Noro waves scarf

I've finished a Noro waves scarf, and I love it. I used three different skeins of Noro Silk Garden, so that I could capture all of the colours of the rainbow. The pattern itself was easy to pick up. To knit it yourself, you'll need to know the knit stitch, how to do a yarn over, and how to drop yarn overs.



Project on Ravelry
Pattern on Ravelry (It's free!)

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What's going on

I'm slowly putting together my artist website, Angela Boyko Art.

Progress is slow because:

• I'm also looking for work
• I had a job interview yesterday!
• I'm also building a mermaid niche website at the same time
• I'm also constantly creating new products for Zazzle
• I went to Red Deer this weekend to celebrate my birthday
• I'm also learning SEO and marketing
  
• I'm also writing chapter 4 of my Crowen fanfiction Branching Out




• I have three cats that demand my attention on occasion. Not today, because I clipped their claws and they're all mad at me.




• I cook at home rather than eat out, so there goes some time.




• I need to sleep. I need to practise good sleep hygiene. So staying up until 1am to code doesn't work for me.

One of my Zazzle stores is 12 Steps Serenity. I just added a Serenity Collection to the website. I forgot knitting! This is part of a group blanket going to the ICU at the Foothills hospital. What have you been up to lately?

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Noro waves scarf in progress

#knitting #noro #wool

A photo posted by Angelamermaid (@angelamermaid) on Dec 12, 2014 at 6:21pm PST

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Finished products

Postcard of a knitting brown mouse by Angelamermaid
Browse more Postcrossing Postcards

Postcard of a grey hamster knitting a scarf by Angelamermaid
Create a Full color postcard with zazzle.ca

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Work in progress

#work in progress #knitting #mice #drawing

A photo posted by Angelamermaid (@angelamermaid) on Nov 11, 2014 at 10:09pm PST

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Moraine Lake again

Last week I went back to Moraine Lake, this time with a couple of friends. The lake was higher, thanks to melted snow, and oh so beautiful.

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Test knitting

My friend Susan from Crescent Moon Collective is now selling patterns on Ravelry. For the last couple of months, I watched her knit a new scarf and loved it - I wanted to be notified as soon as she'd written out the pattern.

And that's how I ended up as a test knitter. :-)

I've gone from this:


To this:


Row 2 was the worst - I had to redo it 5 times because I kept getting tripped up on how the instructions were written out. But I finally got it done and am still on speaking terms with Susan. ;-)

Now I'm in a groove and am loving how quickly this is knitting up. The call for testers is still flagged as open, if anyone wants to sign up.

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Olds Fibre Art merchant mall

This photo was meant to represent what the five of us bought at the Fibre Art Week event in Olds. At least two of them bought more after the photo was taken. :-)



I brought cash and only used that, to make sure I stuck to my budget. I bought lots of sock-weight yarn, plus a pattern.



We found a darling local bookstore that served tea and hot chocolate. If you're ever in Olds, check out Pandora's Boox and Tea.

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Games night

I went to a new Meetup tonight - the group is for board games, and the specific Meetup was women only.

Of the nine women there, three were named Angela and one was Angelica. :-) We Angelas all had ginger hair and wore glasses, to boot. Angelica is Hispanic and looked nothing like us.

It was a lot of fun. We played Quirkle, Forbidden Island, and Love Letter. I've already RSVPed "yes" for the next all-women Meetups, and one of the other ones as well.

One of the Angelas is someone I met at Drunken Knitwits. I drove her to the nearest train station so that she didn't have to walk or wait a while for a bus, later in the evening. She told me about a Geek Girlz Meetup group that I've since joined. And I've also joined a group on Ravelry that knits baby blankets for the local NICU because another woman tonight is part of it.

Fun and networking - a good evening.

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Day 43

Day 43, a photo by angelamermaid on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I made great progress while travelling this week.
ravel.me/angelamermaid/mms

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Homeward Bound Boo Yeah!

This morning, I was at the San Diego airport and a little nervous about the status of my flight. I was scheduled to fly to LAX, have a four hour layover, then board a plane to Calgary. RECAP.

 My flight got cancelled due to fog. BOO!

