Tuesday 28 April 2009

Commercials

Sometimes there are commercials that are so amazing you remember them years later. Here are 3 of my favorite commercials - this first one is the best, the second is really good, and the third is one that is on right now and that I think will be a classic. I'm also fond of the Kia Forte commercials right now but I don't think I'll remember them when they are gone.





Sunday 26 April 2009

Baby Shower

In addition to the stuffed animal that I posted about yesterday, I made the following for my friend's little guy.

I wasn't sure that this hat would fit him, but it looks like it will work for a few weeks, which is really when he will need it here in Calgary...


And I made a few bibs - this first one is a Ball Band Dishcloth with straps attached

And this is a Baby Bib 'O Love
Both are on the large size, but seeing as he doesn't need them right now that should work out fine.

In addition to this knitted loot I put 2 onsies in the present, not hand made - I wasn't sure how the hand knits would go over with the friend, luckily she loved them.

The hardest thing for me was knowing what size a newborn baby is... I'm still not sure I have a good handle on the whole baby size thing. Like the rest of us they vary in size but I don't even have an approximation or average. Does anyone know of a website with good baby size averages?

Saturday 25 April 2009

Elijah

My friend had a baby and thus there is a baby shower coming tomorrow and I've been on a baby item knitting bend for over a week. One item I just finished is Elijah by Ysolda Teague. A wonderful and cute pattern

As Ellie demonstrates, one thing that helps is having someone help you read the directions.


He is a cutie of a project - and I think that the trunk and arms will be good for little hands.

I decorated the bum with a little daisy stitch flower

The one thing is that I found it was relatively easy to lobotomize the toy while knitting each of the arms... :P
I'm sure I'll knit this again - perhaps with a nicer yarn - I didn't have many choices in the house because I wanted it to be machine washable...

I'll post pictures of other projects I've made soon.

Thursday 23 April 2009

Top Ten Meme - G

FemBlog tagged me with a meme a long (long) time ago and I forgot about it... You are supposed to list ten things you like that all start with the same letter, and why you like them. You are supposed to use the letter you are tagged with, and I was tagged with 'G'. I've been working on this list for awhile now... G isn't an easy letter

1. Giggles - particularly baby giggles, one of the best sounds in the world
2. Gardens - flower gardens, vegetable gardens, grass lawns... I don't know what else I have to say, they smell good, look pretty, and make better food than you can get at the grocery store.
3. Graduate school - I love learning new things, my new research is great, it is the path to my job of choice, university or college professor.
4. Grandparents - do I need to explain? mine were and are awesome
5. Google maps - it tells me how to get where I'm going - for example, my brother's house
6. Glial cells - the support cells of neurons, that may perform other functions that we aren't clear about. I love my glial cells - yep, I'm stretching here but really... G isn't an easy word to go on.
7. Guanine - yep, still stretching for ideas - this is a purine base that is part of DNA and RNA
8. Gump - well Tom Hanks movies in general
9. Grass - I love the smell of fresh cut grass - this is likely because I've only ever mowed a lawn once
10. Green - I like the look of natural things, our house has a lot of brown and neutral colours, and wood and plants... well not enough plants for my taste. There is just something about the look of growing plants that seems to make a house seem home-y for me. And then there is the fact that when things start to turn green it is a good indication that winter is ending and spring is coming. Though as the picture posted yesterday indicates, green sprouts are not a guarantee that there will be no more snow.

Saturday 11 April 2009

socks - yep, obsessed

I've cast on for the Embossed Leaves Socks by Mona Schmidt...



Yarn is KnitPicks Essential Kettle dyed in Bordeaux, a gift from my mom - thanks again mom!

98 Year Old Woman Survives L'Aquila Earthquake and Spends the Time Crocheting

As many of you likely know, over 200 people died in an earthquake in Italy this past week (the worst since 1980). This 98 year old woman (not related to me) was rescued after being trapped in her bed for about 30 hours - when asked how she passed the time during the long wait she replied that she 'worked on her crochet'. According to La Republica (big Italian newspaper) this is the 3rd earthquake that she has survived.

Well here is the video, but it is in Italian, so less fun for most of you but amazing and heartening for those of you that can understand it.



Also in Italian, Motivi a Maglia, reports on the same woman and is where I found some of my links.

What is horrible is how few buildings (about 14%) in the region are built to seismic-safety standards in a region that is labeled 'dangerous' in terms of seismic activity (source KCTV5 news). I hear that even the hospital, built in 2000, didn't meet the standards and has been rendered useless by the earthquake.

ETA: An article in English on the woman but now I'm confused about her name because there are 2 different reports.

Wednesday 8 April 2009

Ipod Cozy the First

No wordless Wednesday today - no pictures that I want to focus on.

Finished an Ipod cozy (best iPhone cozy EVER). I used some of the yarn that Femblog sent to me, not sure what it was but it was nice to work with.





It has a pocket for the headphones - I think I'll like the pocket.