island holiday

Tomorrow morning we're off on our PEI holiday. Of course, it will be a day and a half of driving before we get there, but the scenery should be lovely. If the trees are already changing colour around here, they will be even nicer as we head east.

We have no set plans for while we're there. We seem to have this holiday style of waking up, checking the weather, and then deciding what would be best to do that day. I'm hoping for at least one really warm sunny day, so we can go to the beach (swimming isn't necessary, as long as it's nice enough to walk and play in the sand, I'm happy). There's a food festival going on, so even if the weather isn't ideal, there will still be lots to do. Some of the activities are quite expensive, but hopefully we can get into a few of the free and equally fun ones.

I'm sure the week will just fly by, but at least we'll be having fun and relaxing! We've both had a busy few months, and my husband is especially looking forward to a break from the daily grind. Then the weekend after we get back is Canadian Thanksgiving, plus my niece's first birthday party, so we get to extend the fun and food a little longer. Also, I'll let you in on one of my surprises when we get back, so there's something for you to look forward to!

hint #8

I haven't posted any hints in a long time, so here's a little advice on something I was thinking about this morning.

Stuffing a knit toy properly goes a long way to making the toy look great, and it's not quite as simple as it might seem. Stuffing a cloth or crocheted toy is much easier, because the fabric is not stretchy, so you just stuff until you can't fit any more, and the finished toy should end up the shape you intended. However, knitted fabric is very stretchy, even when knitted on smaller needles, as my toys are. So if you don't get the stuffing quite right, the finished toy can look lumpy or with strangely shaped body parts.

The type of stuffing you have will make a big difference as to how you go about stuffing the toy. I've only ever used polyester fibre fill, because that's what I can get, so my discussion will be limited to that. If you've used cotton or wool stuffing, feel free to leave a comment about how those work. Polyester stuffing tends to be either light and springy, or soft and dense. I like the springy kind because it's less lumpy and the toy ends up squishier. The soft kind will pack in tighter, giving your toy more weight.

With the springy stuffing, you can just pull off a chunk thats about 1/3 to 1/2 bigger than the piece you're stuffing, stuff it into the body part, and squish it around until the shape seems right. Adding extra bits if you haven't enough rarely leaves lumps on the surface. Adding a bit extra in the nose and for round cheeks makes the head look much nicer, rather than just having a round or oblong blob.

With the soft kind of stuffing, you'll want to pull off a chunk, and roll it around in your hands until it seems about the right size and shape for whatever piece you're stuffing. If you need a bit more, be careful how you add it so you don't end up with lumps. Then carefully put the stuffing into the body part so it fills it out evenly. If you're stuffing a bunny leg, you can do it with two pieces: one for the foot, and one for the leg, squishing the stuffing around a bit so there's no obvious gap between the two.

If you notice any lumps after you've sewn the piece closed, you can use a darning needle as a sort of lever to smooth out the stuffing. Just insert the needle into the lump, and wiggle it into a better position. It does take some practice to get it just right the first time, so try not to get frustrated!

With either kind of stuffing, you'll want to make sure you don't over-stuff the pieces, because the stuffing will show through the knit fabric and look ugly. You won't be able to get a very firm toy with a knit fabric, but I find knitted toys to be quite squishy and cuddly, which is good in it's own way :)

lovely autumn friday

It's a lovely day here. It started off cool and crisp, and now it's sunny and warm. A perfect autumn day, right down to the changing leaves, geese honking overhead, the smell of earth and wood fires. If only my niece would have her nap, so I can take her for a walk later (really it's so I can enjoy the sunshine, but she doesn't seem to mind).

It's definitely a learning experience, spending so much time around a little one. An exhausting one too. I was 13 when my younger brother was born, so I was old enough to change diapers, feed him, babysit, and a lot of other things. But that was a long time ago, and he has a very different personality from my niece. It's all making me rather excited to meet my little one! Our list of names is getting shorter, and my belly is getting bigger, but it's still so many weeks away. At least I can feel him moving around now, so it's sort of like we're already getting to know each other.

