Sel & Poivre

Knitting?

2012-01-18T11:22:00.000-05:00

Why yes, in fact I have been knitting!

Most satisfyingly on this...

..."Wisp" by Cheryl Niamath from Knitty . To be honest, I was never attracted to the pattern on Knitty but I kept trying to "Favourite" the thing on Ravelry when browsing patterns there.

I'm frequently finding I see patterns knit up or on Ravelry that come from Knitty and I can't believe how much more appealing they are to me than the pattern photos on the site. I should probably slow down a bit, and look through Knitty the way I look at Ravelry patterns!

The work on Mom's estate is proceeding (If you care how your loved ones will fare following your passing, get organized! Thank goodness Mom's stuff is in order because its still a huge job to distribute the pieces of life well lived.)

One of the jobs I've undertaken is to organize and sort the mass of 120 years of photos and newspaper articles related to the family she, as the eldest in her family had in her possession. I did a bunch of work to create a lengthy slide show about her that we had playing at the wake and at the post-funeral reception but since she was not the only member of her family, that piece is but the tip of the ice berg. Nonetheless I've now broken the back of the task in terms of organizing and sorting and I'm ready to start scanning and rebuilding the crumbling albums.

After the work of the day on matters related to the estate as well as trying to catch up with things in my own life (currently groceries are in very short supply in this place!) I need something mindless and calm to work on in the evenings. Wisp seems to be fitting the bill just perfectly.

As an added "bonus", Number One Son thinks Wisp looks "Sick!" ( in the current vernacular of kids in their late teens that's apparently high praise!) His view of the item below is not "Sick!" just "sick". As in "what were you thinking Mom?"

Well, I was thinking I'd like to reuse some yarn and so I did and before starting Wisp late last week I was very much enjoying working on EZ's Last Minute December Sweater. Its ready for finishing the currently rolling hems with contrasting yarn which will hopefully give the piece more structure and finish (and shrink the thing 4 or 5 sizes so it will actually fit me? Fingers crossed! ;) )

Beatnik is well past the half way mark with most of the back knit and the sleeves done but I need some clear headed thinking to figure out where I am in the chart (my post it notes dried up and fell off during its' 6 week period of neglect :( )

I even finished a Bandana Cowl (Free Pattern from Purlsoho) to give to a friend. I'm going to try to get that FO post done this week!

So I have been knitting and its been very enjoyable and I can't say that about a lot of things these days so Yay for Knitting!

And "Yay" for knitters like you dropping by today!

'Gotta Love Him!

2012-01-10T14:36:00.000-05:00

One of the annual Christmas events around here has, in recent years, become Number One Son's last minute flurry of activity in the wood working shop in the Garage under the Master Bed Room.

We now customarily fall asleep Christmas Eve to the muffled sounds of the electric grinder, sander or saw.

Christmas morning there are all manner of crazily wrapped parcels that were not in evidence (or possibly even in existence!) when we went to bed the night before.

You might recall this...

or some of these past efforts...

In December I had been working on re purposing the yarn from a knit I'd stopped wearing. The necessary unraveling and wrapping of yarn into skeins for washing and then winding into balls prompted some requests on my part of others in the house to "give me a hand" as it were.

Observing that process become the Number One Son's inspiration for this...

...His 2012 Christmas Gift to me - this custom designed "Extra pair of hands".

When I opened it we all marveled at its ingenuity... the likeness he achieved in rendering the hands...

how clever and sturdy and useful was the triangular stand...

Then we all noted the decorative letters..."SPN"...what did SPN stand for? We were all puzzled. For his part, Number One Son was perplexed at our question - wasn't it obvious??

"S"el and "P"oivre "N"its!

"Oh, wait..." he said..."it was so late when I was doing that..."

You can imagine the gales of laughter that followed. Right after that there were cheers of ...

"Merry Chrimas!"

(Another year he made a late night Christmas Tree Ornament featuring a spelling mistake that prompted a saying now also synonymous with our Christmases.)

'Gotta Love Him!

Climbing Back in the Saddle

2012-01-09T11:24:00.000-05:00

Here it is, the first day "back" after 2 weeks that were more Roller Coaster Ride than "Holiday".

The conditions with our Mom that lead up to our whirlwind "Break" really had been building since last January with a spike in activity in September but things had settled into a new "normal" of late. Mom attended the One of a Kind Craft Show (in a wheel chair with Number One Son "driving") to do her Christmas shopping. (She even got to meet Blogger Brenda while she was there!) She also attended the Theatre and various holiday events in December with her sister and their friends.

Right up until Christmas Eve she lived, as she wanted, in her own place, supported by a team of family and a dear childhood friend for everything from meal delivery (and lately, even service) to laundry and housework, shopping and transportation around town. As Christmas approached we had someone (Sometimes a succession of "some one's") with her all day until she went to bed for the night.

Christmas even started out pretty well. She happily wore a stylish outfit on her newly slender body. Under the tree there were gifts wrapped from her to everyone in attendance. She had a wonderful family visit after her triumphant arrival here on Christmas Day. After that though it was back to back all-nighters at the hospital following the emergency ambulance run, Mom's peaceful passing, my sister's arrival back in town then the flurry of activity around initiating duties as co-executor of Mom's estate, producing a 175 slide, 20 minute photo presentation of her life (18 hours over two days of scanning - my New Year's Eve and Day), two funeral home visitations, a big church service and reception, cremation and then internment, graveside ceremony and then finally a family dinner at mom's condo.

I know Mom would have been tickled pink at the send off. That feels good to be able to say!

On the home front, My Beloved, using up 2011 holiday days, held down the fort, or at least that's my impression because I rarely even saw him. Darling Daughter acted as my technology liaison working the phones and the Internet retrieving everything from maps and directions to telephone numbers to finding caterers and florists.Number One Son, with a heavy load of end-of-term homework and assignments looks like he's lost about 5 pounds in the absence of the usual meal service around here and the dog has taken to all kinds of terrible behaviour as he yearns for the attention he usually enjoys.

As for me, my head is still spinning!

There was knitting - so useful to wind down before trying to sleep each night. As you 'll soon see, the results are less than inspired!

Now though, I must head out into the sunshine, there's a fluffy white "fellow" here who's badly in need of a full grooming but who is also letting me know, as he always does, that no matter what else is happening, exercise has to happen too!

Thanks so much for all the kind words of encouragement and condolence in the comments. It was wonderfully heartwarming to read them at days' end when I could gather a few moments at my desk!

Thanks too for dropping by today!

Christmas Magic

2011-12-29T00:29:00.000-05:00

My Mom Enjoying Christmas in her teens

I often hear the term "The Magic of Christmas" but this year we actually experienced it as my ailing mother, literally devoting all the energy she could, got dressed up and attended Christmas Dinner festivities at my house. There were relatives here from out of the country - really for the purpose of seeing her and she didn't want to miss it.

But a false start earlier in the day had me preparing to transport dinner to her place because she just wasn't going to make it. But somehow she drew herself up and with my sister's help, got here. She visited with our special guests and then lay down for a nap in the guest room. She had a great rest - I know - I was checking on her regularly but about 20 minutes after my last check the dog started to bark outside the guest room door. Inside we found her unresponsive and minutes later I was riding in an Ambulance with her to the hospital.

EMS, Fire Service professionals and Hospital Staff who work on Christmas are true Christmas Angels. We saw them first hand as my mom received their calm, professional support over the next 36 hours.

So sensitive were the 3 Paramedics and 4 Fire Fighters in our house as the aromas of Christmas Dinner filled the air, the the small children playing in the next room with their new toys barely knew anything was going on.

Once at the hospital the staff of the Acute Care Emergency Department were professional yet so personable they put us right at ease despite our frightening situation through a long and uncertain Christmas night.

In the morning it became evident to my sister and me that nothing more could be done without violating Mom's documented wish for no extraordinary measures so we let the medical people know and in short order she was sensitively moved to the calm, peaceful atmosphere of the Palliative Care Floor where we then spent her final hours together.

Without pain or duress, holding our hands she passed away in utter peace.

There will be time for sadness - and no doubt lots of it - but for now I feel so good she didn't suffer (thanks to those wonderful Angels!) and that with our support and no small amount of Christmas Magic she was able to truly live until she died.

There's now a funeral to see to so I don't know when I'll be able to post next but I will be back. I hope to see you then!

Guilty Pleasures

2011-12-15T17:09:00.001-05:00

Like everyone else, I'm in the midst of the "holiday" frenzy. Its obviously swallowed up my blog posting time but l I'm managing the odd moment to still visit knit blog land where I read pretty much every knitter is reporting being swamped with Christmas projects and deadlines.

Glenna over at Knitting to Stay Sane is even dreaming of what she'll work on Christmas day when her other deadlines have passed.

Knitting for me these days isn't a to do list, rather, its my guilty pleasure. When I crawl into bed with my herbal tea at night and in the morning with my first coffee, hours before dawn, I'm knit on things just for me.

I'm knitting what I want, on items for me to wear - someday - no rush.

Amid the rest of the December demands, knitting like this does what knitting should do for me, in my life. Calm, engage, sooth and satisfy.

Beatnik's sleeves are done and I'm at the arm holes on the back. Taking my time and working carefully is paying off nicely and I'm pleased with the results.

I'm planning on adding short row bust darts to the front of Beatnik so I set the sweater aside for an evening or so and worked up a Bandana Cowl from the free Purlsoho pattern of the same name.

One skein of luscious Malabrigo and a few dozen short rows later my short row technique was all freshened up and ready to go on Beatnik and I had a great new cowl to show for it as well.

When I'm too tired to take the necessary care with Beatnik I've been working on my recycled yarn project. Big yarn, big needles, big progress even if only a few minutes are dedicated to it.

As I said, little, if anything else in my Nov/Dec timetable can be described in any such glowing terms but at least my knitting can and in these all too short, dark days, that feels pretty good!

If you're knitting to deadline though, hang in there, good luck with all of it and thanks for dropping by!

So, So Canadian!

2011-12-09T15:01:00.001-05:00

'Just saw this from Winnipeg teen Sean Quigley over at Needles & Things' blog.

To me, this video is so perfectly Canadian! I love how the snow is just there, all over everything but it could just as well not be there. Its just taken for granted.

And his cut offs and runners and open coat, mitts and toque - again in the snow - Number One Son and his friends call dressing like its not really cold out (because in relative terms to how cold it can be, it often really isn't!) "going Canadian".

His little smirky smile and direct gaze and the smiling teens with the multilingual signs - again I think that is what Canada is all about!

Low key, happy, confident.

And what a fresh and fabulous and relevant way to render that old song!

The video's gone viral so I mustn't be alone thinking like this!

I hope you like it too! Thanks for dropping by!

Destruction Complete

2011-11-28T12:23:00.001-05:00

The whole thing took between three and four hours to accomplish. (I had imagined something closer to an hour before I started to tackle things like spots where shoulders meet the neck and woven ends muddled things immeasurably.) Now a bit of a de-kinking is in order...

'Off to the bath we go!

Thanks for dropping by!

A "Dot" on the Shore of Hudson Bay

2011-11-24T08:21:00.001-05:00

I added Site Meter to my blog to see if anyone was reading my posts. In the early days, Site Meter told me no one was.

Eventually people started to visit and so then my attention shifted from the numbers to a feature called "World Map". because it illustrated the geographic origin of recent visits by marking them with little dots on a satellite view of earth. I still get such a kick out of those little dots! They show me all the far off places from which people drop by.

Australian, European, Asian, Middle Eastern, dots from all across Canada and the U.S., All of them intrigue me. I have to admit they've even helped me brush up my High School Geography!

One dot, though, particularly warms my heart. It regularly appears on the western shore of Hudson's Bay. As such it seems to me to be a true Canadian dot, up north, past the point where roads will take you. My visitor is up there, presumably knitting, through very, very long dark winter months, warding off that Canadian cold.

Cold + dark = Knitting Time

(Right?)

On the face of it, it seems like it would be a pretty blissful situation for a knitter doesn't it?

Maybe that's why the sight of that little dot makes me feel so good every time it pops up on that map. Its as if someone is visiting me from the ultimate knitting destination on the planet.

Wherever you are reading this from, thanks for dropping by today. If you're reading this from the shores of Hudson Bay, a special thank you to you, you lucky knitter!

Have a great weekend everyone!

I Can't Explain It!

2011-11-23T10:33:00.001-05:00

I just couldn't wait to tear that sweater apart.

Such destructiveness is really not in my nature. Normally Laurie's comment that the single ply might not be up to the stress of ripping would make me abandon the project altogether. Instead It made me more keen to try it out see what would happen.

Without a word of exaggeration, I read her comment and went straight down to the Laundry Room, grabbed the scissors and started with a sleeve. I ripped out the seam from the cuff up to the underarm and then back down to the hem. Then took it off the sweater and started to frog.

It was a little sticky as the yarn clung to itself a bit but otherwise it was no problem.

Then I undertook the neck. The seaming there made it more fiddly but its done and today I'll move on from there!

I'm finding the process strangely enthralling. Maybe its because I don't feel like I'm loosing a sweater. Rather, I'm gaining yarn, a knitting project and ultimately a new sweater?

I don't know for sure but as the old saying goes..."If it feels good, do it!".

It does.

So I am!

I'll keep you posted!

Something New

2011-11-22T07:56:00.001-05:00

Have you ever found yourself viewing an oft worn and enjoyed FO as "stash"?

I have.

Beatnik has involved the "Frogs" so frequently, I feel warmed up and ready to rip!

A Big Thank You!

2011-11-21T14:25:00.001-05:00

What a great end to a knitter's otherwise lousy week with all your kind comments about my FO posts Thursday and Friday! I can't thank you enough or convey to you how encouraging they were in the wake of the despair I felt earlier in the week.

Thursday night I even went to the Yarn Harlot's Toronto book signing downtown - something I would not have done given the dim view of knitting I was harbouring that day in advance of reading your kind words about my shawl.

Then, while at the signing I briefly spoke to a couple of highly skilled knitters about my troubles. One gave great advice on how to avoid big messy loops at the sides of the cable crosses where the non-stretchy yarn yawns and gapes. The other just told me about how much she has learned through making and correcting great big errors.

