Electron-knits

Sew what?

2009-07-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Last Christmas my parents gave me a sewing machine. I had done some sewing back in high school but nothing recently. I find it a little harder to get around to sewing because I don't have a place where I can leave my machine set-up. I have to get it all out and put it on the kitchen table when I do want to sew. So, a mere 6 months after getting the machine I finished my first real project. It's a quilted table runner which I machine quilted. I think it turned out pretty good for a first shot at machine quilting (or any kind of quilting for that matter)

What else is new since I last blogged... Hmm... I have a big scary job interview next week which would mean a huge promotion and pay raise. And umm.. oh yeah there's this little trinket....

!!!!

The wedding is tentatively set for October 2010. Not a whole lot of planning is done other than that yet, but I think we lots of time. I hope we have lots of time.

Visitting Pierre

2009-05-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I stopped in to Love, me and picked up this super cool Pierre Trudeau change purse, because what could be better than Pierre Trudeau on a change purse?!? Also, if you've never been into Love, me you simply must go. It is a shop which carries all hand made goodies. It's like Etsy minus the shipping charges.

I just spent the week in the Ottawa area, going to a wedding and spending time with my sister. Here is the PT change purse posing with the plaque of one of his governments. I think it was his first one.

Now here is the man himself:

Another FO

2009-04-22T03:43:00.001-07:00

Here is a little item that I finished back in March sometime. It is the Lace Capelet by Mary Heather from Ravelry - a free download for members. I used one skein of Fiddlesticks Lace sensation and in less than two weeks I got this cute little cape! The only thing I changed was to add an extra repeat at the top and I may have used smaller needles than the pattern called for.

In other news, work is extremely busy right now, I have been dragging around a cold, and I was told the other day that I could not have a credit card for purchasing because having a woman's name on a credit card could be confusing. Oh, yes. I love my job.

Coming out of hibernation.

2009-04-02T06:31:00.000-07:00

Spring is on it's way and I have finally come out of hibernation. I spend this winter staying in, keeping myself busy with books, video games, learning to sew and of course - knitting!

First up, the pinwheel baby blankie for my second neice who is due in July. I used 3 skeins of Estelle Cloud Cotton and a free pattern that can be found on Ravelry.

Second, the Lucy Neatby Spindrift Scarf. I worked on this over Christmas vacation as a good travel project. It's a very fun pattern once you get the hang of it and it really stretches the yarn out. I used about 75 grams of sock yarn and got a scarf that is over 8 feet long.

I wanted to start a project to use up all those little sock yarn scraps after seeing YesIknit's lovely sock memories blanket. I am using the Mason Dixen How to log cabin instructions and a very tacky combination of sock yarn. It's really quite hideous.

I have made my triumphant return to blogging, now maybe soon I will venture out the house.

A very late Christmas post

2009-01-23T04:11:00.000-08:00

I'm way behind on my blogging.

I only knit one Christmas gift this year, because this one was so much work!My mom had no idea it was coming though and was totally surprised when she opened it.

The details are:
Katherine Hepburn Cardigan by Kathy Zimmerman, published in Lace Style.
Knitpicks Shine Sport in Harbour on 2.75 mm needles.
It took almost 4 months of fairly monogamous knitting and there was a lot of finishing, but it turned out really well.

2008 FO List

2009-01-05T04:28:00.000-08:00

I didn't make a fancy picture of them all, but here is a list of my 2008 FO's. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

- 4 scarves
- 1 shrug
- 2 hats
- 2 vests
- 1 camisole
- 1 cardigan
- 1 pullover
- 4 pairs of socks (adult)
- 1 pair of baby socks
- 1 baby hat
- 1 baby sweater
- 2 stoles
- 1 cowl

Wishing you all a productive 2009.

Socktopus!

2008-12-11T05:18:00.000-08:00

The winter knitty is now up! I like Socktopus!

I have been a delinquent blogger. Just to catch you all up, I spend the first week in October in Sydney, NS on a course and then spent mid October to mid November on the Hudson. Since I got back I have been catching up on domestic type stuff and performing my Christmas elf duties. I have no knitting projects to post right now because I had the crazy idea of taking on a big project as a Christmas gift. Chritmas is two weeks away and I still have half a sleeve, button band, and all finishing to do! Eek!

The new car is working out pretty good too. It does all kinds of neat little things. For instance, to keep your headlights clear it sprays them with washer fluid every fifth time you spray your front windshield with fluid. If you are using your windshield wipers then stop at a light, it automatically reduces your wipers to intermittent mode to save energy. I'm also discovering that the 6-speed tiptronic (sport mode) automatic is fun.

No explanation needed

2008-11-26T08:53:00.000-08:00

2007 VW Rabbit

Mine.

Out to sea again

2008-10-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

Later on this week I am setting sail on the CCGS Hudson for a month of playing Ship's technician. I think the plan is to go work in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. I still have a lot to do before I go, like restocking parts on the ship, a few little equipment problems to fix, and of course, packing my knitting for the month! I am hoping to make a dent in the Christmas knitting as it will be almost Christmas time when I return. I am not really looking forward to this trip, but it will fund my stash nicely.

Have a good month, everyone!

Pacafiesta 2008

2008-09-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

This is my first Pacafiesta. It was a little smaller than what I was expecting, but there was still lots of yummy yarn and cute Alpacas.

I came home with two skeins of sea silk from the Black Lamb. They are based in Ontario and use the same supplier as the Fleece Artist so they have a lot of the same yarns. The woman sounded slightly bitter over this and pointed out that she used that supplier first.

These two skeins are from a handsome Alpaca named Winston! He lives in New Brunswick. I had to have it because of my sister's dog who is also named Winston and is quite lovable. Winston the Alpaca seemed much less needy then the canine who bears the same name.

The lovely ladies from the Loop had a booth set up where I saw this and fell in love with it even though I do not spin. It came home with me.

And so did this. Now I just have to figure out how to work it. Morgan suggested that vertically challenged folks should wear high heels to spin. Finally I have a use for those painful high heeled boots I bought at Also years ago.

And finally, an FO! Dovetail Pullover by Kathy Zimmerman from Spring 2008 Interweave Knits. It was done in 5 skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash that I got at the Loop last winter. The sleeves are kinda big and I have not blocked or washed it yet so I am thinking it will all be a little big. I think it will still be quite cozy though.

Eye Candy

2008-09-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

As we are all working through our Monday blahs, here's some eye candy to get you through your day. I got this when I went to Have a Yarn back in August. It was days after returning from sea so I had some cash to burn and needed to cure my weeks of yarn withdrawal. Have a Yarn has so much Fleece Artist! There is a whole room of it!

First up, Hand Maiden Lace Silk. I don't think I own anything this colour, but this one spoke to me. I saw a yarn the spoke to me once and I did not buy it. This was over a year ago and it haunts me still to this day.

Secondly, Hand Maiden Camelspin. It's soft, it's red. 'Nuff said.

I also got a Perl Grey pin which seems to have gone missing right now. It is a seahorse. Maybe it went for a swim.

Weekend house guest

2008-09-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

I was planning a quiet weekend of catching up on the house work and some errands when I ran into an old friend downtown who somehow managed to talk me into having him over for the weekend. I reluctantly agreed as he can be a bit dramatic and needy sometimes.

After a nice little lunch with Mrs.Happy and her Mr. on Spring Garden Henry helped me pick out a new hat looked around some other shops and went for some groceries at Pete's.

One of my errands today was doing something I have been wanting to do for a long time. I went to Lily's on Dresden Row and got a proper fitting bra, or I should say, I invested in a proper fitting bra because it better last 20 years. The staff is lovely there, they really know their stuff and they have sizes for everybody. The price tags are pretty high but I have to say, this feels like nothing I have ever worn before.

Time to go. Henry is going to curl up and watch some Battlestar Galactica with me tonight.

Flu season is on it's way

2008-09-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

I just ordered these...

Shrug

2008-09-08T04:07:00.001-07:00

Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style, originally uploaded by leclerc_jk.

Another FO...
Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style in Rowan Cashsoft Aran that I got on sale.
This knitted up so quick! It took about two weeks. I think I'd like to do another someday.

Tidal Streams

2008-09-02T06:04:00.000-07:00

I am way behind on my blogging, but for now a couple FO's to tide you over.

While I was away I did two versions of Ilga Leja's Tidal Streams.

First, I did the stole version in Estelle Arequipa. I followed the pattern exactly and used just over one skein. The deeper colour gives this stole a very different look than the sample on the pattern, so instead of calling this one tidal streams, I call it Lava Streams. It drapes beautifully because of the bias knitting.

For the second version I did a scarf in Celestial Merino Dream, but I left out the ruffle and instead of only doing the number of repeats suggested in the pattern, I kept knitting until I ran out. After blocking, my scarf is 80 inches long! It doesn't have quite the same drape without the ruffle, but I am still pleased with the results.