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Day 30

Day 30, a photo by angelamermaid on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
My scarf is coming along nicely. It's fun to blend the yarns together.

ravel.me/angelamermaid/mms

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Day 17

Day 17, a photo by angelamermaid on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Scarf update. Take 8. ravel.me/angelamermaid/mms

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Day 9

Day 9, a photo by angelamermaid on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I'm actually using the yarn I bought last week. ravel.me/angelamermaid/mms
This was take #6.

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Day 8

Day 8, a photo by angelamermaid on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I needed a picture of the cowl for Ravelry. Just came in from a brisk and chilly walk.
View the project on Ravelry.

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I finished a knitting project!

Finally, I can show you a knitting project that is finished - because the recipient is me! So I won't be spoiling myself by posting the photos. ;-)

This is Megan Goodacre's Montgomery Scarf pattern. A good one for beginners - it has a variety of textures without being complicated. The yarn is Bernat Roving.





This project on Ravelry.

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Knit for flood relief!

Tonight in my stitching group, a couple of the ladies shared a pattern for a cowl. All proceeds go to the Red Cross flood relief fund.

Even though I've been avoiding all patterns that call for a cable ... I'm diving in and doing it with them. Susan has promised that cables are easy and she'll teach me. She's been a very good teacher so far.

The Hell or High Water pattern.

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Things I Have Learned Recently

Apparently I have an inner foodie

I decided to try a recipe from Facebook, titled Coconut Custard Pie. I chose coconut milk for the milk, and substituted coconut flour for all-purpose flour.

I ended up with coconut cake. I went back onto Facebook and the picture with the recipe looks like cake. So, I guess my substitutions weren't to blame. But I found the cake a little dry, considering that I'd been expecting custard. I decided I should make a sauce to go with it.

I looked up a gluten-free recipe for caramel sauce and picked up ingredients while out and about. That's when it hit me - I never considered just buying caramel sauce. That's where I think I might evolving into a foodie. 

The caramel sauce was easy to make and is yummy.


That tall mystery plant in my backyard is not goldenrod

It's a tall hedge mustard. One of the ladies in my stitching group identified it from a photo. The flowers smell flowery, not mustardy. Some websites call it a wildflower, some call it a weed.

Snow peas like to reach out and grab everything but the numerous stakes and sticks I've put out for them

If they have to, they'll grab onto a stick. But they really like grabbing onto each other, nearby blades of grass, nearby pots of herbs, and tall hedge mustards. I've started clipping branches off of the tall hedge mustard before the snow peas drag it down and cover it.

That's not moss, that's thyme

Bit by bit, I'm introducing moss and thyme into the garden. For interesting textures, and as part of the fairy/rock garden evolving in the shady section. Irish moss has been transplanted around the stepping stone my sister made for me. Scotch moss is in the fairy garden.

I bought wooly thyme last weekend. Today, I was cutting some long grass in the shady section with clippers. Underneath the grass was ... thyme. Wooly thyme. Conveniently, right next to the fairy garden, so it will be incorporated with it. Last year, I thought it was moss. This year, I know what it is. It must be from someone who lived here before.

Johnny Jump-Ups love to jump

I found some growing amongst my periwinkle. Pretty! And according to Wikipedia they are also called heartsease.

I should give up on growing sweet peas in clay pots

They thrive better in plastic pots, where the soil doesn't dry out so quickly.

My stitching meetup group continues to be awesome

This week, I learned how to cast on longtail style, and how to knit in the round. The ladies are very eager to answer my questions and to show me. Which is a lot easier than trying to figure those things out from YouTube videos.

Labyrinths continue to be cool

I hosted a meetup by the Silver Springs Labyrinth, for the ladies of the stitching group. Only one showed up, but she loved it.

This was my third time walking it. It was astonishing how quickly the cosmos gave me an answer that allowed a bunch of mental puzzle pieces to suddenly click into place.

The pleasures of an open kitchen window

When I bought the house, the screen for the kitchen window was down in the basement. I couldn't figure out how to install it. I installed the screen door for the patio door and that was good enough. I never opened the kitchen window, because I didn't want bugs to fly in, and for ginger cats to jump out.

When all of the windows were replaced in March, the kitchen window got a screen. But I didn't open it.

If I'm going upstairs to do something, I don't like leaving the patio door open with just a screen, it doesn't feel safe. After I hung a suncatcher outside, I realized the solution - open the kitchen window! Fresh air while feeling more secure. And the curtains I made flutter in the breeze and look pretty.

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