Surprisingly, all of it contributed to helping me come home feeling ready and willing to dive back in. I did give the cabled sections of the back a rest for the weekend. I didn't have much time to knit anyway so I left the challenging sections to the side and instead worked on the sleeves and on the tubular cast on/waist band for the front. It allowed me to accomplish more than if I'd been taking my time with cables which, in turn, encouraged me to keep on with things as well.

I'm thinking I might just keep working the pristine new side that's (hopefully) error free and that if I can execute it better than the back, I'll feel good about ripping the back out (again!) .

Without the kind words so many of you left here in the comments, I guarantee I would not feel there were any rosy prospects for Beatnik in this knitter's hands. So thank you for helping me to once again see the bright side of knitting and for dropping by today too!

My First Skirt FO

2011-11-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

I've never spent much time wondering whether or not to knit any of kind of garment before...sweaters, scarves, mitts...what's to wonder about? Knit 'em, wear 'em. Easy!

But a knitted skirt? Really? As I posted yesterday, while the knitting of a tube is simple enough, whether it would/could stay up, be too clingy,stretch out of shape - these were the questions I had to just wait until now, with a knitted skirt finished, I would be able to answer for myself. Here's what I've found...

" I wonder if I actually have the nerve to wear this thing in public?"

Pattern: "Olive Heathered Skirt"

Source; Knitting 24/7 by Veronique Avery

Yarn: All of 3 balls Diamond Galway Heather

Colour: Chocolate

Needles: 4.5mm Addi Circular

Start: October 13 Finish: November 3, 2011

Modifications: Lengthened Waist Band, Added 2 strands Elastic Thread

Well here it is from the back...

"Hmmm it looks like my rear end is an almost perfect square"

...from the side...

... 'must perpetually turn so not to expose "The Square" to anyone for more time than necessary, hopefully minimizing their impression of same.

...from above...

"Hey this is actually pretty comfortable!"

Despite 3 inches of negative ease (why it stays up!) its comfortable to sit in and there's no feeling of binding or that it's unduly stretching while I'm sitting. In the shot below I just sat down, didn't fuss with the skirt at all except to lift it a wee bit in the back so as not to "put a seat in it" as my grandmother used to say.

"I like the way it covers my knees when sitting."

I added the belt to cover the purple part of the waist band. (Why is it purple? 'Short answer... "I'm cheap". Longer answer here.) I had planned to fold the waistband over, enclosing a piece of elastic but just doubling the band from 1.5" to 3" really made a difference in how well the thing seems to fit. Just to be sure though, I threaded two strands of elastic cord through the waistband as well.

So the knitting was easy. The wearing is going to honestly take a bit of nerve. There is no where to hide in this thing! A proper undergarment is going to keep stretching of the skirt and bulging of the knitter to a minimum but it can't do everything (See note on Square Rear above.)

I heard the Passionknit Skirt ladies made the point in their DKC presentation that...

...the style of skirt is very important to the success of the effort because it has to suit the figure of the wearer.

I'm not sure whether this pencil-style is the one for me but on "What Not To Wear" Stacey and Clinton are always telling women to invest in a classic pencil skirt aren't they? So I figured, why not me too? As I mentioned in yesterday's post my wardrobe is one of extremes but a knee length wool skirt is a great middle-of-the-road piece and I hope to wear a lot in the coming weeks and months. I'll have to try it with a more casual top, chunky tights and flats or ankle boots to make it more wearable more often.

At just over $20.00 worth of yarn and a couple of weeks of easy knitting it's the bargain of the century - even with the cost of the belt thrown in!.

Hey I think I might be coming around to see firsthand that knitting a skirt isn't so ridiculous after all!

Thanks for dropping by!

Smocked Lace Scarf by Veronique Avery FO

2011-11-16T13:56:00.001-05:00

Pattern: "Smocked Lace Scarf" by Veronique Avery

Source: Knitting 24/7

Yarn: 7 Balls, Sublime Kid Mohair

Colour: Vellum

Needles: 6mm Circular

Start: August 24 Finish: October 17, 2011

Modifcations: Larger Needle/Heavier Yarn to yield Wrap rather than Scarf

I've posted a lot about the details of this knit. It was such pleasure to work up I was sad to see it leave the knitting basket but I admit I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

After buying the yarn to make some kind of wrap and discovering I hadn't enough yardage for any kind of wrap I ended up using a scarf pattern intended for lace weight silk.

With relatively large 6mm needles I knit one ball for each of the smocked lace ends, each yielding about 11.5" for 23" in total length (blocked).

I used 2.5 balls per side for the saw tooth lace. Together that added 56" in blocked length to the ends for a 79" soft, hazy, incredibly warm, dreamy wrap.

The length is sufficient to nicely drape...

Or wrap cozily around and stay put...

My original vision had been to make something to curl up in on cold winter nights knitting in front of the television so I'm kind of surprised it worked out so well as a bona fide accessory for evening wear! (My Beloved's business requires we attend many such events each year so this will get lots of use. (Sel & Poivre "fun fact"...my polarized wardrobe consists of numerous long dresses for Black Tie events and mud-worthy Dog Walking apparel with virtually nothing in between. Sad but true.)

The diamonds in the smocked lace happen to match the sparkly applique at the waist of this particular dress.

"Matchy" diamonds notwithstanding, I'll be pairing this piece up with lots of other formal dresses. Its such a rarity to go out over the winter in evening wear and not feel chilly but with this ivory beauty I was quite comfortable the whole time.

The Sublime yarn utterly lives up to its name. Soft. Shiny. Fluffy. Substantive. Sublime!

Tomorrow we'll move from "Sublime" to ridiculous...

As in "ridiculous" as I generally thought knitted skirts to be. The "Skirt Ladies" at Passionknit convinced me to nonetheless give it a try so I knit one from the same Knitting 24/7 book as this wrap pattern came from.

Of course the ridiculous aspect of knitted skirts isn't in the knitting but in the wearing right? How will it fit, where will it hit?! I wanted to post photos that would tell that tale - so much more interesting than the story of a glorified knitted tube!

Yesterday Darling Daughter had a bit of time to finally help me snap some shots so I'll be able to at last post a modeled FO report on My First Knitted Skirt tomorrow!

'Hope to "see" you then! Thanks for dropping by today!

DKC Tonight...

2011-11-16T09:06:00.001-05:00

...and not a moment too soon. I need to get among some enthusiastic and successful knitters ASAP and hope some of it rubs off on me.

"Hate" is such a strong word but I find it keeps coming to my mind again and again as I slog away on Beatnik. (Early, early this morning as I tried to squeeze out a bit of clear headed knitting time I found two miscrossed cables about 10 rows back in what I thought was yesterday's significant progress.)

I'm sure you can appreciate how that terrible word keeps running through my mind when this terrible project is in my hands. The Yarn. The Pattern. The way the two of them photograph together in the weak November light. Maybe even Knitting itself.

Yup. "Hate".

The only thing the project has still going for it is Monogamy and Persistence. If I stray, for even a minute. I strongly fear all will be lost.

EZ says I must be the boss of my knitting yet things keep going off the rails. The knitting, pattern and yarn is bossing me around The only thing I can do is refuse to relent.

I'm sure some of you will be thinking I need to take a break from it and you're right. I will - sort of.

I'll take the seed stitch sleeves with me tonight. I'll work on them during the meeting and on the subway en route to my pre-DKC meet up. I may even leave a wee bit early to head downtown and so maybe prolong feeling a bit of positive knitting energy. I'll take a break from the cabling and hope error free progress on some aspect of this knit will jar me out of this funk.

"Hate" knitting? Yup. Today I think I do!

'Fingers crossed a good dose of DKC tonight will help.

"Trying to Catch Up"

2011-11-15T09:56:00.001-05:00

Yup, that's the subtitle of this little knit blog of mine...Trying to Catch Up, with these days, a particular emphasis on the "Trying"!

As time goes on and projects are attempted, learning ensues and generally progress is made.

To be honest though, I thought Beatnik would be an easy little blast back to cabling. Ahem. Not so much.

First, I've never cabled something with so much detail within the cables so I'm having trouble memorizing them, hence much more referencing back and forth from work to chart to legend then back to work. So many chances to glance at the wrong bit of information and loose track of where I am. Concentration is paramount.

Secondly, the Remix yarn, with no wool content also has no stretch. The cable crosses, especially the longer and more complicated ones need to have perfect tension so as not to gape or, conversely, pucker,

Columns of stitches twisted both on knit and purl sides can quickly turn to impenetrable cords if worked too tightly while missing just one leaves a screaming hole that ultimately demands correction despite somehow having defied detection for at least a couple of rows.

Slow down. Concentrate. Work every stitch with visual, not just tactile care. This is not just a project for the hands but also very much for the eyes as well.

Things have been "trying" but I am "trying" not to let that get to me and instead focus on that ultimate goal of "trying" to catch up.

For now, at least, I'm feeling better that as of last evening I have once again caught up to where I was last Thursday before I ripped everything back to the ribbing!

A small victory but critical to see it as a victory nonetheless!

Thanks for dropping by!

I.AM AN.IDIOT.

2011-11-15T09:12:00.000-05:00

Yup. I'm right back to the beginning - just like the marker says. #!%**! Row 3!

'Never should have been all "Ooooo look at me, I'm going to avoid errors this time!" That post came right back around and bit me. Hard.

Arrrrrrgh!

11.11.11

2011-11-11T09:32:00.001-05:00

Lest We Forget

Ruminations

2011-11-09T12:04:00.000-05:00

Boy it feels good to be working on a big project again!

Its not the stuff of great blog fodder and the gratification of multiple small pieces I've done in recent months is undeniable but it feels like such a luxury to now be hunkered down in the depths of cabled rows and seed stitch sleeves.

I'm trying to get through one 16 row repeat of the chart every 24 hours. If I make that goal with time to spare then I'm forcing myself to work only on the sleeves. My hope is this pacing will both hold me to task and prevent project fatigue from prematurely relegating Beatnik to the bottom of the basket.

This latter condition often comes about for me when I get overly enthusiastic, race on wards, make a stupid mistake I don't catch because I'm too drunk with glee at the prospect of rapid progress, and then throw the whole thing aside in disgust.

The past few years my knitting has been about gaining technical skill. I would say, to date I've got some mechanical skill but the "technical part" - getting the details not only right but exactly right is what I need to put more effort into achieving. One such detail, is maintaining steady, error-free progress. Obviously attempting entirely new-to-me techniques will involve more trial and error but straight up flat cabled knitting is the kind of stuff I started out with back in the last century. I know what I'm doing. The challenge is to avoid the distractions that keep me from doing it.

Towards this end my current watchwords with Beatnik are "pacing" and "focus". As I watch the numbers steadily climb on the row and repeat counters it feels like its working!

I hope your knitting is working out for you today too. Thanks for dropping by!

Weekend Progress

2011-11-07T12:22:00.002-05:00

Well the long lingering hours of knitting I envisioned for the weekend were swallowed by gorgeous autumn weather. It demanded time in the garden over time with needles on the couch. I did carve out a few hours though...

That got me through one repeat of the two 16 row charts. The cabling is cleverly enhanced here and there with little surprises that keep you having to pay attention.

Like the neat little thing branching out on top of the thicker cable above. Its a k2tog but then, leaving both on the left needle, you knit the first stitch by itself before then slipping them both off.

Of course that first repeat is always the hardest. Before the pattern is established, I'm blindly following the chart, hoping for the best because there's nothing I can recognize that might allow a visible check of the work. Trying each of the 18 different stitch treatments, looking back and forth between charts and legend, made each row take quite a while.

I also did the tubular cast on and twisted rib cuffs for the sleeves. Now they're both ready to start seed stitch patterning on one circular needle. As recommended by Ms. Zimmerman, , the sleeves can be my "whenever I've got a minute to knit" project. Working the more complicated fronts and backs will require some concentration and at least at the beginning, attention to the charts and their legend. So I need to keep from trying to knit them when I'm not sufficiently clearheaded to do so without errors. With all the twisted stitches I will not want to be ripping this back!

So since tonight the calendar is clear, you know what I plan to be doing! Thanks for dropping by!

Midnight Blocking

2011-11-04T12:38:00.000-04:00

Well the skirt is done - 'got done last evening and then right away, into a bath. I wouldn't normally undertake blocking after the 11:00 news is over but once it soaked and was rolled to remove excess water it wasn't like there was a whole bunch of pinning out to do or anything!

In fact I decided not to pin it out at all. Instead any snugness can remain as a hedge against looseness/potential slippage the couple of lines of sewn in elastic don't handle. If its too tight I can always just wet it again and pin it out for better fit.

This morning its still quite damp so no modeled shots until next week.

Post blocking, a most disturbing line of wonky stitches has become visible four inches or so from the skirt's bottom edge. Other than looking wonky there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with them and the back of the work looks entirely normal. I won't spend too much time wondering about this though as there's obviously no fixing it now!

What a spectacular feeling to have a fresh FO and a weekend ahead of me without a million commitments and so the prospect of some time to dive into Beatnik with a clear conscience! I'm done the bottom ribbing and set up row for the cables so it'll just be sitting down to pure knitting fun!

I hope you're looking forward to a great knitting weekend too! Thanks for dropping by today!

Not Quite Enough

2011-11-03T13:24:00.001-04:00

Having powered through the last few inches at the top of the skirt I got to about a row and a half from casting off when I hit the end of the third and final ball of yarn recommended in the pattern

Like a good little knitter I did buy an extra ball just in case but I refuse to break into it for a few yards. I'd rather return it to the shop and exchange it for something more interesting!

Instead I decided to utilize a bit of stashed yarn. It shows at the very top of the skirt. Even then I don't think its entirely objectionable!

It also allows me to add a turning row and then double the waist band sufficient to contain a piece of elastic.

Now I just have to try hard to do the waist band assembly justice and not just rush through it to get the next project. I know this is a classic point at which I might start to cut corners just to be done with it. Doing otherwise will be a tough assignment indeed - wish me luck with that - I'm going to need it!