Every Technician's Worst Nightmare

2008-08-01T05:22:00.000-07:00

After 20 hours of internet downtime, near mutiny from the crew, and being yelled at during breakfast by a scientist, I am pleased to report that the internet is back up.
It is surprising how upset people got considering this ship didn't even have internet until May 2008. Besides, it's not like we ran out of coffee.

100th Post

2008-07-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

To celebrate my 100th post I finally added these sweet ravelry progress bars.

In other news, I am 10 days into my 28 days of sea life. The past few days we have had lovely weather and things have been relatively quiet for me, except for the other night when I got a call out after I got out of the shower and was in my pajamas and everything. The MVP (moving vessel profiler) which is quite essential to the survey because it gives an accurate speed of sound at different water depths decided to stop commicating. So there I was on the after deck in my ducky pajamas, steel toed boots, bright orange coat and hard had working on this thing. I wish I had a picture of how ridiculous that must have looked. I have diagnosed the problem even though I have never worked on this thing in my life, and the manual for it is missing! I don't have the parts on board though so I am waiting until we go into a port next week to get them. In the meantime we are using the old school gear for sound velocity.

I have been getting some knitting time in the evenings on my Tidal Streams scarf by Ilga Leja. The yarn is Celestial Merino which was given to me by the lovely ninja. Sorry about the flash but it is hard to ger much natural light through a tiny porthole. There's lots of light up on the bridge, but I don't want to unleash all the crazy on the Captain right now. Being the girl on the crew is strange enough, but being the girl who takes pictures of knitted things would be going to far. Although, I would like to take a picture of a sock in progress once we get to Nain and challenge the Yarn Harlot to get a picture of her travelling sock there!

St. Anthony to Cartwright

2008-07-21T06:55:00.000-07:00

Finally, things are starting get back to normal around here. We had a pretty rough start to the trip and had to stay in St. John's for a couple days to fix the ship up before we could sail. After getting away there was a bit of a leak in the Engine room and we had to go into St. Anthony Saturday to get things sorted out. St. Anthony is a cute little spot.

We spent yesterday steaming to Cartwright, Labrador where we will be working for the next few days. It was a bit windy and not very pleasant. I spent the morning curled up in my bunk feeling a little green. (I was not the only one) Today all is well and we are having nice weather as we run our lines off the coast of Cartwright.

The end of another long day

2008-07-18T11:44:00.001-07:00

Julie2008 002, originally uploaded by leclerc_jk.

Close to Cape Spear, Newfoundland.

Lava Streams

2008-07-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

One of the most stressful things about packing for any trip is deciding which projects to bring and then obsessing about it you have brought enough and if they are appropriate projects for where you are going, etc. I may be a tad neurotic.

I decided to do Tidal Streams by Ilga Leja.

It's nice stressfree knitting with an easily memorized pattern. This stole is knit on the bias to give it lovely drap much like the Clapotis, while sounding less like a disease. It's coming along so well I have also started a scarf version in Celestial Merino Dream - Aquarius , but I am leaving the ruffle out on this one to sea how it turns out.

Along with the Scarf and stole I am bringing enough sock yarn for 4 pairs of socks and my Cleopatra wrap that is about half finished. I hope I don't run out. Maybe I will bring some extra dental floss in case I get desperate.

On of the nice things about July...

Hi-diddle-dee-dee a sailor's life for me...

2008-07-11T05:07:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday morning I fly to Saint John's to join the CCGS Matthew for 4 thrilling weeks of playing Ship's Technician. This is the part of my job that is exciting and terrifying all at once, and this time more so.

I was hired 3 years ago into a type of apprenticeship/training program and now I am finally a full fledged Marine Electronics Technologist. This means that I will now go to sea alone, whereas before I would go with a more experienced tech to work with me. So this trip will be my first one alone and you really never know what kind of disaster any trip will bring. As the ship's tech I am a department of one and have a variety of equipment to maintain. Here are just a few: Radar, gyrocompass, electronic charting systems, autopilot, radios, global marine distress system, AIS, global positioning systems, servers, networks, computers, navigation sounders, telephone systems, sound velocity profilers, multibeam echosounders, small boat electrical systems, deisel generators, and shotguns. My offical job description is a 23 page document that says strange things like "work in isolation that leads to marriage breakdowns" and "working ashore with risk or being stranded and attacked by wild dog packs".

Sunday will be my last day off until August 14th so I am going to really enjoy knitting while sipping coffee and watching Coronation Street.

Have a good month everyone.

Why you shoud spend your birthday among knitters...

2008-07-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

1. They will threaten to sing happy birthday to you and announce it to the world on the KOL blog.

2. Somebody will buy you a birthday cookie.

3. There will be cool cards...

...with stitch markers inside made by Val!

and a hand made coffee mug insulator made by Mrs. Happy .

Thanks to everybody for coming out.

ps- adding tequila to birthdays with knitters may yield entirely different results.

Meme

2008-06-15T16:23:00.000-07:00

I read this on Dispatches from Halifax, which means I am tagged... I apologize for the sheer boredom that will ensue if you read my responses.

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing ten years ago?

10 years ago I was 14 and recovering from a bad case of mono. I got sick in mid April and did not go back that school year. Thankfully, I had done well the rest of the year and passed grade 9 anyway. My liver was out of whack for quite a while during the ordeal so I had to get blood tests done twice a week for a while. After every visit to the hospital my mom would take me to get me ice cream at the dairy delite in Lincoln.

2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:

Seeing as it is already 8:30 pm and I got to bed at 10pm, not a whole lot.
1. Setting the coffee to brew tomorrow morning
2. Doing some knitting
3. Have a bed time snack
4. Start reading a new book. I finished the Gum Thief the other night.
5. Go to sleep.
There you have it. The exciting life of a 24 year old party girl.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Chocolate, yogurt, cheese, dill pickles, ice cream, chocolate.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
First I would hire a good financial adviser and invest most of it. Then I would pay off my debts and the debts of my family and buy myself a modest house.
I would buy a yarn store that I would run just for fun and make no money off of. I would probably just give the yarn away really.
I would donate a lot of money to local hospitals and to fund cancer research. I would also volunteer at a hospital. I used to do that in Fredericton. I also worked there at the time, so I did seem a little crazy.

5) Places I have lived:
Geary, NB
Moncton, NB
Fredericton, NB
Halifax, NS

6) Jobs I have had:
Marine Electronics Technologist
Medical Equipment Technologist
Customer Service Specialist at Walmart (in the Fabric & Craft dept. That is when I taught myself to knit!)
Hostess at East Side Marios
Worked at computer access centres in Oromocto and Geary running programs for kids in the summer. I NEVER want to do that again.

7) Peeps I want to know more about:
Whoever feels like it. No pressure.

WWKIP 2008

2008-06-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

We came, we knitted, innocent bystanders looked confused... All in all a successful knitting in public day.

Mrs. Yes I Knit and Cali organized the whole event and did a fantastic job! Many thanks to them for putting it all together.

I had my picture taken with a local knitting (knitted!) celebrity. Things went so well that we set up a date for last evening, but alas, he stood me up. Jilted by a knitted green monster. I have reached a new low.

Tofutsies

2008-06-09T04:56:00.000-07:00

I finished the Waving Lace socks in Tofutsies while I was on vacation. I had more than enough yarn left to make a little pair for Anna. Here were are modeling our stylin socks together.

And here she's doing a solo shoot.

These socks are fun to wear, but they are much better to play with!

By popular demand...

2008-05-29T11:48:00.001-07:00

Okay, okay. Here it is. If you do decide to break in to pet the yarn, could you at least tidy up or leave some baking?

Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Moss.

Hand Maiden Casbah Sock in ? I wish they printed the colour way names on the tags.

Penelope, a pencil skirt kit in Hand Maiden Ottawa. I have always wondered what a knitted skirt would be like.

And the pèice de résistance, Hand Maiden Swiss Mountain Silk (silk and cashmere) in Midnight. Two skeins!!! I think I am going to sleep with them tonight.

New place to knit

2008-05-29T07:53:00.001-07:00

IMG_0054, originally uploaded by leclerc_jk.

I took this lovely sunny day off from work to await the arrival of my new sofa. They were scheduled to come sometime this morning which meant I was house bound until they showed up. Lucky for me they came around 9. It is a Simmons Hide-a-bed with a chaise at one end. That end will probably be worn out within a month from excessive knitting. It's kind of big for my apartment, which explains why I am standing behind my TV to take this shot.

After that was all set up, I headed over to the sale at Tangled Skeins. I had a gift certificate that I saved just for this, so I came home with some nice stuff. Stuff so nice, I don't even want to talk about it for fear that I will come home from vacation next week to find that my lock has been picked by a small DPN and that my stash has mysteriously disappeared.

Yes, I just said vacation. Saturday I am flying out to visit my sister, niece, Winston and brother-in-law. I will also get to spend some time with an old friend from tech school while I'm there too.

But, they followed me home...

