a "feather boa" to accessorize the bunny I knit a while ago - I used eyelash yarn and man! I hate the stuff!

I'm working on a pair of mittens that will be a christmas gift, almost done the first mitt!

I think tonight I might attend this little Knitty party.