Whatever the outcome though, be assured you'll be the first to know how it turns out!

Happy Halloween (Felted Pumpkin FO)

2011-10-31T10:36:00.001-04:00

Pattern: Miniature Felted Pumpkin by Tracy Batchelder

Source: Ravelry

Yarn: Remnant Orange/Green/Brown Worsted

Needles: 6mm Bamboo dpn's

Start:October 20 Finish October 30, 2011

Modifications: Held Yarn Double Throughout

After puttting some of the remnant orange from my Fair Isle styled cardigan to work in my Head Band there was still a bit of the stuff left over. So when I spotted this pattern on Ravelry in the midst of my current "Use Up My Yarn" obsession I started working them up.

When I ran out of orange I decided to try a "Gourd Style" version to squeeze one more out.

I played around with the stems a bit, with what I judge, are less than satisfactory results. Mind you, I stuffed and finished them between midnight and 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning waiting for Number One Son to come home from his second Halloween function - in his second costume! - of the weekend, so perhaps my hand and eye were a bit less than optimal at the time.

Ditto the results of the felting. I would have felted them more but I was racing to finish before heading out for our fifth evening function in the last week. Things have been a bit crazed.

Nonetheless I think they still do a good job here in knitblogland illustrating my wish, to you, my knitting friends for a ...

Happy Halloween Everybody!

Post Op Recovery

2011-10-26T17:03:00.002-04:00

No knitting post today - 'too busy playing nursemaid.

Neutering was a condition of sale when we bought him. 18 months of age was the recommended time. Last week he hit the year and a half mark. So today was the day. I'm so relieved its over and he's okay.

One thing's for sure - he isn't in any pain! I put him on his bed and that's the position he just slumped into. I think I'll move him into a less twisted position so he doesn't wake up to find his front leg asleep!

Getting Around

2011-10-25T09:22:00.000-04:00

My portable project has been getting lots of mileage. Except for every tenth row where a cable needle is called into use its just around and around in stockinette with a couple of purls thrown in after each marker.

Last week and weekend were busy but I just grabbed the bag up with me wherever we went. Of course it was perfect subway knitting and when My Beloved was at the wheel I was able to knit my way all over the city.

What television I did catch, of course also leant itself well to the cause ('Saw the first episode of the BBC series Case Histories on PBS - 2 solid hours of excellent, commercial-free drama - bliss!)

Then there is the knitting into the early morning hours Friday and Saturday as I wait up for Number One Son to arrive home. I'm generally too dopey to accomplish anything that requires concentration at that hour but stockinette in a circle? Perfect!

So with a dozen inches done, just one more set of 10 rows before decreasing in toward the waist. (One of the great things about knitting bottom up, I think, is that as you get ready to be done with something the rows generally get shorter the closer you get to the top and the end of the knit.)

The substantial piece of fabric all this is yielding also allows me to better appreciate the colours in the Diamond Galway Heather yarn. From a distance its just rich chocolate but then up close, wow!

Of course the word "wow" does not jump into everyone's mind when they get up close to this piece...

I think what he's thinking is more like "hurry up and take the stupid picture, its time for a walk!"

Thanks for dropping by today!

Getting Sorted

2011-10-24T13:26:00.000-04:00

First things first...the Mohair Wrap was blocked and worn on Saturday but photo issues have delayed that FO post a day or two. (Good photography help is hard to come by during midterms!)

Over a busy weekend I did manage to dedicate a couple of quiet daylight hours to sort out all the projects I have on the needles as well as work out the next few as well. 'Seems everything was at one of those points that requires a bit of concentration.

"Beatnik" received a tubular cast on - with smaller needles (3.5 rather than 4.5mm), as is recommended to prevent gaping at the edge of ribbing that will be expected to repeatedly expand and recover. Why was that so tricky that I'd put it off? I had to go downstairs to retrieve the smaller needles and the book with my tubular "how to" in it. Yup. Laaaaazy!

The Twisted Mittens, with thumb stitches off the holder and onto needles required additional thumb stitches to be picked up. With that done, how far behind can a finished mitten be?

Anticipating the completion of those mitts I did a bit of math and sorting of pattern for a pair of mitts for Number One Son. I'd picked up a bit of yarn at Passionknit on Friday to enhance a little collection of red and grey sport weight remnants I had on hand. Together it should yield the stranded mitts he's requested once Twisted Mittens hit the FO pile.

I'm thinking mitten work will take the place of socks in terms of "small projects" for me this autumn so I've put together a little collection of Mitten "Kits" ready to go with yarn and pattern combinations assembled .

Getting sorted (when eventually I get around to it) always make me feel good! I hope you had a weekend where your knitting made you feel that way too!

Thanks for dropping by!

Do I Look 57 Pounds Lighter?

2011-10-21T11:52:00.000-04:00

'Just got in from dropping the dog off for an overnight visit at the Breeder's.

I feel like I've got a limb missing - a big, bouncy, fluffy, cream coloured, 57 pound limb!

'No purpose for the visit other than for him to romp with other poodles - with no Standards around here we've yet to find a local dog that can maintain the fast and prolonged pace of poodle play with him. I also want him to be familiar with staying in their facility so if and when we do have to board him there for a longer period of time he won't be too freaked out about it. He's going to be groomed while there as well - same reasoning - so he's familiar with someone grooming him other than me.

Anywaaaay, have you been following the saga of the Harlot's Gwendolyn? Heartbreak and hilarity all wrapped up in the story of one rushed knitting project as only Ms. Pearl McPhee can? It got me thinking about adding the pattern to my queue and so I spent a few minutes flipping through the various projects for it on Ravelry yesterday and came across this amazing variation on it.

In a million years I would never have thought to turn that women's hooded pullover into a child's turtleneck! But isn't it fabulous? Never mind the other knits that kid is wearing! He's even a great model to boot!

Other knitters and the work they produce can be so inspired and inspiring can't it?

To that point, what a great bunch of thoughtful opinion yesterday in the comments about blocking my Mohair shawl! I'm still mulling over all the great input but putting off my final decision until I do the deed later this afternoon.

I loved Raelene's comment...

I remember a time when I didn't even know what blocking was... Then I knew but thought who would do that???!!! Now I block everything...

I remember just months ago thinking I would NEVER knit lace. Then I noticed I was mesmerized by the work that Rae was producing like Jared Flood's Juneberry Triangle shawl and I started considering it....now I'm trying to figure out how best to block the lace I've knit. Knitting can be such a slippery slope can't it?

Well I'm off now to do a big long string of errands to take advantage of not having the dog around this afternoon or evening. (Oh who am I kidding? I don't want to hang around here, it too creepy without him!)

Have a great weekend! Thanks for dropping by!

To Block or Not To Block

2011-10-20T09:14:00.001-04:00

I have been see sawing back and forth all week as to whether or not to block the Smocked Lace Mohair Shawl. So I took it with me to the DKC last night - a hundred and fifty or so informed opinions on the subject might provide an answer right?

The first vote I got was a thoughtful "No" - agreeing with me that the stitches, floating as they do in their mohair haze don't really need to be locked together through a wet blocking and agreeing that the edges are already quite neat and tidy.

Whatever You Want

The next two votes came from knitters who genuinely thought I should just do whatever I wanted with it - it was my knitting, my shawl, my preference, case. closed.

Yes!

The fourth opinion I sought was a very strong "of course you need to block it...its lace!" It doesn't have to be severe but even a light blocking will flatten out the smocked section so that you will be very, very happy with it!" Now this last woman also added she has worked with Sublime for lace herself, several times in the past.

She suggested blocking wires down the sides to evenly, if only slightly open up the piece width-wise and pins to softly enhance the naturally scalloped edge at each end. Besides, the Three Needle Bind Off, she said, really needed to be flattened right out...

So with no one really agreeing that "Nooooo it shouldn't be blocked!", I'll give it a go today. I just realized yesterday we have a dressy business function this Saturday - a perfect opportunity for the shawl's debut outing so I better have it ready!

Thanks for dropping by!

MMMMMMMMMohair!

2011-10-19T10:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday while my sisters took my mom for tests I housecleaned her apartment.

Before I left with her laundry to do here at home, I grabbed an old Mohair blanket from the closet that used to be my Grandmother's and shoved it into the laundry bag thinking I'd freshen it up for mom's use in the coming chilly weeks of autumn.

This morning as I'm packing everything up to return to her I couldn't help snapping a few shots of this gorgeous piece after its bath.

All I did was hand wash it a couple of times in the laundry sink. This was a job that required full on cleaning as opposed to a freshrning up so I used the detergent I keep on hand for delicates. Honestly I think the loft probably quadrupled. Both the following shots were taken from the same distance away, both after laundering but the second after being brushed out...

Not only does this little curry comb, that is meant for maintaining wool blankets, allow the piece to once again trap the air that makes it so warm, as you can see it also removes little bits of lint and dirt, all without damaging the fabric. That little bunch of fluff is all the material that was removed from both sides of this 5x7' blanket.

Here's a shot the job it did on the fringe - see it before and then after brushing...

MMMMM-MMMMM Good!

Thanks for dropping by and if you're in Toronto, don't forget tonight Shirl the Purl is speaking at the DKC. See you there?

Ready to Hit the Road (Finally!)

2011-10-18T10:53:00.001-04:00

I queued this skirt last autumn only picking up yarn from my LYS before the long Thanksgiving weekend this year. I thought the miles of driving that weekend well suited to the miles of circular stockinette in the pattern.

As we headed towards cottage country that Saturday some kind of brain block seized me. I thought I must be misreading the pattern. Three times I knit up two or three inches, decided it was wrong and ripped it back. So much for in-car progress! Things didn't improve with time and attention at the cottage that afternoon or in either of the two lengthy car trips we had the next day. I remained convinced I was in error and arrived back in the city with nothing more than the ribbing done around the bottom.

So last Saturday, I headed for Passionknit, where I purchased the yarn and where skirts are a specialty among the staff. I knew former store manager Tamara would be working in the shop that day and that she has successfully knit up not one but two of these particular skirts.

Within minutes of working with Tamara, using one of her skirts for reference, the lights came on in my brain and I knew how to proceed. (Truth be told, she confirmed for me that I was doing it right in the first place...arghhh...sometimes the truth hurts!)

The completion of my Smoked Lace Mohair Wrap yesterday I was finally free to work, with new confidence, on the skirt again last night. With the set up round complete I've added stitch markers, attached counters to track row and pattern repeat counts and I feel ready to take the whole show on the road at the drop of a hat.

Even "someone" without thumbs can carry it around! Its going to be a great, portable project!

Thanks for dropping by!

Sublime Binding Off

2011-10-17T11:09:00.001-04:00

Up and very busy very early this morning after a huge one-day closing up ordeal yesterday at the cottage so I decided to treat myself to a little time mid morning to bind off my Smocked Lace Mohair Wrap. (Over the course of two very late nights Friday and Saturday waiting up for my socializing son I added about7" to each half of the wrap splitting one more ball of yarn between the two sides.)

This Bind Off is really bitter sweet; I've enjoyed knitting every single stitch with this spectacular yarn.

I hope you can see on your monitor it's almost miraculous nylon-enforced braided structure floating in a halo of mohair while simultaneously somehow also managing to shine! "Sublime" really is the perfect name for this stuff!

As for the Bind Off itself, its a 3-Needle Bind Off but worked with wrong sides together to yield a decorative feature to the right side of the wrap. I took care to ensure I maintained the correct tension so as not to pull at the very stretchy lace edges.

And then it was suddenly done.

There are a few ends to weave in where new balls were joined. I want to take care with this so as not to have them visible in the very transparent fabric. I'll want to do that in daylight so maybe I'll sneak another little knitting break in this afternoon!

The Sublime ball band recommends blocking under a damp towel so I'm not planning a bath of this baby - it should be an FO by mid week. I'll be happy to see it there but truth be told I'll miss it in my knitting basket!

Thanks for dropping by today!

a Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

2011-10-14T12:18:00.000-04:00

"Beatnik" by Norah Gaughan - Knitty Deep Fall 2010

Have a great weekend - I feel pretty sure I'm going to!

Flying Along

2011-10-13T08:49:00.001-04:00

After taking an all day class in Tvaandstickning Mitten (aka twisted knitting) last spring I resolved to make a pair of mittens using the technique right away before I forgot everything I learned. Ahem...I didn't do that. So now, months later when I did take a run at it I was anticipating a lot of heartache and the beginning of the project didn't disappoint on that. I got off to a slowish start, working the cuff twice after ripping out my first attempt.

In fairly short order though my twisting technique began working well and now I'm moving along faster than I thought would be possible. (I guess 'bottom line, they are mittens in worsted yarn - how long can that really take anyway?)

'End of last week...

Yesterday afternoon...

This morning...(after knitting the mitten tip twice - first time decreasing every other row instead of both ends of every one ooops!)

The technique requires a constant twisting of the two yarns around each other in the same direction, so excess twist must be released. The prescribed technique is to unspin the yarn but I'm finding unspinning the mitt works just as well.

I'm off to a Dental appointment downtown via the subway this afternoon so I'll take the mate for this little guy along for the ride!

I hoping these will be done before I know it!

Not Quite There Yet

2011-10-12T10:27:00.002-04:00

After pinning the two ends of the Mohair Scarf together with long stitch holders and wrapping up in the whole works I've decided this thing needs more length.

Draped across my back and over each arm its quite acceptable but in wrap mode it doesn't quite make it around far enough for both ends to stay put at the back. You can see just taking this picture, the left side dropped to the front.

I'm going to knit half a ball of yarn in onto each end. That should give me 6" more per side or 12" overall. Once that's done I'll try it again then and see how that works.

I must admit I'm kind of pleased to be able to stitch on this a bit more. It's lovely to work with something so soft and delicate. Its easy on the hands and wrists and this section of the pattern is self-correcting - you know as soon as you've done something wrong so only a modicum of attention is required.

This yarn, "Sublime", really lives up to its name. It has knit up into pure soft, pretty warmth and the absence of colour even adds to the impact of the other attributes. How nice to be able to justify working on it a bit more!