2008-05-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up around 9 ish and decided to head to the local farmers market to pick up a couple groceries. As anybody in the city knows, if you don't get there before 10 you might as well just not go unless you enjoy December 23rd type mall crowds. As is usually the case, my Saturday morning excursion downtown ends with me buying anything but groceries. (I normally just buy booze)

Specimen number 1. Tanis Fbre Arts hand dyed fingering weight wool from the loop. Everybody else is doing it.

Specimen number 2
Malabrigo Silky Wool from Tangled Skeins. It whispered to me "take me home". Actually, it was more of a shout.

Proof that yarn acquisition is not in vain- a partial FO for your viewing pleasure. Sock number one of the Waving Lace sock in TOFUtsies is fini. Disregard that unweaved in end.

I've been working on some top secret stuff that I can't share with you right now which explains my seemingly slow knitting progress, but all will be revealed in good time.

My new sofa is coming on Thursday. I think a sofa warming party is in order.

Silky Yarny Shawl

2008-05-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

Hand Maiden Bias shawl in Rumple. I believe the colourway is called Midnight Treasures.
This knitted up very quickly and because of the larger needle size was not hard on my wrist which has been finicky as of late. Unfortunately, I didn't finish it in time to wear to see Leonard Cohen and therefor did not get asked to run away with him. Maybe next time!

Escort Service

2008-05-12T16:14:00.001-07:00

Do you need a date for your next black tie function? Somebody who likes to cuddle, go for walks and steal Arrowroot cookies from babies?

Winston has started his own escort service! You can keep him on a tight leash all evening, however, you will have to pick him up. He loves to ride in the car.

Be warned though, he will get rather sulky if he catches you petting somebody else.

Fair-Isle has been conquered.

2008-04-30T13:21:00.001-07:00

Colour work is something I had been putting off for quite a while. Last weekend I finally tackled it and now see that it is not as intimidating as I once thought.

Pattern: Fake Isle hat from Magknits which no longer exists.
Yarn: Noro Kureyon and Briggs & Little

This weekend I am going to try to visit my folks in the outskirts of Fredericton. I don't know if it will happen though because of the flooding which is worse than the flood of '73. They have cut power to the downtown core and areas that lie along the river. My parents don't like anywhere near the river, but the transcanada does cross it at Upper Gagetown. Tomorrow night I am going to stay at my boyfriends place in Moncton while he goes to the movies, because he forget I was coming and bought tickets to something he apparently has to see. I have concluded that testosterone somehow inhibits the ability to remember dates, while estrogen enhances the ability to get upset about it.

Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-22T03:50:00.000-07:00

To celebrate I will be soldering with lead and RMA flux, both of which are toxic. Later on though, I will be knitting. Knitting is good for the environment right??

Even though I already have 4 projects on the needles, I swatched for Fluid Linen by Ilga Leja on the weekend in Rowan Bamboo Soft. This yarn is so incredibly soft and drapey. I wish the internet had a "touch and feel" feature so you could all feel it. I have high hopes for this shirt.

I recently picked up a new set of Addi Turbos for the purpose of trying magic loop. So far I am enjoying it, as I am also enjoying this Tofutsies yarn that someone was kind enough to pick up for me in New Brunswick last summer. The pattern is Waving Lace from Favorite Socks.

Now for the recent FO's:

Some small socks for my small sister in Knitpicks Essential Tweed. The reason that I have different colored heels and toes is because when I orderd this sock yarn I didn't notice that it came in 50g balls instead of 100g balls and orderd 3 balls of different colored sock yarn. Now I will be knitting two pairs of socks in this style.

A mohair scarf in a slanted open work pattern from my stitch dictionary using Kid Mohair from London-Wul.

New Patterns to Love

2008-04-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

Ilga Leja released a beautiful new collection.

www.ilgaleja.com

I want to make them all!

Maybe my "gathering" instinct is a little too good...

2008-04-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

Or maybe I just need to be gathering for a clan and not just for myself.

I ordered a new sofabed this weekend. It's a simmons queen size sofabed with a chaise at one end, which will become my knitting sanctuary. Also, it will be a comfy place for company to sleep!

Sooo... if anybody wants a blue microfiber double sofabed. It's not in bad shape. There are no stains or tears, it' s just not the most comfy thing in the world. If somebody would like to take it away, it's free.

The other thing that I gathered this weekend without needing in anyway is this cute pair of shoes! They call them twins because they are similar but not the same. How cute!

I can has new Yarn Harlot book?

2008-04-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

Yes I can! I went to the Dartmouth Chapters today to pick it up after seeing on line that they had 10 copies in their inventory. It's not out on the floor yet though, it's out back so you have to ask for it. Will they be totally confused and take forever to find it all the while thinking you are a little nuts? Well, yes. Is it worth it? Yes. I laughed while drinking my latte and looked a little nuts again.

I am satisfying myself by reading about knitting after a few days of numb fingers and burning wrists. They are feeling better now, but I want to let them rest a little bit more.

Proof.

2008-03-30T12:46:00.001-07:00

Proof that I have been knitting. I haven't been posting a whole lot lately.

This is the humble beginning of the Dovetail Pullover from the latest issue of Interweave. I had bought this Cascade 220 superwash for another project but it wasn't working out so it has been retasked. I have very little cable experience but so far all is going well.

I have been working on this one a while now. It's the Cleopatra Wrap from Sensual Knits in Alpaca Cloud. Whenever I work on it I can't help thinking that it would be a nice "something blue". Maybe if I pack it away for 20 years it will get it's chance.

Spring is around the bend?

2008-03-29T14:33:00.001-07:00

It better be because I have started my spring cleaning. Today I dropped off three bags and a box of stuff to the Salvation Army, and I organized my stash and knitting area (my whole living room). Maybe it is not so much spring cleaning as "my boyfriend is away for the next month and I need something productive to do besides sulk cleaning", but that name is just too long.

I also took a drive out to Tantallon to go to the Basket of Yarn and check it out. I saw on the website that she is doing a Fair Isle class which I have been waiting to learn so I signed up. I have already done my homework. It's a nice little shop and she has a couple things that I have not seen in town, like a good selection of Briggs and Little, laceweight Malabrigo (beautiful!!) and some hand dyed from Chile that I forget the name of. There was also a cat sleeping in a basket.

I finished and photographed my Colinette Jitterbug socks. I have heard that this yarn bleeds very bad when washed. I have not washed or worn them yet, so we shall see how they hold up.

Just as I am writing this my smoke detector goes off because I burnt the pizza I had in the oven. Maybe I should be taking a cooking class too.

The Great Hair Donate of 2008

2008-03-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

Before...

The big cut...

After...

I now have 10 inches of hair to donate. Also I am going to see Leonard Cohen in May!!!

Gaspereau Loot

2008-03-16T14:59:00.001-07:00

This Saturday I made my first visit to Gaspereau Valley Fibres and found some treasures. I got three skeins of alpaca lace weight that I plan to do the Bleeding Heart Stole from the latest interweave knits. The pattern you see is a shawl pattern for the two skeins of Bison/bamboo from fibre-isle. I also bought my first Addi Turbo! I just started doing some sample knitting for a local designer and she lent me addi turbos for the job. Now I understand what all the fuss is about!

This little shawl pin was too cute to leave behind. It's a tiny little knitting needle!

Spring is here!

2008-03-12T05:57:00.000-07:00

Spring Knitty is here. Spring weather comes and goes here on the East coast. I predict a honey comb and yosemite will be in my future.

This weekend I am planning on going to Gaspereau Valley Fibres for the first time ever. I know some of you had a negative experience there, but I have to go see for myself. I'm hoping to stop by the Grand Pre winery while I'm in the neighborhood too, so if any body would like me to pick up some yarn and vino (I highly recommend L'Acadie Blanc) for them let me know. (Applies only to people who know me in real life)

I have been a delinquent blogger or late. It's not that I have not been knitting though, I have just not been photographing. Also, I got a new RPG for the PS2 that has me hooked.

When I go home for easter my cousin is going to cut a 11 or 12 inches of my hair off. Yikes! I am enjoying my last few days with it before it gets a new home in a wig for somebody undergoing chimo. I've been talking about doing this for a while. It's the only reason I have let my hair grow so long, and I am shocked at the amount of people who do NOT say "Wow, that's a really great thing to do". Instead, I here more "Why would you cut your hair?!?" Stay tuned...

Skin of the Sea

2008-01-30T06:06:00.001-08:00

IMG_0441, originally uploaded by leclerc_jk.

Two FO's so far this week! Sorry for the second bad DIY picture, but at least I look less evil in this one.

The details : Skin of the Sea by Ilga Leja in Fleece Artist Silk Stream.

This is my first time doing one of Ilga's patterns and she writes amazingly interesting and descriptive patterns. This was a fun one to knit.

Vixen Tank Top

2008-01-27T17:31:00.001-08:00

IMG_0438, originally uploaded by leclerc_jk.

After only a week I have pretty much finished up the Vixen Tank from Sensual Knits. I used two skeins of artyarns sock yarn from my stash and little bit of brown sheep chunky weight wool for the band around the top. I still have to buy some ribbon to use as straps. What you see in the photo is the black top I am wearing underneath. If I wasn't wearing that underneath, this would be a photo for a different type of site all together. It came out a little big, but I am very happy with it!