In between playing, feeding, and changing diapers, I've managed to make progress on some new patterns I've been working on. All this is in preparation for next year, when I'm sure to have less time for designing and knitting. It's hard holding all these projects back, not being able to share them with you because they won't be released for so long. Everyone seems to be having fun with my other patterns, though, so I guess you're not bored yet!


Handspun, hand-dyed bunny by Elizabeth.

feeling grumpy

Our downstairs neighbour likes to practice his bass guitar. I don't usually mind because it's not too loud, and he does it during the day. However, he seems to have left his amp on really loud, with some kind of feedback, and he's not home. I think I'll hide in the bedroom for the rest of the night, with ear plugs, reading a book.

In case you've been wondering what happened to me this week, I started babysitting for my sister now that she's back at work. It's interesting spending so much time with a 1-year old. Needless to say, it didn't leave much time for blogging this week. Hopefully I'll get more used to it, and get more work done while she naps.

Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec

Promenade in Ste-Anne from Konstantin Ryabitsev on Vimeo.

We don't actually live in Montréal proper, but in a small suburb on the Western tip of the Island of Montréal called Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. Even though most of the West Island towns are posh bedroom communities for lawyers, doctors, and company execs, Ste-Anne is a welcome exception, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because it's a much older settlement than most others -- so there are no super-expensive McMansions lining the waterfront, and secondly because there are two high schools, one CÉGEP, and the Macdonald Campus of McGill university -- all in our small town of 5,000 people.

Even though the majority of West Island is historically mostly English-speaking, Ste-Anne is divided pretty evenly between French and English, especially when McGill is in session. Most townspeople are fluent in both languages, and those who aren't usually know just enough to get by. Even though I speak fairly fluent French, most people will switch to English when talking to me because I do not sound like a native (Québec has a very distinct local accent, while I learned the Parisian pronunciation). The further East you go in Québec, the fewer English speakers you will find, until you get to New Brunswick, which is the only officially bilingual province of Canada. From there on, the direction reverses and you get squarely into English-speaking territory by the time you're in Nova Scotia (with Acadia being a notable exception -- this is where the Cajuns came from).


Heading to ultrasound from Konstantin Ryabitsev on Vimeo.

The best way to get to Montréal from Ste-Anne is by taking the train, which takes about 45 minutes with all the stops. Sadly, the train doesn't run nearly frequent enough and is only convenient for commuting to and from work. The city of Montréal is trying to change that, but for the time being it's more profitable for the railroad company to let the freight trains through instead of the commuter trains. With gas prices around here being about $1.35 per litre lately (that's a whopping $5.40 a gallon), hopefully there will be more and more people taking the train instead of driving, and that might change how much pressure the city is able to put on the railroad company. Perhaps we might even see more than 3 trains a day during the weekend. :)

But, despite all of the above, we're quite happy living here without owning a car. Most stores are within walking distance from our apartment, and for stuff that we can't get in Ste-Anne, we usually plan weekend trips, sometimes involving Communauto -- a local car-sharing co-op that we're part of. Plus, we have lots of local restaurants to choose from and a Farmer's Market on the weekend that lets us stock up on organic locally-grown veggies.


Marche Ste-Anne from Konstantin Ryabitsev on Vimeo.

We quite like it here. :)

long day

I worked on a pattern all day, and it feels like I made no progress at all. Sometimes new patterns work out perfectly on the first or second try. Sometimes I make half a dozen attempts, before getting frustrated and leave it be for a few days, before trying to work out whatever is wrong. It could be the wrong kind or weight of yarn, or I'm trying a design that's too complicated or tedious, or the stitch pattern just isn't working with the overall design of a piece of clothing.

In better news, I was completely overwhelmed by how many people joined the Ravelry group within the first day! I guess I better make more of an effort to figure out what's going on! I had a pretty good day in my shops too, which was nice to see after a slow summer. Little Batly is pretty popular!

Anyway, I'll leave you with this cute photo of a farmer sheep, who looks all ready for this year's harvest. (knit by Sarah)

Ravelry group

I went ahead and started the group on Ravelry. Please sign up so I don't feel so lonely! I don't have much there right now, but I will be adding information as I figure out how it all works. I'm not very chatty on Ravelry (or in real life, for that matter) so hopefully some of you will start discussions.