Fallberry Handwarmers by Anne Hansen FO

2011-10-11T09:58:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Fallberry Handwarmers by Anne Hansen

Source: Knitty

Yarn: Sheldridge Farm Soft Touch Sport Remnant

Colour: Navy Blue

Needles: 2.75mm dpns

Start: September 9 Finish: September 18, 2011

Modifications: None

Knit up in sport weight yarn these were a quick and easy knit using up a remnant ball.

As in the vest I made for My Beloved, the end result with this yarn has a distinctly "demin" look about it.

I grabbed the pre-assembled project bag for these on the way out the door when taking my mom to hospital just after Labour Day. She ended up being admitted and this little knit came in super handy filling time awaiting tests with her, sitting at her bedside and as I sat in the lounge when she was sleeping.

She wasn't shy about sharing her thought that they really would be perfect for her to wear this fall so after I took the FO shots with Darling Daughter I dropped them off to her. (She's now back at home!)

Making the Small/Medium size in the hopes of having a finished product with a snug rather than sloppy fit for me I used less than half the skein. Still without a pair of my own I may just try the larger size with the rest of the yarn. That speaks to the quality of this pattern...not only is the end product good enough to warrant having a second pair, they are fun enough to knit to make me want to knit another pair!

Hey thanks for dropping by today!

Cotton Trivets FO

2011-10-10T11:44:00.001-04:00

This summer I took only select yarn, needles and planned/in progress projects to focus on at the cottage with the exception of a couple of wee balls of remnant cotton and a Mon Tricot stitch dictionary. My general thought was to turn the cotton into something for the cottage.

That cotton "doodling" yielded three little trivets for the table...

"Trinity" Stitch

Slip Stich Colourwork

"Bat" Stitch

Patterns: Trinity, Slip & Bat Stitch Trivets

Source: Vintage Mon Tricot Stitch Dictionary

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Eco Cotton Remnants

Colour: Red

Needles: 4mm straights

Start: Finish:

They turned out nice and thick to protect the table but it took some experimenting to get them that way.

I started out with big 5 stitch bobbles. I had seen these on Ravelry but that inspiration was in thick wool yarn while I had softer/lighter cotton.

After trying a few bobbles I found them too squishy to stay "bobbly" once any kind of weight was on them so I abandoned the idea. turning to the Stitch Dictionary for something "bobble-esque". I quickly landed on "Trinity" stitch.(on the right in photo below)

Once a square of that was done I switched to a thick garter rib until I'd doubled the length of the piece. Then I picked up and garter stitched matching sides to join the whole thing back into a square.

"Bat" stitch, has long floats across the right side of the work...

...naturally pulling the wrong side into thick ridges that yield a fabric well suited to my purpose.

These two designs, however, used almost all the red cotton so I mixed it with some white, doubling the colours and so, also, the thickness...

I love how the three finished pieces blend in with the vintage trivets that came from my MIL's place years ago...

I also love how Number One Son's Art homework blended in with the whole autumn vibe up north this weekend...

Obviously his assignment was to copy the Van Gogh "Self Portrait with Cut Ear". The colours of the pastels he used are awesome but I think the likeness is more of ex Toronto Maple Leaf Borje Salming than of Vincent!

The colours were at peak up north - maybe even just a wee bit past that point. This shot out a back bedroom window of the cottage is taken from Darling Daughter's lower bunk. (The window on the right is partially blocked by the ladder and upper bunk) The temperatures were truly summer-like although the water temperature was quite a normal-for-October 16 C (62F). Of course that didn't stop the kids from swimming all afternoon, Number One Son from Wake Skating every chance he got...

Or certain large creamy poodles from leaping in off the side of the boat!

So we had a great weekend - I hope you did too!

Back to Summer?

2011-10-07T09:58:00.003-04:00

The Weatherman is calling for "summer like" conditions this weekend. Being Thanksgiving here in Canada I have to admit fall colours, sunny skies and shorts? don't really scream "Turkey and Dressing!" to me but I'm sure we'll enjoy the conditions nonetheless. (Especially since I don't have to cook the Big Dinner this year!)

I have two more summer projects documented in my "Drafts" file in Blogger but today, with summery weather looming I thought I would share some fiber-related aspects of this past summer and save the FO posts for next week...

One afternoon in August as I sat knitting on the dock I suddenly realized how many twisted strands of fibre (okay rope but still!) surrounded me there.

My Beloved is a great believer in the power and proper application of knots. Many cottage evenings he sits with a Knot Book (or two!) learning or sometimes practicing new ones to use around the cottage or when we tow or transport things.
Of course knots are a necessity around boats and docks...just look at all these applications...

Flag hoisting line on the Flagpole

Hand tied Noose Knots keeping Number One Son and his sunglasses together

Figure 8 around a Cleat

Slip Knot on the Sail Boat

Polypropylene rope on a raft that washed up at our dock - the equivalent of the worst acrylic yarn EVER. It is terrible for tying knots - the only one who liked that stuff was Mr. Dragonfly.

Temporary togetherness between the Crib Dock and the Cedar Swim Raft

...and these are just some of the knots I shot quick pics of that day! Too bad I never thought to snap a picture of the wooden box in the dock house that holds his rope stash! I am told you never can tell when you will need a little piece or rope so it pays to keep every little scrap you find and of course keep fresh fresh new stuff in a variety of sizes on hand hand as well. Does that sound familiar!

Whatever your weather and plans for the this weekend, I hope you have a great one. If you are celebrating it this weekend, Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for dropping by!

Another Benefit of Stash Busting

2011-10-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

Right after I posted yesterday about the success I enjoyed Stash Busting over the summer, I went out and indulged in the corollary of that effort...Stash Building!

Technically speaking, if this yarn is going straight from the store to my knitting basket and needles will it ever qualify as "Stash" per se? Probably not but however its characterized its a garment's worth of new yarn - the first such stuff around here in many, many months and I felt great getting it because I don't currently have any yarn in sufficient quantity to make anything bigger than socks, mitts or a small shawl.

This is Diamond Yarn's Galway Worsted Highland Heather in the imaginatively named colourway "721". (the colour is showing quite true in this shot - at least on my monitor!)

Its a super rich brown with undertones of burgundy and little "hits" of red.

It's going to become my first knitted skirt! My "Friends" on Ravelry will know I queued the "Olive Heather Skirt" from Knitting 24/7 the other day and I can't wait to cast on. "Seems I 'm catching skirt fever from Tamaralda and Fiberperson!

I understand, to get the skirt to really fit, gauge is going to be critical so I'm determined to swatch before I get going. I'm sticking one ball and a circular in my bag before I head out this morning just in case a I have a few minutes to work up a swatch.

Have a great day...thanks for dropping by!

Summer Stash Busting Paying Off

2011-10-05T10:50:00.000-04:00

There are many benefits to working with what you have on hand - saving money or yielding additional storage space. This past spring and summer had me working exclusively from stash because I had no time to shop new yarn.

One thing my search yielded was 7 balls of Sublime Kid Mohair - bought on sale at Passionknit June '09. My dream at the time was a mohair shawl but never having attempted one before I didn't realize how little yarn I was picking up so every time I tried to sort out what to do with the stuff I'd hit a wall and give up.

As I prepared for the cottage this summer I madly cast about for "Sublime" patterns on Ravelry, only confirming 850 yards wasn't enough to make what I had in my mind`s eye. In the end I took a copy of Muse but ultimately the prospect of the super simple pattern seemed depressing. That`s when I headed off to flip through my, by now, dog eared copy of Knitting 24/7 by Veronique Avery.

In it, there's a little scarf, knit in two mirrored halves in 2 ply lace yarn on 2.75mm needles (finished width 9"). I'd looked at it before but never with the Sublime in mind yet suddenly it occurred to me it might work as a shawl if I used 6mm needles and so knit at a bigger gauge.

But how how to manage my quantity of yarn yet end up with something whose size and shape would be functional and make visual sense. I didn't want a Mohair scarf around my neck - talk about itchy! - this needed to fit around my shoulders.

So after swatching with something less"catchy" than the mohair to avoid having to rip back with the Sublime I knit up one ball in the smocked lace pattern that makes up each end of the scarf, and using simple ratios sorted out how long to made my centre portion so as to maintain the relative shape of Veronique's design in my gauge.

To accomplish that I used used 1.5 balls for each half of the Sawtooth Lace centre portion.

So now, with two balls still in reserve I'm going to decide whether the overall length I've got so far is sufficiently generous to accomplish the wrapping affect I'm after.

My plan is to baste the two pieces together, wrap up in the thing and then decide. If its too short I'll just add a few more rows to the end of each then do the decorative bind off the pattern recommends.

So this piece is very close to done, the yarn all but used up. Without being forced to do so, with sufficient time to shop I would have started something else. I'm so glad I didn't have that option - stash busting payed off big time with this!

The shawl project isn't very portable though and we were headed for the cottage last weekend so I cast on some remnant worsted for the Tvaandsstickning Sampler Mittens from the class I took last spring at the DKC Frolic. I fiddled and ripped and diddled and ripped three times before I had gauge and had executed the cuff correctly but finally I'm on to the hand portion of the knit.

This photo is a few rows short of where I am now but I'm afraid I left my knitting behind at Number One Son's dentist's office yesterday. That meant last night I was without a project - EZ's Knitter's Almanac to the rescue - 'amazing how satisfying vicarious knitting can be. And its got my mind spinning off in all kinds of fanciful directions!

I hope you're feeling the knitting love as much as I am today. Thanks for dropping by!

Mesh Bag by Veronique Avery FO

2011-10-04T10:51:00.000-04:00

Mr. Chandelier standing in for my usual photo assistant.

Pattern: Mesh Bag by Veronique Avery

Source: Knitting 24/7

Yarn: Giza Mercerized Cotton

Colour: Apple Green

Needles: 3.75mm Addi Circular

Start: June 4, 2010 Finish: September 9, 2011

Modifications: None

Not unlike the "Waving Lace" socks I posted about the other day, I took a while to put yarn and pattern together for this one. Unlike those socks, however, the colour of this did not disappoint - except in these photos where its looking much less vibrant than in real life.

I grabbed the yarn at a DKC meeting in the autumn of '09 at which a presenter invited everyone in the audience to take one ball or skein home with them from a big box of singles and samples. When I spied the shiny bright green of this yarn I instantly grabbed it (to do otherwise beside a single box of free yarn in a room of 150 knitters would have been to loose it for sure!), but I immediately imagined a great spring time shopping bag all squishy and cool in its cord-like texture.

It was a year later before I saw the pattern in Knitting 24/7. In fact it was the first project I cast on last year after getting the book at the DKC Frolic, taking a course from Veronique and asking her to autograph it.
Once the roughly solid bottom is done the mesh portion of the bag is a simple 2 round pattern (the second round being straight knitting!)

With the pattern established, the start of the round moves one stitch to the left every other round yielding the diagonal effect. But it was too simple to keep me engaged so I'd day dream and miss moving the marker or forget a yarn over, everything would get misaligned. Rip. Rip. Rip.

After several frustrating episodes over the course of the next year I finally managed to focus enough to get the job done and I'm loving the functionality of this knit.

Unlike other mesh bags I've made/use, once fully loaded this one is designed to be looooong rather than round with the handles intended to be worn over the shoulder rather than carried in your hand. The above photo (again taken without the aid of assistance - or chandelier! - shows, as best I can, how the bag extends down the side under the arm hanging right alongside the leg leaving both hands and stride free to go about whatever else is necessary after the shopping is done. Brilliant!

The thing is also easy to fill with a large, flexible opening at the top.

The yarn didn't disappoint either. Utterly un-woolly, cool, strong and ready for a bath in the washer whenever the need arises.

Another skein leaves the stash and an FO starts its useful life!

Thanks for dropping by!

St. Denis Gloves by Veronique Avery FO

2011-10-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

(Technical difficulties on the post I promised using the remnant cotton - while I try to sort that one out, here's a look at the next project off my needles mid August at the cottage.)

Pattern: "Cabled Gloves" by Veronique Avery

Source: Knitting 24/7

Yarn: St. Denis Nordique

Colour: #5858 Red

Needles: 2.75mm

Start: August 11 Finish: August 24, 2011

Modifications: None

Wow, it's rare for me to take a pattern and knit it in the recommended yarn - even the recommended colourway! But in this case I did it and I love it! And it makes sense it all works so well together when the designer of the pattern has also designed the yarn and the colour doesn't it?

Making these a few weeks after finishing the "Nouveau Gloves" was an absolute snap. They are shorter, less patterned and yet also use twisted stitches to create those adorable tiny cables up the backs of the hands and around the cuff. So I once again fired up Glenna C.'s recommended technique for doing so without the use of a cable needle and I just flew along!

As for the St. Denis Nordique yarn - knitting with it is a pure "wool" experience. No flash or anything added to make it softer or stronger or glittery or chunky - its just old school red wool yarn made into understated yet stylish basic gloves. Great stitch definition but also a nice feel. As the yarn is described by the designer "Crisp yet soft"

Once the great experience of knitting them is done they feel good on the hand and I think their classic red colour will make them work with anything - other knits for sure or any coat I own.

I can definitely see revisiting this pattern but more so, looking into using St. Denis yarn again ASAP!

Once these were done I moved from woolly red stockinette, to bright apple green mercerized cotton - still from Knitting 24/7 but a real departure from these gloves in every other respect.

'Hope to "see" you tomorrow for that post and thanks for dropping by today!

"Waving Lace Socks" FO

2011-09-30T11:21:00.000-04:00

Pattern: "Waving Lace Socks" by Evelyn A. Clark

Source: "Interweave Favorite Socks"

Yarn: Viola Sock

Colour: Blossom

Needles: 2.25mm dpn's

Start: July 23 Finish: August 9, 2011

Modifications: Used Optional Scalloped Edge (from pattern) at Cuff

'Just over two weeks either side of the August Long weekend to knit these but I coveted them for years and years before that. I loved the pattern from the first time I flipped through this book. I kept an eye out for a sufficiently soft pink yarn to do the pattern justice almost immediately after that and while I found many options in my travels, one that seemed sufficiently soft and understated to be wearable proved difficult to find.