Isabella

2008-01-23T04:19:00.001-08:00

IMG_0432, originally uploaded by leclerc_jk.

It was a bittersweet cast off as I finally finished Isabella. This is the Old Shale pattern done in Artyarns Silk Rhapsody on 4.5's. This yarn is so lovely to work with I did not want it to end!!! But I can now enjoy wearing it even more.

Another knitting update: Remember the lace wrap I started knitting last fall? There were some pretty obvious mistakes there, and I got fed up and decided to rip it all back with intentions of starting again and making it better, faster, and stronger this time. It was going to be the million dollar wrap. As I was ripping this back, I made an awful mess of the yarn (or it made an awful mess of itself). I tried to rewind it on my ball winder which just made matters worse. Now it is a hopelessly tangled ball of laceweight that has been banished to a place where it can haunt me no more. (an ikea box) If anybody is sadistic enough to want a tangled ball of merino laceweight (approx. 1300 yds.) message me.

On the road again...

2008-01-14T03:59:00.000-08:00

Fred's great grandmother passed away on the weekend so I am on my way to Edmunston for the funeral. Needless to say I will not be at knitting this week.

Also, for those of you who don't know, there are still some good deals on at TS. I managed to snag a couple things. Photos to follow later as well as photos of my recently finished Skin of the Sea and Isabella.

A year in review

2008-01-09T08:08:00.000-08:00

I stole this from Moe. I know a lot of you did it last year, but I hadn't been blogging long enough to do it then, so I am trying it now...

Instructions: Copy the first sentence that you posted in each month of 2007.

January
Tristan got me this for Christmas.

February
I finally finished my first sweater!

March
Haven't finished a project in a while.

April
No, this is not said baby.

May
If you are my unborn niece, please look away or the surprise will be ruined!

June
What a weekend I had!

July
I'm two dozen years old today.

August
First off, this happened before vacation, but this is what the Captain gave me for my birthday.

September
The land is not so dry, but I am glad to be back on it just the same!

October
Well, my three week sea trip was cut down to about 3 days and I returned Monday afternoon.

November
As you might know, I went to Labrador for a month back in August/September.

December
I had big plans this weekend of getting caught up on my laundry and housework and also going to the Christmas Open house at Gaspereau Valley Fibres out in the valley.

Not quite the North Pole, but close

2007-12-19T04:03:00.000-08:00

There are days that I think my job is great and others that I wish I had just gone to Accounting School and done something safe. Yesterday was one of the latter. The X-band radar on the Hudson developed a leak in the bit of wave guide that connects the antenna to the rest of the wave guide. Water in the wave guide is pretty bad and gives you a giant blob in the middle of the screen, generally not desirable. So, since I am the new person, me and another newish guy had the pleasure of climbing up there to remove the faulty waveguide in the cold yesterday, and we get to go put the new one in today in the even colder weather. Here's hoping there are no frostbite or falling 30 feet type injuries right before Christmas.

Edited to Add:
Re: the mast climbing in -17 weather. A couple of the older guys on the ship's crew have taken to being quite protective of me since I am one of the few young girls around. When they found out that I was up the mast they gave my supervisor an earful for making me go up there in the cold. They also sent a deckhand to keep an eye on me and make sure I didn't need anything. At least I am well taken care of around here.

Skin of the Sea and early Christmas events

2007-12-18T04:37:00.000-08:00

This year, some of my Christmas celebrations had to come early as Fred is now at sea for the holidays. Alright, who am I really kidding. I always celebrate Christmas for about 3 months every year. Anyway, he got to spend about a week in Halifax before sailing away. While he was here we made Christmas cookies.

We also went out to dinner at Opa's before exchaning gifts. Here I am in my Christmasy shirt all set to go out.

I started Ilga Leja's Skin of the Sea a couple weeks ago. I reached the blocking stage last night. After this, I will just have to seam the shoulders and pick up some stitched around the collar and down the front. I think I got the guage off because it seems like it is going to be pretty big. It will come down past my hips, which I don't think it's supposed to do.

I also picked up the Perl Grey Imogen sweater kit on the weekend. It's Green/Blue/ Yellow. I am not sure if it the Rainforest or Nova Scotia colourway, but it is lovely.

Charity knitting anyone??

2007-12-06T03:58:00.000-08:00

I know you all busy with those last minute Christmas projects right now, but after all that settles down and you are wondering what to do next here is a suggestion.
I went to a meeting last night of the Canadian Cancer Society volunteer organization. I asked if they had any use for donations of knitted hats,etc and they do! Downtown they run a place called the Lodge that Gives. Basically, if you are from out of town and need to have treatments in Halifax this is a place to stay. Not only is it a warm bed, but they organize activities and offer much needed support to patients. They have a gift shop there that sells hand knits and gives profits back to the lodge. I was told dishclothes sell especially fast, as well as hats, mittens and scarves. So, if any of you would like to donate a couple things you could drop them off at the Lodge that Gives or give them to me at KOL and I will see that they get there.

And the amazing luck continues

2007-12-04T04:33:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, Halifax got a lot of snow last night and then some rain, so this morning things were a slushy mess. Also, I still have my all seasons on because I store my tires at my folks place and wanted to change then when I was home in November, but my lock nut key had been misplaced. Now I have a new lock nut key (Portland Street Honda Service Dept is great btw), but still not winter tires. I was hoping that the weather would hold off until after christmas like it did last year. Anyway, I was mentally prepared for a hard commute to work this morning. It was slow moving but pretty good. Then when I was coming down the driveway to my workplace and tapped the breaks coming down a little hill I lost control and slid into a snowbank, right outside work. I am glad it was the snowbank and not the oncoming truck. Also, I was amazed while shovelling myself out at the amount of people who drove by and did not stop to help!!! Obviously some people have not seen the Ninja's pay it forward blog posts recently.

Anyway, I have decided not to leave the house anymore.

Here Anna is reinacting my mood this morning.

This weekend was a bust

2007-12-03T08:40:00.000-08:00

I had big plans this weekend of getting caught up on my laundry and housework and also going to the Christmas Open house at Gaspereau Valley Fibres out in the valley. They were forcasting light flurries for Saturday which didn't worry me too much, but as soon as I hit the highway the wind and snow came up and the visibility was nil. Seeing as I drive a sporty little car and do not have my snow tires on yet (they are at my folks in a different province right now) I decided that a yarn sale was not worth the risk and turned around. Skidding on the Bedford Highway on the way back confirmed my decision was a responsible one.

I got home and decided to do my laundry, first starting with all my bedding, including my duvet cover. While my clothes were in the washer the one dryer in my building broke, so now I have a basket of wet bedding and a couple old blankets on my bed, not to mention over 2 weeks worth of dirty clothes on the floor. After these two failures, (oh yes, my internet was down most of Saturday as well) I didn't think anything useful would come out of the day and decided to knit continuously for the rest of it. I started my Skin of the Sea by Ilga Leja and am done the back already.

Now that the snow is coming down out there, it looks like another good evening for knitting. I still wish my dryer was working though.

So that's who's been making all those long distance calls...

2007-11-26T14:13:00.000-08:00

Cutest baby ever...

2007-11-16T07:12:00.000-08:00

Little Anna, two months old.

A long overdue post...

2007-11-15T05:51:00.000-08:00

As you might know, I went to Labrador for a month back in August/September. I never got around to posting some of the pics from that trip, so here they are.

We flew to From Halifax to Goose Bay on a Dash8. From Goose Bay to Nain some of the crew flew on a twin otter, while the remaining six of us got to fly on a little 7 seat Navaho. Since we did not have a co-pilot and being the only girl around, I got to sit in the co-pilot's seat for the flight! This was the highlight of the trip for me. It was a beautiful day and I had the best seat in the house. (The flight home was a different story; not such a nice day)

This is somewhere around Voisey's Bay, which is home to the largest nickel mine in Canada.

Nain is the northernmost community in Labrador and it is only about half way up the coast. I'm not sure what the population is, but you can walk from one end to the other in about 15 minutes. There is one store and one taxi in town and the airport is a small gravel strip.

After arriving in Nain, we got situated in our new homes and prepared to sail out of the harbour.

A few days into the trip we were at a nice fishing spot on a calm day, so the Chief Scientist was nice enough to give us all the day off to go fishing or just to go ashore and check things out. I didn't fish, but I went ashore to explore and take my turn at polar bear watch (ie. carry the rifle) While posing for this picture, the bugs were so thick that I could barely stand still. In the background the Matthew can be seen.

The thing that kept me busy on this trip were the hydrographic launches. They are small boats that are carried on the ship and launched over the side to survey in shallow waters. They often came back with problems and I would then have to board the launch and get them fixed up. Here I am making sure the multibeam system is happy.

We continued all the way up to the northern tip of labrador to continue our work. Once we started to head back down the weather started to change. On Sept.7 we had a huge blizzard. This is the view I woke up to the following day.

