First Finished Object of the year: Escarpment Cowl 2.0

So as the title says; first FO of 2017 is the Escarpment Cowl, made with MalMecha in Arco Iris and it is a beauty! A riot of colours!

Knitting it was long, and I don't know if I'll knit another one ever again, but I really do love the end result. I had some difficulty tinking back when I made a mistake, the Mecha was easier to deal with than the Biggo yarn, but tinking the K1 below was a pain in the ass with both of them.
The provisional cast on was very easy to undo, though I did end up with one extra stitch on the needles, which was so not a big deal. This provisional cast on will be my "go to" provisional cast on from now on.
I thought the yarn would fluff up and fill in a bit more with soaking, but it hasn't. It did grow in length though, making it long enough to wrap around my neck 3 times.

Second FO of the year was the super bulky socks I made using Liat Gat's Super Bulky Socks pattern. Using 9mm needles and 2 strands of (very old) stashed Cascade 220 in teal, and 1 strand of the Knitpicks Biggo in Duchess Heather. I knit the cuff for 4 inches, because even knitting only 20 stitches, it was incredibly boring knitting. The only reason the first sock got finished so fast? We had a power outage one night (lightning hit a power line apparently) and there was nothing else to do.

The second sock was finished while I was at Cafe des Chats* I've been wearing them constantly, so they haven't been washed yet. Oh well.

I cast on a Flax sweater, for myself this time! First sweater of 2017!

 I'm using MalRios in Pocion. Gorgeous, gorgeous pocion. It's a pretty straightforward knit, so there shouldn't be any problems, and I know I'll be happy with the result. I'll be knitting them with mah snazzy new clicks...say what? Guess what came in the mail?!?! My Addi Olivewood Interchangeables! They are lovely, and not at all counterfeit and came way faster than I expected (ETA was Jan11th-Feb22nd, actually came in on the 6th of January)  Also, didn't get nailed for duty/customs fees, since the needles were valued at 5$. Umm. Okay.
The needle tips are lightweight, warm up fast and not at all grippy. The joins are very smooth, and the locking mechanism (the "click") is very clever. The cords are great, very pliable.

I'm vry happy with the set, but I don't think I'll be rushing to add other sizes of tips and cords. For one, they are pricey-I would not have even bothered buying the set in the first place if I hadn't seen it for such a reasonable price on Ebay. Secondly, there's no room for more tips in the case.  Thirdly, I still love my other interchangeables, especially my Karbonz...and really, how many needles does one person need? (that is a rhetorical question)


Going over the projects I made in 2016,  I think it's safe to declare that year as the year I decided to embrace variegated yarns. I don't know how it happened, but I suspect Malabrigo was the gateway drug...all the way back to my early days of blogging when I was all "SOLID COLOURS ONLY" "MAYBE TONALS" and "VARIEGATED IS SO UGLEEEEH" while quietly buying yarns by Manos Del Uruguay and Malabrigo (I think the first Mal yarn I bought was MalWorsted in either Whale's Road or Paris Night?)  Now I'm all about the crazy colours. I can't wait to use that Bat Shit Crazy from Miss Babs, it's going to make an amazing sweater. It's the perfect yarn for a simple pullover, but will look awesome with jeans.


I read the Sebastian Bach book. I enjoyed it, because Sebastian fuckin' Bach! I'm currently reading That Lonely Section of Hell by Lori(mer) Shenher and The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. The Princess Diarist is entertaining-light and fluffy reading in that rambly Carrie Fisher style. Lori Shenher's book is a harder book to get through, it's about the Pickton case, and what a clusterfuck the whole thing was from the very beginning. It does offer some really interesting insight into what goes into an investigation. It was frustrating in a lot of ways, how little people gave a shit about these women who went missing. How little money was put into the investigation. How much this monster Pickton got away with.  So, a compelling read, but not one that makes you feel good. Princess Diarist has been a good palate cleanser.




*Montreal has 3 cat cafes, I've been meaning to go to them for a long time, but never got around to it. So, while everyone was still off of school and (mostly) feeling healthy; I decided it was time. I grabbed A, and off we went. She had already been to one of the cat cafes, but she had found the cats there skittish. We opted to try out Cafe des Chats, and I think we made the right choice. It was definitely made with cats in mind, lots of high up perches for them and comfy pillows and even a  private area for litter boxes and these adorable wee beds.
There was a super chill vibe, and I could totally see myself hanging out for long stretches of time with some knitting or a good book. If it wasn't sooooo far.
I will end this post with some cat pictures, Enjoy!