Then at the 2010 DKC Frolic I discovered Viola yarns. The muted but complex palette in the Viola collection included this wonderful skein of creamy pink...

It took another year to get around to putting the pattern and yarn together but I think the match is perfect.

I used the optional scalloped edge at the cuff - 'love it! 'Adds a little girlie detail that goes well with the pink while staying quite elastic around the calf.

The chart for the socks is easily memorized and the knitting goes fairly quickly. Of course this is especially so once the heel was turned and half the stitches were straight stockinette.

I have to say I'm a bit smitten with the soles of these socks. I found myself admiring them for their nice tidy uniformity. Its not something I've ever really worked at with my knitting (probably the only thing 'truth be told!) but there it is, after hundreds of thousands of repetitions it looks like I've got the hang of stocking stitch!

The "Waves" have a nice, well, "wavy" appearance about them and work rather like ribbing to maintain a snug fit on the leg.

Sadly, on my leg the result of this wonderful yarn and pattern is something distinctly flesh-like in both colour and texture. A bit too close to my skin tone for my taste...

Nonetheless its satisfying to have this project behind me and a pair of pale pink ( okay, "skin coloured") socks to look forward to wearing once the weather turns a bit cooler.

And to top it all off Hudson is quite fond of them too!

Hey thanks for dropping by today!

Next up: FO's that resulted from a little "doodling" around with leftover cotton yarn and a stitch dictionary.

"Nouveau Gloves" by Glenna C. FO

2011-09-28T15:53:00.001-04:00

Pattern: "Nouveau Gloves" by Glenna C

Yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts Yellow Lable DK Weight

Colour" "Grape"

Needles: 2.75mm dpn's

Start: April 24 Finish: July 20, 2011

Modifications: None

These were first off my needles after moving to the cottage in July. They're also the first gloves I've attempted so they took a while as I fiddled with the length of, and minimizing gaps between, fingers. (The shading in the yarn, combined with the patterned stitching helped hide my beginner technique on this!)

Glenna recommends working the twisted stitches without using a cable needle. As a follower of her blog, I know this is one of her frequent topics and she does a great job of describing how best to do it. While I can, I generally don't use this technique for cables but it really is a time saver when working the multiple twisted stitches called for in the pattern.

I used the recommended brand of Tanis Fiber Arts yarn but the variation in this colourway is all wrong for the pattern. The kind of bossy horizontal striping is quite at odds with the strong vertical lines of the twisted pattern which is just the thing I loved about the design in the first place.

Nonetheless I will get a lot of wear out of long purple gloves (These will step in for a leather pair I bought for dressy events that I seem to keep grabbing every time I walk out the door).

Number One Son says they look "reptilian" - from his perspective, a positive attribute in a pair of gloves, although not exactly the look I was going for!

But they feel great on my hands and without being too heavy I think they'll be a great accessory for autumn and spring seasons.

With these gloves starting my cottage FO pile the third week in July I was free to dive into my stashed Viola sock yarn next...FO post on that tomorrow!

Thanks for dropping by today!

I'm Still Here!

2011-09-19T14:18:00.000-04:00

A week and a half ago I sat down at the computer to draft an end of summer/start to September post. I had a little stack of knits all done at the cottage over the summer, awaiting their debut about which I planned to write, a big cream coloured poodle curled up at my feet. Everything was good.

Then the phone rang. It was my mother's doctor. She was in the office with him, he wanted me to pick her up and take her straight to the hospital to be admitted for tests. She would have none of it. By the time I got there, 15 or 20 minutes later, she had left under her own steam and gone into the mall to buy some lunch. I only found her back at her condo, watching TV, munching her egg salad sandwich and no less adamant she was NOT going to spend the weekend at the hospital.

Sigh.

Fast forward to last Monday, I took her in first thing and she has been there ever since. She is doing very well, receiving excellent care and will hopefully be home sometime in the next few days.

Meanwhile when I haven't been at the hospital with her I've been working on her place to get it cleaned, her fall clothes out and ready and things generally thinned out to make it easier for her to navigate around the place on her own.

The hospital is of course a pretty good place to get knitting done and I did complete a set of Fallberry Mitts by Anne Hansen over the last few days. I'll have to add them to the pile though - I want to post the FO's in order of completion!

So that's what's up with me. I'm still here, still knitting and eager to get back to blogging about it! I hope everyone had as great a summer as I did!

Thanks for dropping by!

Friday

2011-07-15T12:27:00.001-04:00

"Black Dragon" Lilly blooming in the garden today and filling the air with heady perfume

'Packing up today to head up north. Since I hope to finish the Nouveau Gloves over the weekend I'll also be taking something else to work on. The Lace Saddle Tee is still up there. I've pulled it out and looked it over recently and I'm trying to decide whether to rip both sleeves and re knit them according to the pattern or keep on with my original plan to match the second sleeve to the first technically incorrect one that nonetheless looks and fits just fine.

Ripping and re-knitting has been gratifying in my recent projects so that has me thinking I should take the plunge in this instance too.

I am also going to treat myself to a dive into my big basket of home made pre assembled "kits" and see what catches my eye.

Thank you to everyone who left such kind comments about my FO's this week. I was very interested to read Lyn's comment about superwash wool being difficult to block compared to untreated wool. I'll keep that in mind in future! I was also pleased to read Lupie's comment that my approach to fingers in gloves was a workable one...if you follow her blog you know she has made a lot of gloves so I know she speaks from experience. Finally, the comment on my Bermuda shawl that just came in from Curlerchick Sandra was nice to receive as she was to have surgery on Wednesday so if she's commenting on my blog here on Friday she must be feeling well!

Have a great weekend, thanks for dropping by!

Its All About the Fingers

2011-07-14T20:08:00.001-04:00

With glove number one knitted and number two about halfway up the medallion on the back of the hand, things are moving along nicely with the Nouveau Gloves.

Once the shawlette and slippers were done last week at the cottage I knit and re knit the Nouveau fingers. I wanted to get the hang of hole-free spaces between the fingers and having the length fit each of my fingers perfectly.

Talk about tedious! Around and around on three needles and a dozen or so stitches... try it on, with needles still attached, rip, rip, rip, around and around again...yawn!

But I made the effort because I figure gloves really are all about are the fingers right? (Otherwise they're mittens or hand warmers but they're not gloves!) so I made a decent effort at getting them right. Not perfect but at least sufficient for a first try at glove knitting.

This week that effort seems more worth it though. With one glove finished and coming very shortly up on that second set of fingers I'm hopeful everything will be easier and quicker the second time around. The approach I'm happiest with is to pick up twice the number of stitches stipulated in the pattern when joining on to the next finger then knit or purl those together in pairs on the next round to reduce the total to where it should be leaving a nice tight row of solid knitting free of unsightly gaps.

Next door to the thumb, however, things are not so gap-free. Those three consecutive holes at the edges of the thumb are stacked lifted purlwise increases. I've worked and reworked them too. I think I followed the instructions correctly so I've decided to just live with the holes. At least they're uniform and neat!

I can see the end in sight for this project! That WIP list is actually shrinking! What will I target to finish up next?

Grown Up Booties #2 FO

2011-07-13T15:26:00.001-04:00

Pattern: Grown Up Booties by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: Briggs and Little Tuffy

Colour Red and Oxford

Needles: 5mm

Start:May Finish: June 9, 2011

Modifications: None

Not exactly inspired seasonal knitting here in the sweltering days of early July but these are intended for the cottage so they aren't entirely irrelevant.

Having worn through the darning on my first pair of Grown Up Booties I decided to make another pair but this time with something a bit sturdier than Manos. Does it get any tougher than Tuffy? How about double Tuffy? I held the yarn double throughout and knit 'em extra tight.. It felt a lot like knitting with rope.

The fabric is stiff so it took a couple of tries to sew them up and get the toes the way I wanted them but I'm happy now that they're done. They softened up a bit after SOAKing but they still feel like they'll take anything I can throw at them for years to come. Wearing them at the cottage means they'll inevitably encounter grit, that nemesis of fiber, so they'll need all the toughness they can get.

They feel quite soft and springy underfoot due to their thickness and I have no doubt they'll be warm!.

The Manos Booties were more luxurious than practical and being a softer fabric looked a bit less like kleenex boxes on my feet. These are the opposite of all that but they don't feel like kleenex boxes and if they keep my feet warm and cozy and they last I'll be just as happy with this version.

Thanks for dropping by today!

Bermuda Shawl FO

2011-07-12T17:24:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Gingko Shoulder Shawlette by Fragrant Heart

Yarn: Viola Superwash Merino Fingering

Colour: Graphite

Needles: 4mm circular

Start: May Finish: July 10, 2011

Modifications: Added 2 repeats of lace chart per side of shawl

This is my first honest to goodness triangular kind of lacy shawl and I can now certainly see why many knitters so enjoy knitting them!

Unlike the epic pieces I see on other knit blogs, this one is pretty straightforward and so a good place to start (at least for me!) Its mostly stockinette with a 34 row lace edging. Easy even for me with my chronic wandering brain ever missing this yarn over and that skpsso!

Although I did put effort into blocking it, I can see how the end result can be so closely tied to the amount of care put into that step of the process. My edge is kind of woggily so despite using every T-pin and all the long blocking wires I own and even spritzing it with water after it was all pinned out I guess I could have/should have done better.

This tutorial by Eunny Jang (in a blog post from December '06!) covers the basics I guress I should have gone beyond the "basics".(As an aside, does anyone else ever wonder what Eunny might have done or direction she might have gone had she not become editor of Interweave Knits and instead maybe did a Ysolda-type or Brooklyn Tweedy thing?)

Anyway I plan to get a lot of wear out of this piece next autumn and winter so I'll be laundering it before too long and so be able to try to do a better job next time.

Really though, this project is about the yarn - the colour of the yarn! From a distance its a cool, ashy brown with a bit of grey...

But look closer and you see the Robin's Egg Blue...

Look at those shots of rusty red that warm everything up so much, add depth and keep the overall impression from becoming just a cold shade of brown...

And check out that shot of brilliant turquoise!

How does the woman behind "Viola" yarns get all these colours and that single little turquoise shot into a hank of brown yarn? Its so unexpected and it works with no small measure of sophistication;. (I'm also kind of thrilled it made it into that cast off edge right at the tip of the triangle!)

Yet at its base its a handsome, no nonsense Brown and I love the way that takes the edge off the fussiness of the lace. I just know its going to go with a ton of things in my autumn and winter wardrobe. Its already gone very very well with my coffee this morning!

I'm so glad I took the time to rip back, add repeats to better use up all the yarn and then knit it correctly.

I'm also glad you dropped by to see it! Thanks so much for coming over!

Back in Town

2011-07-11T08:20:00.002-04:00

'Back this morning from an uneventful and relaxing week at the cottage and happy to report my personal war on "Mission Creep" went very well!

Evidenced by good progress on my Nouveau Gloves (one done, the other progressing nicely up the hand.)

I also managed to finish the shawlette that had a rather halting start due to severe chart misreading.

In line for a SOAK today will also be my second pair of Grown Up Booties. They were finished a while ago but I didn't like the way I'd sewn them up. Last week I redid the assembly and I'm much happier with the result.

Last night on the way home, once it was too dark to knit I even indulged in a bit of daydreaming about new projects I'll soon feel I can jump into with all these other long languishing projects out of the way!

Its supposed to be a hot and humid one today so I'm off for a slow walk along the shadiest route I can find with my creamy white pal! Walking is very limited at the cottage so despite the heat I'm looking forward to stretching my legs. Then I've got some blocking to do!

Thanks for dropping by!

Mission Creep

2011-06-30T18:13:00.001-04:00

Mission creep is the expansion of a project or mission beyond its original goals, often after initial successes. The term often implies a certain disapproval of newly adopted goals by the user of the term. Mission creep is usually considered undesirable due to the dangerous path of each success breeding more ambitious attempts, only stopping when a final, often catastrophic, failure occurs.

I am perpetually guilty of Domestic Mission Creep at the cottage. Its actually something I've embraced over the years as my perennial desire is family and guests alike will come to the cottage and enjoy having the best food and the nicest atmosphere and be able to do what they want while everything else just seems effortless. (In other words, do it all myself to let them enjoy it.)

That's the "Mission" part of it. The "Creep" comes in because every year I want to maintain what we've always done and add something new too! So every season the list has grown and grown to where its now at the breaking point and last summer I didn't have time to knit at all!

Here's a great example of the ridiculous lengths I can go. Last summer, Number One Son and a friend up for a few days so every morning I baked a different recipe of cinnamon roll...yeast raised...baking powder style...some with raisins/nut filling, others without...iced and plain, baked in glass vs. cast iron. Every morning they'd sit down after water skiing and eat them and I'd ask them all kinds of questions about them...taste, texture, sweetness, overall impression. It was interesting for me and kind of pushed the friend to think of food in way he'd never considered before BUT...seriously? I spent all that time for cinnamon rolls? Then I started thinking about what I'd make as a comparison study this summer when the the kid visits while also making the cinnamon rolls he liked best every morning he's there!

I need to get a grip and I'm going to really try to do just that. We'll see how it goes.

At least Mission Creep isn't a problem for me in terms of Dog Grooming. This is the doggie we took to the cottage last weekend...

And this is the one that will be heading up with us tonight. (Don't mistake his rather serious expression for displeasure with his new "do". That's just the look of exhaustion from the bath/blowdry/clipping/scissoring process!)

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

June

2011-06-27T12:49:00.000-04:00

Things may have been quiet here on my wee knitblog but such has definitely not been the case here in my wee life!

June is a perennial scramble, both literally, in terms of my "perennial" and vegetable gardens and generally in terms of demands both domestic and social as summer approaches, the cottage opens up and the school year winds down.

Such great colours...so motivational to cook when everything looks so great!

Martha Stewart "Summer Pudding Terrine"

Martha Stewart's "Mustard Rubbed Port with Blackberry Mustard Sauce"

I've been baking and cooking a lot, and hosted a birthday dinner in the garden in mid June for My Beloved.