And here I am learning how to stear the ship!

Tagged

2007-11-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

Tagged by yesiknit.blogspot.com

The Rules:Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself.

1) I start listening to Christmas music in October and last year put up my tree on Nov.7

2) I work on ships but don't know how to swim.

3) I only make my bed about onth a month and consider it a huge waste of time.

4) I am a member of a union called the International BROTHERHOOD of Electrical Workers. When I get letters from them, they are signed "fraternally yours" which drives me crazy.

5) I grew up in nearby New Brunswick, but never visited Nova Scotia until I was 19.

6) I hate the noise made when you move stuff around in a freezer and boxes rub up against the frost in the freezer.

7) I am horrible with plants and even managed to kill a cactus.

8) Remember that awkward kid who got picked last for everything in gym class? That was me.

Back to the "real" world

2007-10-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

After being gone off and on for the past few months, my sailing season is finally over and I am starting to reintegrate back into normal society. Living on a ship for 4 weeks in isolation is definately not normal society.

This past weekend, my first weekend off in weeks, I spent running errands and doing things around the apartment. I managed to finish up some UFO's but cannot show them as ther are gifts. I did however knit these two sweaters Saturday night. They are ornaments from Last Minute Knitted Gifts and a cute way to use up bits of sock yarn. I plan on starting a miniature sweater sweat shop for all the bits of sock yarn in my stash.

Halloween is tomorrow, and to celebrate I am going to Pictou to do an emergency repair on a hydrographic survey boat. It seems the hydrographer is trick-or-treating for a new processing unit for the multibeam system as the old one is dead. I have never been to Pictou before and don't really know how to get there so it should be interesting.

Here we go again

2007-10-06T06:26:00.000-07:00

(gratuitous baby photo)

Now that we got that out of the way...
We are back out to sea, trying things out again. They managed to fix the leak so my hopes of going home for thanksgiving and seeing little Anna again were dashed.

Here is a shot I took while we were coming in the harbour the other day.

And here is the tug that escorted us in, just in case we had any problems. I was hoping they would send Theodore but I guess he had a prior engagement.

I started a this wrap last week. It is the Romantic Moments wrap by Evelynne A. Clark in some laceweight merino. It is my first try at something like this and it is already full of mistakes, but I am cutting myself some slack considering the conditions under which I have been working on it. The colour is not showing well but it is actually a sage green.

Enjoy your turkey time everyone!

Back so soon?

2007-10-03T02:52:00.000-07:00

Well, my three week sea trip was cut down to about 3 days and I returned Monday afternoon. Why, you ask?

The ship was slowly sinking... Yes, we were taking on water around one of the eingine shafts. Thankfully, the engineers aboard are amazing and slowled the water enough for us to get safely back to Halifax. Ideally, the ship should be put in dry dock to be repaired but since the dry docks are full, they are attempting to do it underwater. So I am on standby and things at work are quite hectic!

A post from the high seas

2007-09-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

I realize I have not even posted about the last sea trip yet, and here I am at sea again. This time I am aboard the CCGS Hudson and right now we are at about 41 N and 65 W. We just left yesterday and it has been a little but rocky out here. The nice thing about the Hudson though is that we have the internet and satellite TV, so it's almost as good as being at home minus all the motion. (I don't know about your house, but mine definately doesn not pitch and roll.)

I brought some knitting in hopes to get the time to do some. Among the 3 balls of sock yarn is the lacey wrap I just started in some kind of sage laceweight merino. It is my first time knitting something so intricate and delicate and the enviroment that I am attempting it in is not ideal. Walking down the hall without bumping into things is hard enough let alone trying to knit lace.

Back on dry land (sort of)

2007-09-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

The land is not so dry, but I am glad to be back on it just the same! I won't get into the details of my trip just yet because I would first like to announce that I am now a proud auntie of the beautiful Anna Ruth, born Sept.5

Shape up or ship out

2007-08-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

I have chosen to ship out.

I will be MIA from blogland for the next month as I will be on board the CCGS Matthew maintaining their electronics so that the Canadian Hydrographic Service can collect their data using a multibeam sonar system that makes 3D images of the ocean floor kind of like this:

This data is eventually used to make navigational charts that other sailors use. Having charts with accurate depths is needed to keep ships from hitting rocks and shoals. The ironic part is that the Matthew has actually done that before. Let's hope we do not run aground while I am on board.

And thus concludes our lesson of hydrographic operations. I apologize for the lack of knitting content.

the Harlot

2007-08-08T05:23:00.000-07:00

No, this is not an x-rated post. It's okay, you do not have to send your kids out of the room or worry about getting into trouble for reading it at work. Just so we're clear I am not talking about Paris Hilton, I am talking about the Stephanie Pearl McPhee aka the Yarn Harlot.

Last night the harlot was at the Lord Nelson Hotel in Halifax giving a speech and book signing, which may have well been stand up comedy because she is really THAT funny. Like an idiot, I forgot to pack my camera so I have no pictures, but at least I remembered her book and didn't have to ask her to sign one of my body parts. The KOLers stuck around to get our books signed last and then she mentioned she was heading over to the hotel bar if we wanted to go. So, I had a drink with the Yarn Harlot!

I also was told by the charming Master and Commander of the tall ship Silva that I look like Charlotte from Sex and the City. I suppose that is a compliment. All in a all, a very pleasant evening.

My Vacation to NB

2007-08-06T17:57:00.000-07:00

First off, this happened before vacation, but this is what the Captain gave me for my birthday. 4 Sets of knitting needles and note the lantern moon needles on the right. He thought of this gift with no hints from me, pretty smart eh?

Last weekend, July 28th or thereabouts, I went camping with fred and a couple of his friends in northern NB. It poured rain and I am not a huge fan of camping to begin with, not to mention the fact that everybody spoke french and I didn't really catch what was going on most of the time. Anyway, that was only for two days... Here is the travelling duck supervising the pitching of the tent, which only leaked a little.

Gratuitous cat photo time. This is Ratatouille. He is about 2 months old and belongs to Freds roomates, but he is not staying as Captain Fred is allergic and what the captain says goes... poor kitty.

While in Moncton I went out to London-Wul on the Melanson road. It is such a nice shop and the owner is very sweet. They have a lot of their own fibres and yarn as they have their own farm on site. I walked out with some pink mohair, and some angora/alpaca which you would have to touch to really appreciate. If you are ever passing through the Moncton area you must go!

Lastly, I went into the local yarn/ sewing shop in Fredericton just to see if there was anything new and exciting, but not really expecting much. Surprise!! They had a variety of lantern moon bags!!! So this one came home with me. It will look really snazzy at the Yarn Harlot tomorrow!!!

I sock at this...

2007-07-26T06:41:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon, in my weekend recovery mode, I went to chapters to get some much needed coffee and look at the books. I had seen this lovely sock book online and when I found it in the store I decided that it would make my life complete, for the day anyway.

I started the Embossed Leaves pattern with the ball of Jawoll which I have already started to knit and unknit countless other socks with, but I thought "this pattern will be the one!". That was a little ambitious considering I have never done socks in that degree of difficulty or read a lace chart before. I probably should have done some research before starting so that I would have known that you read from the bottom up, etc, but alas it was not meant to be. I really messed up that one and had to rip back again! I have decided that the particular ball of yarn is cursed, but I started the Go with the Flow socks from the same book last night because they looked easier. Hopefully, this will be the pattern to tame this unruly sock yarn.

I won't be at KOL again until Sept 18th because I will be in NB next week, seeing the Harlot the week after (hooray) and then going to sea for a few weeks where I won't even have internet! How will I ever survive?

A weekend tale

2007-07-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a comic version of the drama that ensued this weekend when I introduced Fred to Henry...

(click to make larger)

A Fitted Knit and mass confusion

2007-07-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

This is the Two Tone Shrug from Fitted Knits done in Malabrigo. There's a pretty big difference between the dye jobs of these two skeins of yarn, and it's quite obvious where I switched. Other than that it turned out ok.

The mass confusion part refers to me changing the title of my blog. Why you ask? To make you lives difficult? Well yes, and because I have been thinking about it for a while and decided that while I sail only a few months of the year I am always a techie and felt like an imposter by calling myself a sailor. Maybe I am over thinking things here as I often tend to do.

The finally finished BBB

2007-07-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the boring baby blanket from the Yarn Harlot and by the end of it I was starting understand why she named it so! I used three skeins of butterfly super 10 cotton on size 6 needles. It came out almost sqaure, but it could have used a few extra rows I think.

And here it is in the baby's crib...

And finally, back by popular demand....
......Winston!!

Ontario Trip: The travelling duck strikes again

2007-07-12T02:54:00.000-07:00

The travelling duck has been MIA for quite a while now, but has recently resurfaced to take a trip to Ontario with me. For those of you who don't know, the travelling duck went to Europe with my friend and has accompanied me at sea a few times. The first day/night of our trip was spend at an old friend's place right downtown Ottawa. Here the travelling duck is enjoying the view of a little courtyard in the byward market area.

