Relaxing ...

... on many fronts this morning.  I'm listening to the lovely "Soft Place to Land" from Kathleen Edward's new record Voyageur.  I've only listened to the whole record once since buying it last week but it has moments of haunting beauty.  Since many of the songs seem to relate to her recent marriage breakup, this makes sense.  I have liked her music for a long time and this record is different/sadder than the others but still very nice and I think the best yet.

Other things relaxing - the cables in my new February sweater after washing.  It is still too damp to try on but it is definitely better than pre-wash.  Despite doing the swatch in another lifetime, I did have a memory of that behaviour in the swatch so had my fingers crossed.  Now I just have to keep them crossed in hopes that things didn't relax too much.  Anyway, the sweater is "putting down roots" from Inspired Cable Knits by Fiona Ellis.  For some reason a pattern that could not hold my interest.  But it is finished, for better or worse.  Hopefully better after all of the time and energy.  If not, a relative, friend or donation bin will get a nice new sweater.

March is National Craft Month

I'm not sure people who actually are as obsessed with crafts as I am really need a month dedicated to crafts but Quilters Connection Magazine pointed it out to me so thought I'd pass it along.  

In other news, I finished my February sweater and have decided that there may have been a reason that it has taken at least 5 years to complete.  I am not happy with the finished product.  Mainly I am not happy with the way it fits.  But it is a cabled sweater that I haven't blocked yet so I washed it this morning and it is downstairs hopefully taking on a more flattering shape right now.  Picture to come post blocking.

I think my knitting project for March will be a blanket for Project Linus.  I pulled out some yarn that I bought at the Needle Emporium's summer sale a few years ago that I think will look nice.  I'm not sure I'll have quite enough to make a decent-sized blanket so was hunting through the stash trying to find something to mix with the main yarn and noticed that I have quite a bit of stash.  I knew this, of course, but when you are digging around looking for something and the boxes to look in seem to go on for days, it really hits home.  

Hammer Required

Some projects make me feel very clever.  Generally, if a sewing project turns out in a way that looks even remotely like the pattern, a feeling of cleverness follows.  This project, the large betty shopper (not sure who betty is and why she doesn't get a capital b) from Amy Butler, has been in my possession with fabric for over two years now.  It is one of the projects that I had in mind when coming up with my 2 projects per month resolution for 2012.

The fabric that I purchased with the pattern is not featured here.  I decided to change it up and possess another bag pattern that will hopefully be a future 2012 project with the original fabric.

This project is pretty straightforward but did take me a decent amount of time.  I have made a couple of other Amy Butler patterns and find the instructions easy to follow for someone who isn't a natural born sewer.  My favourite part of the construction - the grommets.  Now those are clever, not to mention that hammering them in is a great stress reliever - something that can be useful at the end of a sewing project.

Now I'm off to watch curling (Scott Tournament of Hearts) and try to finish my sweater of the month.

Public Transit Observations

While not as interesting as the subway, occasionally you see things to make you smile on the GO train - in a good way.  Today on the way home, it was a guy totally grooving to his music, complete with drum solo.  He looked like a slightly disheveled businessman, not the sort to generally get into the beat on the train.  Glad he found a tune that rocked him and that his evening was clearly off to a great start.

This morning, a lady got off the train carrying a loom and an in progress project.  Not sure if she was working on it in transit but it was interesting and when she dropped one of the shuttles, one of the other passengers chased her down the stairs to give it back to her.  I debated about catching up with her to chat but ran into a friend so walked to the office with him instead and forgot all about her.

Another satisfying pair of socks

These purple socks, if I had kept up with my sock-every-two-month goal would have been done about 6 months ago.  The fact that they were started about 6 months ago aside, they were a satisfying knit.  A nice pattern but also an easy one.  This is a key requirement for a pair of socks after the ridiculously complicated sock pattern shown in green.  They come from Ann Budd's knitted gifts, a nice book I bought ages ago but haven't made a project from until now.

In other matters, I'm trying to decide if I should feel guilty about spending almost the entire weekend inside puttering instead of figuring out a way to enjoy the nice weather.  I think I've talked myself out of it by finishing this sock project, a book by Jill Shalvis (totally guilty pleasure), done some work (the kind that pays the bills), practiced curling for an hour to get a really bad game on Friday out of my system and some cooking - today is sweet potato soup, osso buco and meatballs in tahini sauce.  Moderately productive and very relaxing.  Isn't that the point of the weekend?  I think that nullifies the guilty feelings, just a bit.
Off to see where I left off on a sewing project to continue these feelings of productivity.

Economics lesson through coffee

Starbucks has moved me to the left on the demand curve for lattes.  I have always been able to justify the $3 plus price for the latte as a treat a couple of times a week.  Of late, I had switched to a better coffee place, Aroma, near the office which also happens to be cheaper and they give you a little chocolate with your order.  Add to that the purchase of a home espresso machine which has curtailed weekend purchases and I haven't been to Starbucks for a while.  The other day, I was on my way to a meeting, a little early and desirous of a coffee fix.  So I stopped in at one of the numerous convenient Starbucks locations in the concourse.  And paid $3.50 for a tall latte.  For some reason, $3.50 has pushed it into the category of too expensive in my mind.  Not that it will likely impact Starbucks much.  Just saying.

To Shannon who likes the iPod cover - give it a try - it is really very easy.  I'm only good with sewing straight lines so can vouch for its simplicity!

New iPod Cover

About a year ago, my beloved, ancient iPod was stolen.  While I was upset about the iPod, I was more upset by the really nice case I had it in.  I bought it in Peru so, in addition to really liking it, it was a daily reminder of a fantastic trip.  Since my job at the time was over-the-top stressful, this daily reminder was a small comfort to me.

I got over losing the iPod quickly enough because I got to replace it with groovy new technology but just stuck the iPod in the felt sleeve the old one came in and kept meaning to make a new cover.  But should I knit something, sew something, did I want a zipper or a button.  Then bouncing around the internet, I stumbled on this cover with its handy little tutorial.  It took no time to make and I have a cheerful little iPod cover again.  An added bonus, while not really making a dent, it used up some scrap fabric.  Next project, the earbud cover.