I love how my Mother In Law's china looks in the garden with its sweet floral motif!

We took delivery of new beds.

Uncertainty is so disconcerting for a dog! "Where'd all the furniture go?"

This prompted a cascade of shifting furniture and lighting affecting numerous rooms in the house. One aspect of this was the dissolution of Number One Son's "childhood" room into something more befitting and literally "fitting" the lanky, sprawling six footer than the little blond Lego loving boy for which the room had been set up.

I dedicated a week of mornings to the school's used uniform sale and wrote upwards of 60 thank you notes on behalf of the parent community to the teaching staff good enough to voluntarily dedicate hours and hours of their time to providing extracurricular opportunities for the lucky students at Number One Son's school.

I also worked a weekend at my Obedience Club's annual Obedience Trials as a newbie Ring Steward. About 100 dogs were judged in our ring (one of 4 at the show) over the course of my assigned shifts. It was great experience for me as I sort out how to proceed with Hudson's training over the summer and towards Trials next autumn and the following spring.

On top of it all this year my mom has not been well and is requiring quite a bit of support (This has actually been going on since January)

And my new "Trainer" (pictured below) has been madly driving my ever older body miraculously towards ever greater fitness (For example I've lost no weight but I'm down 2 1/3 inches around the hips since this time last year!)

The "Hey its time for a walk!" look. What a task master...all he needs is a whistle around his neck!

To return the "favour" I spent a marathon 9 1/2 hours over two days washing, drying and sheering off his voluminous coat to produce something more fitting the warming weather.

Most evenings though I have managed to find time for a few rows of knitting to work away on the most miraculously enjoyable project I think Ive ever cast on!

Its the Ginko Shoulder Shawlette by Maggie at Fragrant Heart Creations and I'm working it in the gorgeous Viola yarn I bought at the DKC Frolic in May.

I grabbed this project at 5:00 a.m. the day we left for Bermuda, wound the ball and cast on during our flight then mindlessly enjoyed the stockinette portion of the knit over our lovely long weekend on the Pink Island.

Once home I started on the charted lace border...one repeat of an easy 34 row chart.

While watching baseball and the hockey playoffs and "The Killing" on AMC I worked away, had the odd missed yarn over, tinked back, fixed things up and started off again.

Through it all I have never stopped really enjoying the project. I've frequently imagined I should rip right back to add more stitches for a bigger shawl using more of the yarn.

The yarn is so wonderful. The subtle colour variation between brown, grey and blue is so sophisticated, easy to look at and wonderful at enhancing the stitching. It also feels great on the hands and is wonderful yarn to work!

This morning I was a bit sad as I worked the last row of the chart. "I will miss this chart", I thought. Then I took it off the needle just to open it up and really check everything before casting off and realized in my happy, yarn blinded knitting I have utterly misread the chart, adding huge chunks of stitches where none are intended to be. I've counted the spaces indicating "no stitch" as "Sure! put a stitch in here!"

All the stitches between the column in the centre and the start of the lacework aren't supposed to be there!

The stitches between my fingers aren't supposed to be there either!

Rip, rip, rip...'looks like I won't be missing that chart any time soon! but while I'm at it, I think I'll add a few a more repeats across the width because I now I'm sure I have enough yarn for it!

Thanks for dropping by!

Better Late Than Never

2011-06-06T11:55:00.000-04:00

We opened up the cottage yesterday.

Its weeks overdue compared to our usual schedule but at least its done.

The boat is launched. Water is running.Grass around the cottaged was "whippered" into submission

Unlike when we arrived yesterday morning the kitchen is now stocked with the basic dry goods. This means all I have to add now is fresh food as we need it.

It was a perfect day for it with sunny blue skies and a breeze that kept the black flies at bay.

Hudson had a ton of fun - especially in the boat!

Our original plan had been to go Saturday but heavy rain, thunderstorms and high winds made that seem like a less than good idea. The weather also meant my Saturday gardening plans were shelved sooooo....

....knitting instead!

I got almost half way into the lace chart for my little Bermuda shawlette.

And then finished up the knitting on my Grown Up Booties.

Saturday night we even watched television! We're sporadic TV viewers at best but Darling Daughter, My Beloved and I have been enjoying following the latest(?) AMC series "The Killing" Sunday evenings at 10:00. Our weekend travels have had us miss the last couple of episodes ('typical and one of the main reasons we don't watch very often!) but after an early dinner and dropping Number One Son off at his Saturday "social engagement", Darling Daughter organized things so we could catch up. We watched two week's worth back to back Saturday and then the second Vancouver/Boston Hockey Game.

A lazy Saturday followed by a productive Sunday - a great weekend.

Mind you, some of "us" have been left feeling in need of some serious nap time just to catch up after all the "excitement"!

Thanks for dropping by!

A Lovely Long Weekend

2011-06-01T11:06:00.000-04:00

In the wee hours of last Thursday morning My Beloved and I hopped on a plane and headed off for a long weekend together.

Our destination was beautiful Bermuda...

...We "scootered" around the island.

We saw lots of men clad in real live Bermuda Shorts.

We stayed at a Bermuda Pink Hotel.

And marvelled at the wonderful colours of the architecture all over the island.

We saw some "Whales" ;)

'Sat by a pool (or two!)

...Oh and I did a bit of knitting!

It felt like a perfect little break. Now, looking back on it, happy to be home, with a lingering sense of that pastel locale and its gracious people, "perfect" is what is must have been because what more can you ask of a getaway vacation than that?

Thanks for dropping by!

Another Weekend...

2011-05-24T11:08:00.000-04:00

...another U-Haul trip.

This Sunday we headed north east of Toronto to the Haliburton Highlands where My Beloved's sister has just moved into her first cottage. This sister, the mother of last week's furniture recipient in Goderich is in desperate for furniture for the new place so we headed up to drop a few pieces off Parking cars in our garage is getting closer by the week!

We are quite unfamiliar with the area. As the name suggests, the area is very hilly and with all the trees just leafing out it was a very pretty drive. The hills and turns combined with the rough ride brought on by the loaded trailer made knitting impossible so I did just look out the window and enjoy the scenery

The day started out rainy but eventually the sun did shine.

As we headed home after an early dinner I found myself snapping photos of the sun setting. Not because it was a particularly beautiful sun set but rather because the notion of sunlight has been such a rare commodity this spring it was almost novel to see and feel it!

Although we didn't aim to do so, we did hit the stretch of the 400 Highway right beside Canada's Wonderland Theme Park just in time for the 10:00 pm fireworks show.

We were, however, aiming to drop Number One Son at a party. The "fun" never stops in high school- especially for the parents!

Saturday and Monday were spent catching up in the garden. I should qualify that statement though because we are in no way actually "caught up" - just closer to being that way soon I hope. We'd better be, our very late cottage opening is a couple of weeks away and once that happens the outdoor work more than doubles!

Thanks for dropping by!

Sally Melville Came to Visit

2011-05-19T09:21:00.000-04:00

Sally packed 'em in at the DKC last night. It may well have been standing room only.

One of the founders of the DKC told me Sally was the first ever DKC speaker 15 years ago in a church basement. The organizers had planned for 80 people but 135 showed up!

After that they moved to a bigger location and Sally continued to be an annual guest speaker every January for the first 5 years of Guild meetings.

Last night Sally's talk was about her iconic use it all up approach to knitting with small quantities from stash remnants. She talked about the boyfriend sweater that started it all (yup, right after the knit was done, so was her daughter's relationship with said BF.) and then worked through strategies to sort and store stash for best results as well as how to consider the colour possibilities within it.

She had lots of examples incorporated into her talk, all of which were available afterwards to see and feel up close.

Knit designer Glenna C. was in attendance. She brought her recently completed lace weight Pi Shawl which she unfurled during Show and Tell to many collective gasps of wonder. I finally made the effort to introduce myself. I've probably followed Glenna's blog longer than any other so it was nice to chat with her for a few minutes after the meeting, especially since the gloves I'm currently working on are her design.

Tamara and Alissa from Passionknit were sitting just ahead of us. They will be making a presentation on knitting skirts at the June meeting. Tamara's Rav page shows with 8 knitted skirts so far she was at the front of the skirt craze currently going on (witness the sidewinder phenomenon at the Purple Purl and beyond).

Fiona Ellis was in the house as well. She brought a knitted pillow cushion design with applied I cord she made for the magazine "Needle Pulling Thread".

I noticed Elise Duvekot author of Knit One Below was also in the audience.

It was a great knitterly night but I'm afraid I didn't have it in me to continue on afterwards with the others for post Melville chatter. Instead I was a party pooper racing home just as the first few fat raindrops were falling and honestly only minutes before I myself was falling into bed.

I'm off out the door with the dog now, hopefully before the next round of showers begins.

Thanks for dropping by today!

A Gift

2011-05-18T12:51:00.001-04:00

My (paid) Career was perfect for my personality. My domestic line of work, since the birth of Darling Daughter a couple of decades back, not so much.

I am very tenacious though and it gets me through as long as I believe in the value of the task at hand. So I've persevered despite the huge financial cost and absence of corporate profile but I've never gotten used to the absence of an annual performance evaluation.

Being told where to improve, how to do better etc. There really isn't a real world alternative for me after all society clearly views what I do as unnecessary and Martha Stewart Magazine could only do so much! Doing thankless work is tiresome enough but trying to constantly improve at it can be down right exhausting.

Knitting of course is great for this because the knitted piece tells the tale as to where my skills need improvement (current case in point - holes between fingers in gloves!) the FO list illustrates how far out of my comfort zone my projects are taking me. This blog makes me critically evaluate all of it so as to post about my process.

The dog is also a demonstrable barometer of how and where I should make improvements but I joined an Obedience Club to undertake obedience trials that will really hold me accountable. I get teachers telling me what to do and how to do it and judges scoring our trial performances.

Recently Hudson has been demonstrating explosive bouts of anxiety when we're in class. Some exercises prompt whining (him not me) followed by vertical leaping. (As a note of reference, standing on his hind legs, his head hits the 5'2" mark...the top of his vertical leaps take his head and shoulders well above mine.) And this trend seems to be getting worse. The more seasoned members of the class reassure me this is just doggy adolescence but one veteran handler has quietly been more pointed about pinning our dwindling success on me.

In the last couple of classes he's pointed out my expectations of Hudson are too low - I need to have more confidence in him. I need to man handle him via leash corrections less and rely on verbal commands more. I need to "telegraph" less nervous energy through the leash (the fuel for his nervous leaping?). Also, wean off the food rewards that undoubtedly boost his blood sugar and so nervous energy.

After hearing his comments last night I feel like I've been given a gift of greater self awareness. I approached our walk this morning with a refreshed point of view and new set of goals for my behaviour rather than that of my dog.

And for next week's class I plan to have a glass of wine before class - just to mellow me out a bit. (And if things go better maybe just wee glass afterwards as well - to celebrate!) Who says holding yourself to critical standards can't be fun?

And speaking of wine and fun, I'll be meeting up with my DCK pre-meeting pal tonight for a quick dinner and associated beverage of choice. Sally Melville is the speaker...if you're in town and can, you should go!

Thanks for dropping by!

Our Latest Weekend Road Adventure

2011-05-17T12:59:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we ventured west to the shores of Lake Huron to Goderich; known as "The Prettiest Town in Ontario". My Beloved's nephew and is wife both grew up and have recently bought their first house there. We donated some furniture to them that we no longer use except to fill up the garage where technically a couple of cars are supposed to go.

My glove project was not well suited to knitting in the car (towing a trailer makes the vehicle ride a bit rough which makes me feel sick if I try to even glance at what I'm doing.) So I cast on one of my single skein projects - my second pair of "Grown Up Booties" by Ysolda.

The last pair I made using Manos yarn have worn through, been darned and have now worn through again so this time I thought I'd try using a tougher yarn.

Does it get any tougher than "Tuffy" by Briggs and Little?

I'm using two contrasting strands held together. I don't have as much of the red as I do of the grey so I'm planning on grey toes.

This stuff is also tough on the hands - especially when knit as tightly as I am working these. Nonetheless it was the perfect project to pick away at while watching the mist and rain shrouded landscape slip by the car window.

...Other passengers felt the time was actually better spent napping.

Now the town of Goderich, about 3 hour's drive with a trailer in tow, is laid out in a wheel-like formation with all the streets running out from a leafy central "Square".I took my camera so I could share sites from that lovely spot high on the cliffs above the lake, filled as it is with lovely old homes and nicely tended gardens. But photo references were not to be had. It was literally raining so hard I couldn't even get a shot through the windows of the car. (Ditto as we drove through Stratford - another beautiful spot) Rolling down the windows was not an option either - I would have been soaked and camera along with me. The lake was not to be seen at all because of the rain and the low hanging cloud.

But "Pretty" the town is. Next time we visit hopefully I'll have more luck with bringing back photographic proof of the fact.

Thanks for dropping by!

Old School

2011-05-16T14:57:00.000-04:00

I'm very "old school" - 'have been as long as I can remember. (Probably many knitters are inclined at least a little bit in that direction don't you think?)

So its probably not surprising that I'm becoming more interested in the kind of wool from which the craft originated and blossomed and patterns that are serviceable as well as fashionable. I want to work with and wear wool chosen for the attributes of a minimally processed fleece. I'm keen to have a wardrobe with the warmth of wool through the autumn and early spring without turning to the thermostat to keep me comfortable. Hence my interest in a designer like Kate Davies who wears her knits to hike up mist shrouded Scottish mountains, camp alongside chilly Lochs and stride to the shops for this or that.

So, as I posted a while ago, I decided to knit Kate Davie's "Deco", in the same Blacker Corriedale (a "fine, crimpy yarn soft enough to wear next to the skin") she used. Spun at a mill in Cornwall on the Devon border, the fleeces originate in the Faulkland Islands.

The company that produces the yarn...

...believe(s) in buying and making local, and are convinced there is a future for high-quality UK-manufactured goods:
We source almost everything from Britain and we make only here, too;

How old school is that? I love it!

