The Blue Brick

Minions!

April 27, 2011

I have been sooo busy these past few days, between work and packing … and work… and packing.

This condo is going to be gorgeous. I spent a ton of time putting my core skills to work in designing it, of course – I drafted a top-down, to scale schematic of the apartment and laid in each piece of furniture as I considered it to find the perfect fit. Everything is being delivered after the move and I already know where each piece will go. Tito and I are excited to see the space we’ve been planning finally emerge. It will be elegant and functional while maintaining an efficient and open layout for such a small condo.

In the meantime I’m also still planning on attending the Knitters Frolic this weekend, despite the proximity to our move. (Tito has known for weeks that we had to pack specifically to leave this weekend free for yarn shopping on Saturday and being at the Beading and Jewellery fair with mom on Sunday – and he doesn’t mind any of this. One of the things I love about him =) Speaking of the Knitters Frolic I just delivered 8 gorgeous new yarn bowls to the Purple Purl – look out for them at the show!

I’m also excited that my first sweater has been featured on the TFA Tuesday entry for Tanis’ Blog – Thanks Tanis!

Now, on to a few cute pictures.

These guys were the best part of Despicable Me! Who doesn’t want their own minion army?

I’m far from having a whole army – but I had to try making these cuties!

He (she?) can be found lurking around corners and in sock drawers. This one was gifted to my friend Chris, but someday I hope to have time to make a bunch!
The finest thing I have ever knit.

April 21, 2011

Yarn: Mirasol Tupa, in gold.

Pattern: The Travelling Woman by Liz Abinante

Mods: I did 5 repeats of chart A – and used 5 mm needles on a light worsted instead of the recommended fingering weight yarn.

Finished size: I haven’t taken proper measurements yet, but it’s roughly 6 feet feet across the wings and 2 feet deep. It took just over 4 skeins.

I love this yarn – what a pleasure to knit with, and it blocked so beautifully! This shawl was knitted specifically to wear to the Lion King (which was spectacular, absolutely go see it if you haven’t already) and the colour and the sheen of the yarn were perfect. Tito bought me a dress specifically to match the yarn – that’s how beautiful this stuff is. The shawl has gorgeous drape, shows off the lace beautifully and is warmer than it looks.

It is, in my humble opinion at the moment, the very finest thing I have ever knit.

Awww =o) Couple shot. We took this with a self timer right before finally seeing the Lion King – which I’ve been dying to see for about 10 years but due to a series of mishaps never did until now. Best. Christmas Gift. Ever.
Bella

April 19, 2011

Today my mom had to make the heart breaking decision to put our dog Bella to sleep. Rest in peace Bella, and thank you for 14 beautiful years. We will always love you.
It’s spring – really….

April 18, 2011

To get away from the trials of packing Tito and I went for a walk in Mt Pleasant cemetery last night with the cameras. Thanks to his amazing eye for little details we managed to photograph a lovely Robin, a male and female Blue Jay and a beautiful Cardinal.

On our way back it snowed. In fact, it’s snowing today. I don’t want to talk about that.
Cadillac Fairview run for POGO

April 15, 2011

This past weekend I got to volunteer at Cadillac Fairview’s annual walk/run in support of POGO (Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario). I was there as the photographer, and though Tito had come just to keep me company he ended up spontaneously donning a red volunteer shirt and working very hard that morning – is that sweet or what?

The weather started out pretty iffy and graduated to rain that was torrential by the time we left the park, but that didn’t stop 600 folks and countless volunteers and support staff from coming out in support of a great cause. Everyone had a wonderful time, despite the rain and I wanted to share some pics here!

Cadets from the Metro Toronto Police force came out to help organize the run.

Lots of amazing families came out to run or walk together and support each other.

At 10 am sharp the race was on.

Even doggies were running in support of POGO =o)

In total, $200,000 was raised

And Tito, though soaking wet, stayed out til the very end of the race to congratulate the last runners as they came in. Look at that face!

We had an amazing day and have already committed to shooting the run next year!
Kickass Mary-Janes

April 13, 2011

Found this pattern by Goodknits.com on these super adorable Mary Jane style slippers. The tutorial is for crochet, is beautifully easy and fast and I definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a super comfy, quick and fun project. Either for yourself or as a gift – these are perfect!
Glass Goodies…

April 11, 2011

These goodies are all from last weeks lampworking session – enjoy!

I also made this red pendant –

…which goes so beautifully with one of my favourite scarves…

And these earrings

Which had to be rescued by all the glue I spilled on them…

Hope everyone is enjoying the morning =o)
Engagement photos at Union Station

April 8, 2011

I wanted to share a few shots I took last weekend of my dear friends Mary and Perry (Doesn’t that sound adorable?). We did the engagement shoot on the weekend at Toronto’s beautiful Union Station, and I’m looking forward to shooting the wedding later this spring. They’re both amazing people, who are great to work with, and I wish them every happiness in their lives together =o)
Lampworked glass, session 4

April 7, 2011

Here is a view of a glass pendant that came out of the kiln on Monday. I had foolishly decided to use glue on the post, which resulted in Tito having to rescue the piece by cleaning it up and grinding off the glue. Good thing though, because I really loved the piece and felt terrible after I thought I had wrecked it!

Here is the other side. There are 4 different colours of glass involved; white, two different kinds of clear and a warm lilac.

The piece is an inch long (not including the post) and is the largest piece of glass I’ve worked so far. The rectangular shape is hand-pressed while the glass is still red hot. It’s topped off with a sterling silver post and strung onto a sterling silver collar. It’s lovely and classy – and as usual, I can’t wait to get back to the studio so I can improve on it!
Check it out, I knit a sweater!

April 5, 2011

The pattern is the V-shaped neckdown cardigan from Knitting Pure & Simple. I bought the pattern at the Kitchener/Waterloo knitters fair last summer, along with 6 balls of TFA Aran weight yarn in the Sunset colourway.

It’s a good pattern for a first sweater – the shaping is minimal and the construction is seamless. Rather than the pattern collar I did a simple crochet trim and chained 50 on each side for the ties. The beads at the bottom are handmade lampwork beads from Tito’s last studio session, which he kindly contributed to the sweater.

It’s a good thing I chose a fun, pretty yarn, or I would have never survived the endless rows of stockinette, even with the pretty seed stitch border to change it up.

Here I am, sporting my first knitted sweater =o) I love it, and even though I’m glad to finally be done I can’t wait to start another!