Busy, busy, busy!

Ahhh I think I need two more weeks to finish all my Christmas prep! I've started the Christmas baking at work (40 tarts and 5 dozen chocolate cookies so far) and I'm kind of not into it this year... Part of the reason is I accidentally baked my cookies a little too long and their crunchier than I'd like (which is no big deal but I hate to give over-done cookies to people). bleh... I have to get a move-on though because the boxes should be handed out by next Monday.
I've had super lots to do at work too because I've been made supervisor (surprise!) so I've been typing up new forms, doing a lot of running around etc. At least being busy makes the day go faster.
I have a bunch of knitting that my landlord wants me to do for them and I've had NO time to do it. I've hardly knit anything since the craft fair - boo!
And on top of all that I'm way behind in shipping presents out. I have two more to send and I don't think they'll make it in time (damn).

I've been doing a bit more cleaning to get ready to have some company next week (landlords over for dinner, some friends over for a small get-together). AND I'm getting the packrat room cleaned and useable because I'm getting a Cricut Expression. I'm SO excited! I've been looking for something that does this for a long time... I've been diligently tracking it and it's just cleared Canada customs.. Hopefully it's here soon!

We had a bit of a blizzard today but I guess it was all done by the time I got up so that's kind of boring! I was expecting something a little more substantial than a few hours. Also, Glen hasn't really seen a blizzard so I was kind of hoping to get a good one.


Temperature: -17C (feels like -26C)
Sunrise: n/a
Sunset: n/a

SP 10 Final Package!

Here's the last package from my Knitty SP 10. I got 2 balls of Patons SWS and two balls of Freedom Spirit. I also got a toblerone, hubba bubba gum and some lavender body wash.

Thanks SP!

I really want to do some more dyeing but I only have 2 balls of highland wool left and Elann occasionally runs out of white - it's going to be my luck that I'll dye it up and I'll desperately need white for something.. I guess I'll just have to be patient until my knitpicks comes in or I should just suck it up and order a bunch more highland wool from Elann... Decisions decisions :-P (ohhh there's some in stock.....)

Temperature: -26C
Sunrise: 8:12am
Sunset: 9:46pm

RAK

I received a great RAK yesterday from amaryllis on the knitty board. I got a set of crumpet/english muffin rings and some other goodies (chocolate, key rings and some very pretty stitch markers --- the crumpet rings are busy making crumpets that's why they're not in the picture)

I tried making crumpets yesterday but they turned out more english muffin-y... While the recipes are pretty straight forward the batter doesn't turn out how it should when you add all the flour. It turns into more of a dough - definitely not batter-like and definitely not pourable like the recipes say. I tried it twice yesterday, once using the specified amount of flour and the crumpets didn't cook in the middle (too thick) so I tossed them and tried again with a cup less flour. They turned out (muffin-y like I said) so we kept them but they still weren't crumpet-y enough. I think I'm going to find a recipe that uses baking powder instead of yeast because our crumpfins tasted a bit too yeasty. Interesting... Thanks again amaryllis!!!

Not a lot of knitting has been happening... My days off have been spent relaxing/sleeping and running various errands... I tried knitting more on my sock the other day at work but my finger was too sore (the needle was sitting funny on one of my fingers - must've been a pressure point or something because OUCH!).

Oh, I've been meaning to post this for a while.... A few weeks ago I made a greek salad (2 green peppers, a cucumber, a red onion, some carrots, a few vine tomatoes and feta cheese) and it cost me $40!! How much would it cost to make something like that where you live?

Temperature: -19C (windchill: -26C)
Sunrise: 9:29am
Sunset: 8:40pm <-!!!!!!!!

Another FO!

I'm on a roll!
I finished my earflap hat yesterday and got some pictures of me wearing it today. I wanted to get a shot too of how frosty my eyelashes get just from the walk home from the post office (less than a 10 minute walk). It wasn't as cold here as it has been for the last couple of weeks so my eyelashes aren't as frosty as they normally are. I know I look a bit dorky but at least my ears won't get frostbite and I won't have to keep taking my massive mitts off to tug my toque down all the time. (sidenote: My parka makes me look HUGE... I'm really not that big...)

Pattern: Official Kittyville Hat (no cat ears or devil horns)
Yarn: Bernat Big Value
Needles: Size 7, 16" circular and size 8 DPNs
Interesting tidbit: I bought the yarn in the summer a number of years ago and it happened to match my parka perfectly. I've been meaning to make some sort of winter accessory for ages.

When the weather gets cold again I'm going to see if I can get an even frostier picture than that.

Temperature: -26C (windchill -35C)
Sunrise: 10:28am
Sunset: 5:49pm

Christmas Knitting Update!

I finally got around to taking pictures of the two finished stockings. When I dig out my Christmas decorations this year I'll get a better picture of the other ones (if I dig all that stuff out now I might be tempted to decorate and it's still far too early). The light is getting funny and there's a pretty fine line in which I'm going to be able to get decent shots of things. We only have one major window in the house (two smaller ones on an awkward angle and then three small bathroom sort of windows) so that definitely limits where I can take pictures...

Here's the customized detail on each of them:

I used a pattern that had a repeating motif along where the name bands are, took that out and replaced it with the person's name, a little customized picture/motif and the year. I used the Knit Visualizer program and besides having to work everything upside down it was so easy to use. I wouldn't have had the patience if I had to do this all with graph paper. I think my favourite motif is my step dad's I put in an igloo and an inukshuk since he spent time up here in Inuvik and he's the reason we all came up here. I'm quite happy with all the other ones though. Some are modified from 1000 great knitting motifs and others are straight from there.

Last but not least, my Santa progress as of yesterday afternoon. I got his eyes, nose, beard and moustache sewn on last night and he's looking more and more how he should. The arms are done and stuffed but I have to wait until the jacket skirt is on before I can put those on... Then the hat, cuff/boot trimmings and the holly and I'm done! This pattern is great - no errors so far and things are pretty straight forward there's nothing that's vague or confusing (unlike some patterns I've tried to knit before) and so it's great for me to knit at work or just sitting around watching TV. Not a lot of concentration or huge stitch amounts to worry about (I've hit the largest amount so far at 96 across).

Temperature: -26C
Sunrise: 12:15
Sunset: 13:07