But as I placed my order on line I discovered the delivery rate was almost identical to the cost of the yarn so, as the site recommends, I contacted them by email for a delivery quote using "Royal Mail" rather than a delivery company.

That rate was quickly quoted as 12 rather than 32 pounds but to get that rate I have to place the order by phone or write them a note and submit it by mail.

Guess which alternative I chose...

Thanks for dropping by!

Lesson Learned

2011-05-10T09:53:00.000-04:00

Last night I knit Finger Two!

But with this being my first attempt at knitting gloves I didn't know enough as I was casting on for the finger not to leave a huge hole between it and its neighbour Finger One.

It was an innocent mistake (different from my more usual "I just wasn't thinking" type of error) so I'm not going to beat myself up too badly about it. I'' just consider it a lesson learned, rip it out and try to do it right the second time.

Thanks for dropping by!

Guess What!

2011-05-09T10:20:00.001-04:00

I made a finger! (And (most of) a glove to put it on!)

Getting Organized

2011-05-04T12:11:00.000-04:00

One skein projects are getting so numerous in my queue/stash I'm worried I'll loose track of my plans and waste time duplicating efforts or looking for yarn/pattern combinations for things I've already planned. Yesterday I decided to get a handle on things.

I did some photocopying then bundled and bagged corresponding yarn, needles and patterns. This morning with my first coffee I worked on my Ravelry queue to get it to match those project bags. It feels so great!

Also great is the show of blossoms outside my laundry room window that I enjoyed all the while I worked on this project yesterday!

Next in line for updating in my Ravelry Project Page - 'nothing like "Spring Cleaning"!

Thanks for dropping by!

Vacillating

2011-05-03T14:18:00.000-04:00

A while ago I came across designer Kate Davie's blog "Needled". I happened to arrive there on the anniversary of a massive stroke she suffered while walking to work and her post that day was a moment by moment description of what she happened that day a year earlier.

She is a wonderful writer and it was an interesting account of a young, fit, active woman going through something I generally associate with older people or those with existing risk factors. Still I was looking for knitting blogs so onward I went, leaving the site without bookmarking it or any plans to follow it in future.

Nonetheless I found myself occasionally thinking about her story and then realizing I had never actually looked into her knitting on that first visit. It took me a while to find it again so when I did I became a follower.

Fast forward a few weeks and I've moved from follower to fan and the shift actually prompted me to do something I've never done before - buy a pattern on line. (I know, I know, I live under a proverbial "rock"!)
It is her most recently released pattern "Deco", a close fitting but boxy cardigan knit at a fairly tight gauge for the yarn, in one piece, bottom up. Since the download arrived I've been waffling around about the yarn.

I've decided to use the same yarn as in the original and again, order it online! (I am really living on the edge now!) My only hesitation is the colour. I'm thinking of doing what Kate did but olive greens can sometimes be muddy but although I continue to vacillate I am resolved to put the order in soon! Hold me to it will ya?

'Talk About Satisfying!

2011-05-02T15:51:00.000-04:00

As if Saturday's Frolic wasn't enough I gilded the lily by indulging further in an all day class in Twisted Knitting (Tvaasstickkning) on Sunday.

The class was taught by Mairi McKissock and it was flawless. The technique is Swedish and yields a fabric that is very warm, quite wind resistent and yet surprisingly flexible. The basic premis is to work alternating two contrasting colours both held in the right hand by constantly twisting the yarns around each other in the same direction.

Interestingly the paired yarns are readied for use by creating two centre pull balls, one inside the other and drawing the yarn out of both from the same spot. This allows the knitter to loop and lock the ball once sufficient yarn has been pulled out and then release the excessive twist that accumulates as you work.

The cast on of choice is an English Long Tailed Cast On and again you hold the two contrasting yarns in the right hand with another single strand of either colour (or a contrast colour as I did) in the left for the usual thumb wrapping.

As you can see we also learned how to make the very nifty braided edge as well as how to execute and read charts for the "hook" stitch enabling patterns like the square motif on the left in this shot...

We also went over how to maintain pattern while installing a gusset thumb and other mitteny shapings.

What I liked most about Mairi's instructional style was she was very careful not to overload us with incidental information about the technique. This allowed for focus on mastering the somewhat challenging manual aspects of an otherwise pretty straightforward technique - especially if you are already familiar with mitten construction.

I must admit I used to think if I could execute an "intermediate" rated pattern I was an "Intermediate" knitter. Yesterday I realized its possible to be knitting a wide and even demanding array of patterns and yet struggle with technique in a class situation if your knitting arsenal of skills is limited.

I've worked away at learning to knit both English and Continental, having done two handed colourwork, being comfortable with circulars but also dpn's, having a variety of cast on techniques with which I'm familiar...all these things made me much more capable of following along and keeping up.

The class was filled with very motivated knitters. . in fact there were extended periods of time when all that could be heard was the metallic clicking of needles. As a result Mairi's instructions moved along as quickly as the class could grasp them. One woman even finished her sample mitt complete with additional decorative detail she decided to add onto the back just for fun. Its so great to be in the company of that calibre of knitter!

My plan now is to finish my sample and then dive into knitting a full sized pair right away. I want to commit the technique to muscle memory before my hands forget it! It'll also be another opportunity to deplete that pile of remnant worsted that's driving me nuts.

Today is a Federal Election Day in Canada. Election related activity among youth this go around is making me dare hope our political landscape might receive an infusion of fresh energy and perspective and that larger voter turnout will mean whatever the government looks like tomorrow, its decisions reflect the best interests of our citizenry - not those of one party or another or worse, those of the corporate interests that back them.

Thanks for dropping by!

Frolic 2011 Did and Didn't

2011-04-30T18:49:00.000-04:00

'Did line up to get in but in the best, warmest sunshine I've felt all year - a fabulous way to start the day.

'Did see Brenda at the Cabin Fever Booth with Deb Gemmell.

'Did get a signed copy of Brenda's Cabin Fever Book on Socks.

'Did get told by this most adorable and charming 7 year old spinner ever that it is hard for grown ups to learn new things and so it would have been better if I had learned to spin when I was 5 - like she was when she learned but that if I really wanted to learn I could try.

Did get told that spinning can make your feet very very hot.

'Did rave over the Viola Booth as the best, most fitting display of any retailer I've ever seen at a Frolic. Viola yarns are, in my opinion, the most sophisticated and subtle local hand dyed yarns and the booth utterly supported that impression.

(Yes that is essentially a line up to get into the booth!)

Did treat myself to a skein of that very yarn in the "Graphite" colourway.

Did have a fabulous conversation with Veronique Avery asking her opinion on various things related to patterns of hers that I'm keen to try. What kind of a great opportunity is that? I love the Frolic!

Didn't manage to find Curlerchick Sandra - not in the loooong line to get in or over the 4+ hours I wandered the show.

Did buy some St. Denis yarn to make these sweet little gloves. (Yarn and pattern both by Veronique Avery)

Didn't speak to Glenna C. any of the 5 or 6 times I crossed her path.(this makes 3 Frolics I've done this but she is very popular and always surrounded by many others - especially in the Tanis booth where the local bloggers were too numerous to believe.)

Did see Tanis wearing her Whispy Cardigan and confirmed this is not a knit that would suit my larger frame the utterly charming and appropriately Whispy way it looks on her. I love crossing things off the "possibility" list - it naturally opens up more opportunities to consider other things!

As I said, I also love the Frolic. Its funny to think that as I type this, the show is probably already pretty much packed up. Tomorrow morning when I head back to the Japanese Cultural Centre for my all day class on Traandsstickning Mittens I'll walk back into the same hall that was buzzing with knitters and yarn when I left there mid afternoon today and it will be utterly empty, still and quiet. That is until I get upstairs to where all the happy chatty knitters are preparing for their classes!

Merino Lace Socks FO

2011-04-29T09:48:00.000-04:00

Love love love these socks!

Pattern: Merino Lace Socks

Designer: Anne Woodbury

Source: Interweave Knits "Favourite Socks"

Yarn: Schachenmayer Regia Nordic Color

Colour: 5517

Needles: 2.5mm Bamboo dpns

Start: April 14, 2010 Finish April 20, 2011

Modifications: None

'Love the combination of yarn and pattern. The centre motif reminds me of a ripe stalk of wheat and the colour fully reinforces that impression. (Number One Son thinks the centre motif looks like scales, making the overall impression more snake like than wheaten. I prefer my view but now that I know his I'm finding it hard to get that out of my head.)

I also like the fact the colour variegation adds interest and depth to the pattern without obscuring it.

Be it Wheat or Snake, whatever the yarn brings to it, the pattern really is the star of the show.

The way the cuff transitions to the leg...

The nifty heel where the pattern flows right down and disappears under the foot...

The treatment of the heel gusset in terms of where and how the pattern splits...

They're also springy and squishy and grab hold of the leg most confidently.

I planned this yarn/pattern combination many, many months before casting on and then was repeatedly sidetracked once they were started so that they took a full year to complete. This despite the fact there was never a problem with any aspect of this project. In fact this pattern would go on a very short list of knits I might revisit someday.

For the moment though I'm just going to enjoy the fact these are finally done. (Okay I'm also going to enjoy the fact tomorrow is the DKC Knitter's Frolic. Maybe I'll see you there!

Loooong Looooong Weekend - The End

2011-04-28T22:29:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned yesterday, I set aside Easter Monday for knitting. I had a few things knitting related that I needed to sort out.

In preparation for Frolicking, I needed to work up a list of things to look for in the marketplace. I'll be there when the doors open and I want to be able to scoot around and check out everything quickly before the crowds close in and racing back and forth makes drawing comparisons too difficult.

I'm taking an all day class at the Frolic on Sunday - and so needed to select two contrasting colours of worsted for the Mitten Class and get the appropriate needles organized as well.

Also on my list was getting FO shots of the Merino Lace socks I finished last Thursday so the FO post can go up. It's usually possible for me to take the necessary pics myself but the heels are my favourite part and I can't get the photo I want without some help.

Finally I needed to get a "craft" organized to take to an informal crafting gathering I was invited to Monday evening. What are the chances such an invitation would come when my knitting basket is empty for the first time in three years? I wanted something I could work on but something that would measure up to the other crafts in the room - crafts I suspected would be substantial. In the end I took along Glenna C.'s "Nouveau Gloves"with the recommended yarn (Tanis Fiber Arts DK). I figured once I worked a few rows I'd be familiar enough to keep going once I was in crafty company. I was wrong. I knit one round plus 4 stitches in 2 hours. I have such a problem not talking. Oh and my craft didn't hold a candle to the rest of the fibery demnstrations arrayed around the table either!

Anyway the whole thing has me resolved to work really hard and silently in class on Sunday, to "keep my lip buttoned" (as my mother would say) so I can get as much out of the class as I can. We'll see how that goes!

Wish me luck!

Looooong Weekend Part 2

2011-04-27T07:41:00.000-04:00

Sunday started with much relief (for Number One Son that is) because the Easter Bunny did in fact find and visit our house Saturday night. There was some uncertainty on the part of the man/child I guess so once that was cleared up,we'd walked to, attended and walked home from Church, significant exhaustion had to be addressed...

Smart boy to move his tie to safer, higher "ground" before nodding off while others just curled up and napped unencumbered by holiday wear...

Since we were hosting Easter dinner, Darling Daughter saw to the table arrangements...

Meanwhile I was kitchen bound, first with the finishing touches to a batch of my mother-in-law's Homemade Mustard and then on to Sharp Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits. (9 full ounces.of cheese - thanks to Ms. Stewart!).

They are a spectacular accompaniment to Ham! This year I tried a Martha recipe for the Easter Roast I've never done before...Fresh Ham with green Herb Paste...scored and tufted with sprigs of Rosemary and Garlic...(Holidays around here are all Martha Stewart, all the time - so well worth the effort!)

Tied and rubbed with a garlic/rosemary/oregano paste and settled onto a bed of onion, Rosemary and Bay and slow cooked with the benefit of basting with white wine and fresh dollops of herb paste applied at regular intervals.

All this yielded a deliciously flavoured and moist ham and the most delectable sauce you can imagine.

Rounding out the dinner menu we enjoyed Beets with Feta, Medley of Spring Vegetables and Herbs and a lighter, vegetable laden version of the Passover dish of Potato Kugel wonderfully prepared by my sister.

Before all this we'd enjoyed a lighter variation on Guacamole than I usually make - this recipe calling for the addition of mint and oregano and a plate of those great little cream cheese and Red Pepper Jelly thingies

Afterwards, a tray of Grandma's Butter Tarts were passed around as the coffee and tea were poured. Then thanks to all hands helping, little more than an hour later the house was quiet, the kitchen was clean and we still had another day to look forward to in this looooong looooong weekend and I had it earmarked for nothing but knitting! A (Very) Happy Easter chez Sel and Poivre.

Looooong Weekend Part 1

2011-04-26T12:39:00.000-04:00

It started Thursday with a long night. After picking up Number One Son from a party our "Waltons" moment came about 1:00 a.m. but at 1:45 the dog leapt up barking in such a way My Beloved and I decided we should investigate. I peeked out the window to see a neighbouring house engulfed in flames but with no fire trucks in sight. We called 911 to learn they were on their way then opened the door to hear yelling that everyone was safely out of the house. It was a two alarm blaze that brought 5 firetrucks, a transit bus to house the displaced residents and those evacuated from the adjacent houses, media trucks, police and ambulance all to our otherwise quiet little street .The cause was an attempt to BBQ inside the garage during a party held by the residents - several 20-somethings whose parents, the owners of the house, were away in Beijing.

No one was hurt beyond minor smoke inhalation. Shortly after last fire truck on scene left aboiut 7:30 the next morning we headed out to walk the dog and saw the aftermath up close...

What a way to start off Good Friday...already a day I experience as most sombre and sad.

So after that is was nice to walk through a local ravine and see signs of Spring springing up everywhere. Raccoon prints beside the river...

And then the big fat fellow himself asleep in a nearby tree...

The remnants of a Beaver hard at work...

Canadian Geese and a pair of Mallard Ducks...(Trust me they're there!)