The relaxation didn't last too long before the travelling duck had to the face the Monty Python killer rabit slipper!!! He keeps his cool throughout the attack until the rabit finally gives up after remembering the number that the last rubber toy did on his digestive tract. The killer bunny slippers were a birthday gift from my friend.

The next thrill came when the duck faced the meanest beast of all...Winston! What a challenge!

And here is my DQ birthday cake. Yummy.

Happy Birthday to me

2007-07-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

I'm two dozen years old today

I'm in Ontario celebrating with my sister, baby to be, and a lazy dog.

FO's and yet to be started O's

2007-06-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

Here is the sweater from Baby Knits for beginners that I made for my neice using baby cashmerino and saartje's baby booties and matching hat in some cotton. That blanket is not quite finished but I am hoping to finish it up while I'm visiting my sister in Ontario.

I stopped by LK today to pick up some sock needles and noticed that they do indeed carry Lana Grossa Royal Tweed which is called for in this pattern from fitted knits. This will be my next big project!

Another exciting weekend...well, not really.

2007-06-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

Today I managed to take some time away from my soldering lesson preparations, living room rearrangement, and french exam studying to head over to the Atlantic Quilt and Fibre Arts Festival. I have to say that I was quite dissapointed by it really. I guess there was a fair bit there for quilters, but there were only two knitting booths, both of which are stores in the HRM anyway so they were not that exciting. I guess I was hoping for some things that I don't usually see in the stores around Halifax. So, to not make my trip over a complete loss I gave in to the Lantern Moon silk needle case that I had been eyeing. I really should have bought it when Tangled Skiens had their sale. Oh well. Here it is in all it's silken glory.

I also started the two tone shrug from Fitted Knits, except that I am doing it in one tone. It's some Malabrigo that I was smart enough to pick up on sale. It's almost done, I just have to finish off the ribbing. I can't wait to wear it, and if this chilly weather keeps up, I just might get a chance soon! Although, sun would also be nice.

Surface Mount Soldering

2007-06-15T19:17:00.001-07:00

I attended a high reliability soldering course this week, of course working with electronics I already knew how to solder, but I hadn't yet learned how to do surface mount and use some other specialized techniques. I won't bore you with the details, but tis picture is some of the work I did on the course. This might not mean much to anybody, but try imagine putting molten metal on all of those tiny componet leads, not an easy task!

Long weekend

2007-06-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

What a weekend I had! A friend was in Halifax to do an exam on Thursday (which he passed. yay!) so he stayed up for the weekend. To celebrate his new certification as Chief Mate, I took him to Anatolia Thursday evening for supper.

Seeing as it was a nice day Friday, I took the day off and we took a drive down to Lunenburg, because I had never been there. I was looking forward to seeing the Bluenose II, but unfortunately she was not there. It was a cute little town though, and of course, I had to stop at Have a Yarn in Mahone Bay. It's a surprisingly big store and they had some lovely things, but I managed to restrain myself from buying anything, which was hard, because there was a burgundy skien of Hand Maiden Cashmere Silk that I was quite enamored with.

This is a bit of the Lunenburg waterfront.

And this is a car I saw parked on the street there. I did laugh at it, and I took a picture!

I had knitted up this kitty a while ago and just got around to seaming it yesterday. It didn't turn out quite right. It's head is too wide and too short and the body is weird. I guess that's what you get for not doing a gauge swatch. He looks kinda mean in this picture too! He's guarding my iMac with one of his nine lives. Pattern for kitty found here, knit with some scrap dk acrylic on size 2 needles.

The highlight of the weekend though was our outing Saturday night!!! Where did we go? Well here's a hint!!!!

It was a great show, a little pricey, but very much worth it. Lumière and Gaston were especially well played. My only complaint is that they made it much longer by adding some pretty weak songs, but all in all a very entertaining show, and of course, amazing company to enjoy it with.

Yarn Sale

2007-05-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

Something wierd is going on with Blogger and there is a strange random link that I can't get rid of...Just ignore it I guess.

I, of course, had to stop by Tangled Skiens for their 20% off sale yesterday. I managed to restrain myself and only came away with two skiens of Malabrigo and two skiens of Art yarns.

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Steph also showed me this cute bootie pattern while I was there which was great because I had been looking for the perfect bootie pattern. You can find it at www.saartjeknits.nl in her free patterns section .

Weekend in Quebec

2007-05-23T06:05:00.001-07:00

I somewhat spontaneously decided to put some miles on the car and go to Québec with my father this past weekend to visit some family (my dad grew up in Québec). It was mostly spent visiting said family but I did have a couple hours to spend in Old Québec. I tried to practice my french while I was there and found I did pretty good in the city. One girl in a shoe store didn't even realize that I wasn't from there, which I find surprising since my accent is horrible. But out in Saint Raymond where my Grandmamman lives I went to a restaurant and the waitress couldn't understand me when I ordered a glass of water (une verre d'eau). All in all, the Québecois population are not nearly as snooty as people say they are, but there are always a few...

Here is a cute little street there. I love all the little shops and cafés, it looks so European.

And this is my new car!!! Haha, no, I saw it parked on the street there and had to take a picture. It's a Lamborgini. I wonder if the owner of this car is single?

And of course, the beautiful Chateau Frontenac.

And now I am back home completely sick of driving... for now.

On the road again...

2007-05-17T05:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend I'm going on a rather last minute trip to Quebec city with my dad. I have some relatives there whom I haven't seen since I was in highschool so I think it's about time I go back to visit. I'm starting to wonder why I ever bother unpacking in the first place, as I seem to be repacking shortly thereafter. Ah well, it's nice to have so few responsibilities that I can do these sorts of things.

On tuesday I finally remembered to bring my camera to KOL, and even more impressive, I remembered to use it!

This is newest KOL member, and the cutest!

Song Game (aka-wasting time on my coffee break)

2007-05-14T05:41:00.000-07:00

Song Game, Stolen from Frozen Extremeties facebook...
Share

1. Open your preferred music player.
2. Randomize playback
3. For each track, enter the song info as the answer.
4. Post it on your Facebook. (Or Blog!)
5. Don't cheat, it's way more fun!

Opening Credits:
Narc-Interpol

Waking up:
Mine's not a high horse - the Shins

First Day at High School:
Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead

Falling In Love:
If you were here - the Thompson Twins

Fight Song:
Brisbee Blue - Calexico

Breaking Up:
Give me one reason - Tracy Chapman

Prom:
Tower of song - Martha Wainright

Life:
Shine a light – Wolf Parade

Mental Breakdown:
I want to know - the Mavericks

Driving:
You take my breath away - Sara Brightman

Flashback:
Oceano – Josh Groban

Getting Back Together:
Next Exit -Interpol

Wedding:
Warning Sign – Coldplay (I don't think that playing a song called Warning Sign at a wedding would be very good luck!)

Birth of Child:
the New Year - Death cab for Cutie

Final Battle:
the Police and the Private - Metric

Death Scene:
i hear noises - tegan and sara

Funeral Song:
Just for now - Jill Barber

End Credits:
All I wanna do is make love to you -Heart

(Morning had broken by Cat Stevens came next... that would have been a perfect waking up song!)

Sock it to me...

2007-05-11T03:58:00.000-07:00

Another finished pair of socks! These are Fleece Artist Merino socks. I based them on the fleece artist sock pattern but I had to invent an Extra Small size and I decided to do ribbing all the way down. This yarn is sooo soft and the colour reminds me of goldfish. I thoroughly enjoyed knitting these ones.

I also started a side project as I was getting board with the baby blanket. I had this Cascade fixation that I picked up in the half price bin at Tangled Skeins and I had cast on Hedera, but it wasn't going well so I frogged it and cast on Broadripple instead.

My knitting ADD is getting the best of me. I still haven't seamed the baby sweater that I knit back in January (I dislike seaming) and I have one purple bootie awaiting a mate, but I have until August to get this stuff done and in the mail before I go to sea. Oh yes, and I promised to knit a hat for a charming cadet I met in the campus bar at the coast guard college. Some people drink and say stupid things, I drink and offer to knit things for people.

Mending my bad knitting ways...

2007-05-10T04:12:00.000-07:00

I finally made it back to KOL this week after being away for a while and met a few new knitters (new to me knitters anyway). After a while one of them asked if I was twisting my stitches in my stockinet. I wasn't doing it on purpose, and after closer inspection we figured out that I twist my purl stitches and I have been doing it all along. It turns out that I taught myself to purl incorrectly. It's too late to change it on the baby blanket and I am not about to start that one over so I guess I will have to live with the twisted stockinet.

Mrs. Yes brought her beautiful new munchkin as well. I held him. He cried. I guess the maternal instincts have not kicked in yet, which is ok considering that the only living thing in my care is a cactus and I don't think that will change in the near future. Besides, I will get to practice not making babies cry on my little neice when she arrives.

I am looking for a good manly hat pattern. I think I'd like to use Manos for it. Any good ideas?

Gyro Standard 20 Course May 2007

2007-05-07T03:48:00.000-07:00

I have never been on a technical course where they felt the need to take a class picture, but they did, so here it is. Also notice that there is actually another woman in my class, not very common. The really interesting thing is that the instructor on the right is actually from the same little community in NB that I am from. He used to live down the road from my parents, and I've met his daughter and everything. What a small world.

BBB

2007-05-06T16:03:00.000-07:00

If you are my unborn niece, please look away or the surprise will be ruined! Also, I hope you are infact a girl or this blanket will not be very appropriate.

I found the pattern here http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2005/07/29/welcome.html and I am using Butterfly Super 10 Cotton. My sister is not a fan of wool because it is itchy, so I decided on cotton instead. I started it last week while I was on course at the coast guard college in Sydney. The course was really good and seeing all those cadets in uniform everyday wasn't half bad either. Sorry, i have no pictures of them!

More of Winston

2007-04-26T08:54:00.001-07:00

julie & chien, originally uploaded by leclerc_jk.

This blog seems to be more about Winston than knitting lately, but he is just so lovable...

I was sitting on the sofa reading when he randomly walked over, sighed and fell onto my lap in this position. Nicole and my mom thought it was amusing and took a picture. He looks so depressed here. It's a hard life, Winston, a hard life indeed.

Socks, sisters and apples.

2007-04-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

This is the pair of socks that I started two years ago and finally finished a couple weeks ago. These socks did some travelling while I worked on them. They have been on the CCGS Hudson on the Grand Banks and well as on the CCGS Matthew surveying the Swiss Air crash site. They were also the project that I brought the very first time I every came to KOL. I think they will make very nice work socks. Oh yes, they are Patons Kroy socks yarn on 2.25 mm needles.

This is my sister and her dog showing off the nursery for the new baby. They got it all set up while I was visiting them a few weeks ago. I don't think Winston is going to enjoy the lack of attention he will get once the new addition to the household comes!

And this is my most recent addition to my household. A 2.0GHz 17" iMac. I got it on friday. I am still trying playing around the OS. It's been a long time since I have used a mac, but so far it's pretty cool. They are a lot of neat little apps and it's very pretty. I am still having internet connection problems though. Not only if my connection as slow as mollasses (sometimes as low as 50kbps) but it drops out SEVERAL times a day especially during peak hours. I have called Aliant a few times and they are incredibly useless, especially since I know much more about this sort of thing than those silly call centre agents do. (At least I like to think that I do) If this doesn't get sorted out soon I may switch to Eastlink. Does anybody have any comments on the Aliant/Eastlink situation?

A baby is on the way...

2007-04-17T04:21:00.001-07:00

Winston1, originally uploaded by leclerc_jk.

No, this is not said baby. Even though Winston is quite whiney. The pic is dark because he doesn't like the flash,
My trip to Ontario went pretty well despite the horrendous driving (and my terrible spelling). Of course we had to hit snow on the way there and the way back.

My dad got the nursery painted and the crib assembled, and we went shopping for baby things and stuff. My sister also had her first ultrasound while I was there and since her husband is fighting in Afghanistan right now, I got to go in with her and watch. My little niece appears to be quite healthy.

So, now that we are 95% sure it's girl, I can start more knitting and not have to make everything green or yellow! Yippee!

I will have more knitting posts once I get around to unpacking my camera and whatnot.

Antropologie Capelet

2007-03-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

I finished the anthropologie inspired capelet found here: http://peonyknits.blogspot.com/2005/11/anthropologie-inspired-capelet-fo-and.html . I used about a skein and a half of Patons Katrina on size 11 Denise needles. It was a pretty quick and easy knit and I learned how to do raglan shaping. Yippee. Now I just need to learn how to take decent pictures of myself. It's tricky!

My computer is behaving very well now. Fred helped me get it all fixed up. I still have the urge to go out and buy a sweet Apple but I do not have 1700$ laying around so I guess I will have to make do for now.

Next tuesday I leave to go see my sister in Ontario for a week. I can't wait. I will however miss KOL for a couple weeks :( Glad the new digs are working out though!

Green scarf and my computer is possibly recovering from it's flu?

2007-03-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

I made a scarf from the leftovers from the Lady of Lake Jacket. There's still more yarn left too, I think I have enought for a hat!

My PC has been acting up lately and I've been formatting and reinstalling windows, etc. Tonight, I was getting so fed up that I went to look at computers. Then I got home and everything seems to be working ok. Maybe my computer just needed to be scared into being replaced to start behaving properly.

tagged

2007-03-26T05:20:00.000-07:00

All answers must start with your first initial:

Your Name: Julie
Famous Music artist/group: Jill Barber
3 letter word: jab
Color: Jade
Gift/present: Jewels
Vehicle: Jetta
TV Show: Jetsons
Country: Jordan
Boy's Name: Jim (my boss)
Girl's Name: Jenna (my best friend in middle school)
Alcoholic drink: Julep
Occupation: Janitor
Flower: Jasmine
Celebrity: Julie Andrews
Food: Jelly beans
Something found in a kitchen: Julienne Peeler (i had to surf the web to come up with that)
Reason for Being Late: Jam (the traffic kind, not the strawberry kind)
Something You Shout: I don't often shout

I have a few pictures of FO's to post as well, but my computer is being wierd and I haven't brought my camera into work to upload them. I tried reformatting this weekend but that didn't seem to fix it. I'm going to try reinstalling windows one more time and if that doesn't work, I may have to consider acquiring some new hardware, which is so not in the budget right now.
Ah, technology.

Look What I Got!

2007-03-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

It finally came! The deleivery guys showed up yesterday afternoon and brought me the new bed. It's very comfy!
And here it is all made up with my new Duvet and duvet cover ensemble. As you can see, some of my pals are testing it out. They approve.

After the busy day I am having at work, I can't wait to go home and nap, but I will try my best to drag myself back from my cloudlike haven to check out the Wired Monk tonight.

I also finished a scarf that I made from the leftover yarn from my Lady of the Lake jacket, but I have not sewn in the ends or taken pictures yet. I think I even have enough yarn left to make a hat as well. Pictures to come shortly.

A little FO

2007-03-12T03:39:00.000-07:00

I finished the shrug I have been working away at. The pattern was free on the Interweave Knits website but it originally had little ruffles on the sleeves which I left out. I used just under two balls of Patons Katrina on size 10.5 Denise needles. My flash is kinda bright so you can't actually see that this was all done in ribbing.

I finished this a few days ago but my internet at home has been incredibly flakely lately and would not let me upload pictures.

My new bed should have been here by now, but it's not... Hopefully soon it will arrive and I will have pictures of it and my new Duvet. Or maybe it will be so comfortable that I will stay in bed forever never to be heard of again.

Filing in space

2007-03-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

Haven't finished a project in a while. I have been knitting, but as always, I am working on several things at once and have not finished any of them. So here is some mindless meme stuff to fill in space and let you all know that this blog is still alive.

**Go to the google search engine and type in your name and the words "needs" after it, i.e. "Morgan needs". Write down the discription that appears.

"Julie - Needs Early Start"

Hmmm... What do I need an early start on? Maybe I should figure that out so that I can get started.

Wikipedia and look up your birth day (excluding the year). List three neat facts, two births and one death in your journal, including the year.

1892 - St. John's, Newfoundland was devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.
1969 - IBM CICS is made generally available for the 360 mainframe computer.
1997 - Mayo Clinic researchers warn that the dieting-drug "fen-phen" can cause severe heart and lung damage.

1958 - Kevin Bacon, American actor
1970 - Beck, American singer

1999 - Pete Conrad, American astronaut (b. 1930)

Boy was I born on an important day!

FO and weekend shopping spree.

2007-02-19T04:07:00.000-08:00

I finished my wrister warmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts last week. They were pretty easy and quick to knit, but I don't know how much I'll wear them since it's too cold out there right now.
I stopped by LK Yarns on friday and picked up a bunch of sale yarn, as if I needed more yarn. I do have plans for all of it though. The Patons Katrina will be used to make a couple shrugs, that multi-coloured stuff in the bottom right will make a nice lacey scarf and the purple cotton in the left will make booties and a hat if my sister has a baby girl. If she has a boy, I will have to rethink it. As you can tell, I am hoping for a girl.

The yarn wasn't the last of my weekend shopping. I also went to Simmons and ordered a new bed. After sleeping on a 30 year old mattress (clealy a hand-me-down) I figured it was time to upgrade. Now if bowling balls were to drop on my bed beside me, I can sleep undisturbed.

Trying out the whole meme thing...

2007-02-15T10:09:00.000-08:00

Countdown Meme (taken from http://thedailymeme.com/)

Ten movies you’d watch over and over:
1. Phantom of the Opera
2. Rent
3. La Vita Et Bella
4. Amelie
5. LOTR
6. High Fidelity
7. About a Boy
8. Million Dollar Baby
9. Motorcycle Diaries
10. Star Wars

Nine people you enjoy the company of:
1. my Mom
2. my dad
3. my sister
4. Tristan
5. Dawn
6. Adrien
7. Pat
8. Sarah
9. Everybody at KOL!

Eight things you’re wearing:
1. my Glasses
2. a grey long sleeved shirt
3. a blue sweater
4. my Helly Hansen fleece jacket (yes it's that cold in my shop)
5. Jeans
6. wool socks
7. sketchers
8. my watch

Seven things on your mind:
1. I have to go to the gym tonight
2. I should be drinking more water
3. I need to get all those cables made up for the new boat
4. I would like to rearrange my living room
6. Before I can rearrange furniture I have to clean up!
7. I have too many knitting/cross stitch projects on the go.

Six objects you touch every day:
1. The steering wheel of my Integra
2. my keyboard
3. the fridge
4. the coffee pot
5. the alarm clock
6. the door knob

Five things you do everyday:
1. wake up (hopefully)
2. brush my teeth
3. shower
4. check my e-mail
5. drink coffee

Four bands or musical artists that you couldn’t live without:

1. Belle and Sebastian
2. Sarah Slean
3. Tegan and Sara
4. Calexico

Three of your favorite songs of the moment:
1. Legacy - Jill Barber
2. Paper Bag - Fiona Apple
3. Warning Sign - Coldplay

Two people who have influenced your life the most:
1. My parents
2. my sister

One person who has been nice to you today:
1. Gerry, one of my coworkers, gave me some cinnimon hearts (because his wife gave them to him and he doesn't like them) Seeing as I haven't been anywhere but work today, that's all I've got.

I have too much spare time.

2007-02-05T07:30:00.000-08:00

What a fun website! After seeing this I decided to try out this nifty site for myself. This is my sister's dog Winston. Not really sure what look he was going for here.

My First Sweater!

2007-02-01T03:54:00.003-08:00

I finally finished my first sweater! It's the Lady of the Lake from Fleece Artist. I think it turned out okay for my first attempt. I tried to take a picture of myself with it on, but that didn't work out so well, hopefully I will have a good shot of it soon...If you look closely you can see how desperately my carpet needs to be vacuumed...

Finally, Time to breathe?

2007-01-28T16:02:00.000-08:00

I seem to have been MIA for the past little while with holiday travelling, business travelling and then coming down with the cold from hell. (two weeks of this nasty bug and I am still not totally better)Hopefully this week I'll feel normal and can get back into somewhat of a routine. In the meantime, here are some little projects that I finished up lately.

This is a baby bib made out of Bernat Handicrafter Cotton from a pattern I found here www.knitlist.com/2003/babybib.htm . I have a new cousin on the way in August and my first neice or nephew will be arriving in Septembre, so many more baby things will follow I am sure.

The hat pattern is from Last Minute Knitted gifts and the multidirectional scarf I found on the web somewhere (forget the URL). Together, they used 2 skeins of Manos. The scarf is a little shorter than I would like, but I think it will do. This is my first time knitting with Manos, and I LOVE the texture. The colours are gorgeous too!

New Years Resolutions

2007-01-18T06:22:00.000-08:00

Again, I stole this from letitfall.org and I know, I am very late with me resolutions.

FIVE RESOLUTIONS FOR 2007
1. I will do some volunteer work
2. I will get in the shape I was in last spring
3. I will worry less
4. I will make some new friends in this crazy city
5. I will think less with my head and more with my heart

FIVE THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2007
1. The birth of my first niece or nephew
2. Visiting my sister in Ontario
3. Sailing around the coast of Labrador
4. Learning new skills at work and getting better at my job
5. Going to Stitch 'n Bitch more often

FIVE THINGS I'M NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2007
1. the beaurocracy of the federal government
2. trying to save money to buy a house
3. sailing for 28 days at a time and having to bunk up with a stranger
4. Spending yet another year on my own
5. valentines day

FIVE MOVIES I WILL SEE IN 2007
1. Little Miss Sunshine
2. The Prince of Tides
3. Borat
4. Charlottes Web
5. the last kiss

FIVE BOOKS I WANT TO READ IN 2007
1. The Stone Diaries - Carol Sheilds
2. Memoirs - Pierre Eliot Trudeau
3. The life of Pi (I forget the authors name at the moment)
4. Microserfs - Douglas Coupland
5. The tin flute - Gabriel Roy

FIVE THINGS I'M GOING TO TRY TO DO MORE OF IN 2007
1. Read!
2. be sociable
3. work out
4. be motivated at work
5. keep in touch with friends and family

A year in review (a little late)

2007-01-05T06:24:00.000-08:00

I stole this from letitfall.org... It seemed like a good idea.

FIVE GOOD THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN 2006
1. Going to visit my sister in Ontario (for free) thanks to a work trip.
2. Having my first real sea experience and seeing Dolphins and Whales for the first time.
3. Seriously taking up knitting.
4. Bought my dream car.
5. Was in the best shape of my life.

FIVE MOVIES I REALLY ENJOYED IN 2006
1. V for Vendetta
2. Ice Age 2
3. Cars
4. Wedding Crashers
5. Motorcycle Diaries

FIVE BOOKS I READ IN 2006 (AND SUGGEST YOU READ, TOO)
1. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
2. Famous Last Words - Timothy Findley
3. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
4. JPod - Douglas Coupland
5. How to Ruin Your Lovelife - Ben Stein

FIVE TELEVISION SHOWS I WATCHED ON A REGULAR BASIS IN 2006
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. don't
3. watch
4. much
5. TV

FIVE THINGS I LEARNED IN/FROM 2006
1. Fully appreciate those who are close to you. You never know how long you'll have them around.
2. If you don't speak up for yourself nobody else will do it for you.
3. Keeping fit not only keeps my body healthy, it keeps me sane!
4. I do not get sea sick. (that's good in my line of work)
5. the futility of material things. You can't take any of it with you.

FIVE SONGS THAT REMAINED ON MY PLAYLIST IN 2006
1. Legacy - Jill Barber
2. Evil - Interpol
3. Roca - Calexico
4. Yankee Bayonett - the Decemberists
5. Patriarch and a Vespa - Metric

CAP-puccino

2007-01-04T07:50:00.001-08:00

CAP-ucino, originally uploaded by leclerc_jk.

Tristan got me this for Christmas. I thought it was pretty neat. You can't really make it out in this picture, but it says CAP-PUCCINO - all the ingredients you need to make a cozy hat. Those are bamboo needles stuck in the top.

I also got some a great Altec Lansing stereo for my computer, a DVD player and a dining room table. I didn't take too many pictures while I was on vacation though, I never seem to remember to do that. Oh well, there is always next year.

Julie saves the day?

2006-12-12T03:57:00.000-08:00

One of our surveying launches is down in Port Hawksbury supposed to be doing some surveying, but the coxwain called yesterday afternoon in a panic because they're having GPS problems, so today I'm driving down to save the day! I've never been to Cape Breton or out that way at all, I know Port Hawksbery is technically not Cape Breton, but it's as close as I have come.
As, I'm still pretty new at my job I'm also looking forward to the chance to show what I'm made of. Hopefully all goes well and she's up and running later today!

Any KOLers who may read this, I will not be there tonight... I'm leaving to early to catch todays post.

I am a hermit

2006-12-04T07:26:00.000-08:00

This is not at all surprising... I didn't need a quiz to figure this one out.

If only I could find a lovely hermit community to settle in. You know, one with lovely moss on the caves and nice hermit neighbors.

You are The Hermit

Prudence, Caution, Deliberation.

The Hermit points to all things hidden, such as knowledge and inspiration,hidden enemies. The illumination is from within, and retirement from participation in current events.

The Hermit is a card of introspection, analysis and, well, virginity. You do not desire to socialize; the card indicates, instead, a desire for peace and solitude. You prefer to take the time to think, organize, ruminate, take stock. There may be feelings of frustration and discontent but these feelings eventually lead to enlightenment, illumination, clarity.

The Hermit represents a wise, inspirational person, friend, teacher, therapist. This a person who can shine a light on things that were previously mysterious and confusing.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

This weekend was a write off.

2006-12-04T06:16:00.000-08:00

I didn't make it to the Gaspereau Valley Open house on Saturday or to the Sarah Slean concert Friday night because I came down with a bad cold. The weekend was pretty much a write-off, I didn't even feel like knitting!

I spend most of the weekend keeping my eye on the Liberal leadership race, as I do not have cable and that's all that was on my two channels. Stephan Dion took it. He wasn't the favourtie going in, but he took it in the end. I can't say I follow politics closely enough to know the candidates well, but from what I have heard of Dion, I like him. Most of his supporters are younger and I think some new blood is much needed. Will he beat Harper? We shall see...

Now for the good news...
my sister and her husband made it down to New Brunswick from Ontario where they will be for the next month. I'll be joining them there in less than two weeks, I can't wait.

And, one of my best friends announced yesterday that her and her beau are tying the knot! Congratulations Dawn and Chris!

Yet another thing to make me feel old... I can hear my biological clock ticking away. tick.tick.tick.