All accompanied by a sound track largely dominated by the Red Winged Blackbirds

Its not a terribly verdant scene yet but with the rain and warm temperatures that are in the forcast this week it shouldn't be long until things start to look as springy as they are starting to feel!

Thanks for dropping by today. I hope your loooong weekend was a good one!

Stuff

2011-04-21T13:34:00.000-04:00

Just saw the teacher line up for this year's Sock Summit - I recognize 5 of the 60 teachers as being from Toronto - this is one great knitting city! (The teachers are of course Show Organizer Ms. Pearl McPhee herself, Denny McMillan, Kate Atherly, Amy Singer (founder of Knitty) and the incomparable Fiona Ellis.
Last night's DKC meeting featured the usual parade of incredible knits in show and tell, great door prizes and then a really helpful talk about the features of Ravelry - I use Ravelry all the time but I learned a bunch of new tricks in the course of the presentation. I think the most amazing thing the 120+ knitters in attendance saw though was a shadow knitted wall hanging (4'x4') replicating Andy Warhol's famous work "Marilyn". It was so outside the box and so brilliantly executed it was a real inspiration to see. Aaaand Cristina Simionivici who conceived and knit the hanging is teaching two classes at the DKC Frolic - one of which is shadow knitting!
I'm registered for a class on Frolic Weekend Sunday on Tvaandstikkning Mittens - can't wait!
During the meeting I finished my Merino Lace socks. (FO post tomorrow I hope.)
My next goal is to finish the Saddle Shoulder Tee in time to wear to the Frolic. Once that project is out of the way my knitting basket will officially be EMPTY! (Really can't wait for that!)
I have a parallel goal of coming up with a project for a Monday night "craft" gathering to which I've been invited. I don't know anyone on the guest list other than the woman who organized it and if her skill level is any indication of the caliber of those attending I must have been added to the guest list for comic relief. I've offered to bake something and bring it along to share - I'm a better baker than knitter so I'm hoping whatever I take along will create a sufficient diversion that my actual craft stays under the radar. I know, left to my own devices I can produce acceptable stuff but doing so on something portable and in a room full of accomplished strangers with whom I'm supposed to interact adds a whole other level of difficulty.
And then there's Easter. Just for fun and variety I think I'll clean and decorate the house and front yard, bake a bunch of stuff, cook and serve a big dinner and then clean it all up. Nothing like a "holiday" weekend. Oh well, 'good thing I have knitting to think about amid the domestic "festivities"!

Thanks for dropping by!

Purging

2011-04-14T09:28:00.002-04:00

Over the last ten years or so I've developed a penchant for purging.

It seems its a progressive thing. I started with getting rid of obvious junk, moved on to things that were never used through to now things that maybe I do like but don't necessarily love.

So it is with these little baby knits. Made a couple of decades ago for Darling Daughter from at-the-time-oh-so- chic Pingouin Patterns in breathtakingly acrylic Pinguoin yarn.

I was so thrilled to knit them for my own baby as I had been churning out Pinguoin knits for a couple of years as baby gifts before I got to making these for my own wee one.

They saw lots of wear and have many memories attached.. Darling Daughter has now, in the fullness of early adulthood, had a good chance to recognize her young mother's efforts on her behalf so I think its time to pass these on.

I never thought I would want to do such a thing but like I said its a progressive condition and I've already purged all the infant clothes and accessories I made for her during my pregnancy. Number One Son's hand knits were worn by other baby boys and never returned to me so these lingering little sweaters just feel ready to go too.

Besides I have to make room for "clothes" for our most recent addition...

Actually this dog wear is actually a device capable of creating knitting time;

Creamy White Poodle + Springtime Mud + Coat Clinging Burrs = Massive Time Suck of Dog Grooming

whereas

White Dog + Muttluks Rain Suit = More Time for Knitting!

I'm happy to report I'm down to the bottom of the heel flap, about to turn the corner on my long lingering sock project and head for home at the toe. All this while I still have one more day until the anniversary of casting on for these and only a couple of years after buying the yarn! 'Talk about purging...I don't know what I'll be more excited about when these are finished, having them done, or having them finally purged from of my knitting basket!

Thanks for dropping by today!

On the Road Again

2011-04-12T09:04:00.001-04:00

Another weekend, another road trip.

We headed west from the city this week to get our snow tires taken off in My Beloved's home town out in the middle of some of the best farmland in Ontario.

In the course of our day long jaunt we picked up local meat for our freezer in the city, had lunch with family and visited a Maple Syrup Festival. There we enjoyed the fiddle and step dancing show, naturally picked up a liter of syrup but also homemade butter tarts for the trip home, fresh local eggs, honey, beeswax candles and the handmade natural soap we use at the cottage.

This is our custom for the Spring run up there. The quality of the products is outstanding, its nice to support the local farm community and it sure simplifies grocery shopping here at home when I have so many products already on hand.

The evening at home featured working on my sock and watching a great ball game on TV between the Jays and Angels. The extra innings were fabulous to pass the time until Number One Son et.al. were ready for pick up from their party early Sunday morning.

Surprisingly Sunday yielded no knitting time at all - it was just one thing after another - so sock completion didn't occur. It sure felt like Spring finally arrived though!

All in all it was a very nice weekend -'hope yours was too - thanks for dropping by!

Close Call?

2011-04-08T22:45:00.001-04:00

On a recent walk Hudson and I were passing the field where many dogs in the area (and some who are driven in just for this field!) run off leash.

Hudson was carrying a stick in his mouth he had found at the park and he was walking very carefully as a result (When he does this he looks like he's walking with a plate on his head - perfect posture and measured steps, eyes forward.)

Nonetheless a German Sheppard about 150 yards out into the field caught Hudson's eye so Hudson carefully turned to face the field and watch him. For his part, the Sheppard had also seen Hudson. He paused for a moment looking and then he just took off running top speed right at us. I have never seen this dog before. I couldn't know if his intentions were friendly or not. His owner yelled and yelled for him to come back but on and on the big black and brown dog ran straight at us as fast as he could.

I quickly considered my options. There was no where we could run fast enough to get away from this dog and I knew the stick Hudson was carrying was half rotten and would be of no deterrence to a dog bent on an attack. But then I didn't know whether his intentions were friendly or fierce. There was only one thing I could do - let Hudson "read" this dog and handle the situation one dog to another.

We have been working tirelessly for months exposing Hudson to as many new situations with other dogs as possible. He has encountered balanced and unbalanced animals. Young puppies and tottering ancient dogs clearly in the last days or weeks of their lives. Small dogs and Great Danes. He has romped freely with dozens at a time at off leash parks and exchanged polite sniffs with leashed dogs along the sidewalk. Other dogs have growled and snapped and it seems Hudson has learned from each of these encounters. Whatever his accumulated wisdom and natural instinct at this point, I felt it was the best we could muster in the face of this racing animal bearing down on us. I held on tight to the leash but let its length go slack to give Hudson room to move, I forced my own fear down where I hoped it wouldn't be detectable to the dogs and make things worse. By this time the Sheppard was 50 feet away - usually the distance at which friendly dogs slow their approach and start to veer a bit to the side but this dog just kept coming. What I saw next was amazing.

Hudson, with the stick in his mouth had been watching the dog approach head on. But now he wagged his white plume of a tail ever so gently a couple of times, keeping it high and visible like a white flag of surrender. The he slightly turned his body and eyes away from the dog. Not so far as to loose track of what the dog might do but far enough to clearly communicate deference and an absence of aggression towards the other dog. Immediately the dog's frenzied running let up a bit. As he reached us Hudson turned away even more, allowing the other dog to walk, stiff legged and bristling, up to sniff him from behind. Hudson didn't move to sniff the other dog or engage him in any way - I have never seen him behave before like this. He just stood there with his prized rotten stick and waited. Once the Sheppard was satisfied with sniffing and moved away a bit Hudson again gave his tail a very slight wag. At this the Sheppard turned away and loped back to his owner. He never wagged his tail or sought to play or interact with either Hudson or me.

Next I swallowed the huge lump that had climbed into my throat, gave Hudson a big pat and a dried liver treat and off we went. Hudson again walking perfectly with deference to his stick while I thought about how lucky we had just been and how glad we had invested time and energy in socializing our big white ridiculously fluffy pup! I now have a lot more confidence in Hudson's judgement. He handled himself very very well - not bad for a one year old!

What's Next?

2011-04-08T10:32:00.000-04:00

Right after an FO post I feel like the whole knitting world is my oyster - ready to crack open and enjoy. This week that feeling is even stronger because the FO used up so much stuff I had on hand. Naturally the notion of buying new yarn for an all new project seems all the more appropriate then doesn't it? And after all the DKC Frolic is coming up in a couple of weeks!

Nonetheless I'm proud to report the first thing I did was get back to work on these fabulous socks.

I don't know why its taken me so long to get these done but I'm hopeful the combined power of enjoying knitting them and looking forward to wearing them will spur on their completion this weekend.

And if I got these done just imagine how fabulous I could then feel about shopping at the Frolic!

I hope you enjoy whatever your weekend has in store for you. Thanks for dropping by!

Spring Stripes FO

2011-04-06T16:26:00.001-04:00

A fun, satisfying project using remnant yarn, finished in time to wear in the season for which it was intended!! Does it get any better than that? (Yup, every bit of material for this was on hand and the pattern was out of my head so it didn't even cost me anything!)

Pattern: Generic Top Down Seamless Pullover

Yarn: Assorted Worsted Wool Remnants

Needles: 6.5mm circular (Body), 5.5mm dpn's (Sleeves)

Start: March 4, Finish: April 4, 2011

I was going for an A line effect - which, given my shape, is typically difficult for me to achieve. So I tried to use colour and horizontal stripes to visually flatten the plane of the sweater - minimizing my shape while accentuating the sweater's. Here's what I did...

The yoke alternates rows of knit and purl. The colours go from lighter to darker from the collar to yoke's completion just north of the widest part of the bust where navy blue (the darkest colour in the palette visually narrows the bust at its widest point.

Next the sleeves and body of the sweater as well as my body and the sweater's shape part ways. The sleeve stitches were put on hold and I knit on down towards the hem.

My body gets narrower at this point but the A line shape demands the sweater get progressively wider.(2" around over 15" of length between bust and hem). To accentuate this divergence, the next two colours - bright teal and even brighter apple green, visually advance.

Below that, at my natural waist, I do want to appear narrower while maintaining the increases so I moved to wide bands of a darker colours - grape purple and then lilac both of which visually recede bracketed as they are top and bottom by narrower stripes of brighter, advancing colours - especially those that play up the hem around the bottom.

Just for fun I also added a couple of stripes after turning the hem!

For the sleeves I wanted a straight shape and narrow fit so I quickly crammed 8 decreases or 2" worth into the first three rows of the dark navy stripe at the top of the sleeve where the K2tog's disappear from view. (In the photo above you can kind of see how there is a little puffiness where the yoke ends where things got skinny fast. 5.5mm needles (vs the 6.5mm used in the body) made gauge help out to get a slimmer shape with fewer decreases. The striping on the sleeves nods to the body without matching exactly. Then just for fun I flipped the colours at the cuffs from those at the hem.

The narrow sleeves being a foil to the A line of the sweater I tied them in with the sweater's shape by not decreasing any stitches in the sleeve hems after turning. Thus the bottom of the sleeves flare out a bit. (I did decrease 10% of stitches after turning the hem at the bottom edge of the sweater though to keep that hem hanging straight down.

For jogless, stationary wide stripes I slipped the first stitch on the second row after each colour change. Thank you for the how to TechKnitter!). This approach wasn't possible on the yoke section, because of the narrowness of the stripes (2 rows each) and the fact I was switching from knit rows to purl rows. I tried to fudge things but in the end was quite unsatisfied with the results sooooooo those buttons are there to minimize the offending section by making it look like the two sides of the yoke meeting along that line are buttoned together . I think this makes the variance of the stripes there a bit less offensive to the eye. The buttons are from my stash harvested from worn out dress shirts.

To indulge in the striping a little more I sewed them on using the four button holes to create parallel lines and used threads for each to mirror the colour changes in the yoke.

Finally I'm quite tickled to say that I'm even happy with the gauge for this knit. At 4 stitches to the inch it is a soft and pleasant fabric with drape that really helps keep the shape from being too stiff and tent-like. So refreshing to feel in this instance at least, gauge was my friend!

Well I think I know what I'm going to wear tomorrow!

Thanks for dropping by!

Off in a New Direction

2011-04-01T12:56:00.000-04:00

My "Use Up the Worsted" sweater project that started out bottom up with clown bright, narrow stripes morphed into a top down seamless with an ordered progression of colour....

Its still bright but within a more limited palette.

Its been like colouring with yarn...fun and portable too!

'Good thing because we've had a few road trips recently and they've been all the more pleasant with the addition of take along knitting - something I haven't had in months and months.

Last weekend we took Number One Son to the ski hill. Hudson "helped" a lot with the driving - when he wasn't catching up on his beauty rest between the centre seats...

A few weeks ago My Beloved fell on some late winter ice and cracked a couple of ribs which meant the cancellation of our family ski outings for the rest of the season - a big disappointment to our keen teenaged skiier.

So with a nice day in the foreceast we offered to drive up and very unusual, drop him off for a day in the terrain park with no chance of skiing for us. Instead we walked the dog and did a bit of exploring until the lifts closed at the end of the day and we picked him up.

In the "village" at the bottom of the ski hill I couldn't resist snapping a shot of this...

...the outdoor pool - filled with bathing suited swimmers. Note the lifeguard on duty is wearing a long dowfilled coat - ah "springtime" in Canada! Here's a shot of the shore of Georgian Bay, a long stone's throw from the village. No one will be swimming in those sparkling waters for a while. Once that ice goes out that water will be quite "refreshing" for months yet!

This beautiful country north of Toronto is also the Land of Brenda - knitblogger extraordinaire. As we toured the area I knew she was away helping defeat the government in Ottawa but still I felt as we walked around the small towns and took in the scenery like I was on one of those Tours of the Stars Homes in L.A. (albeit the Central Ontario Knitblogger edition- especially as I peeked in the window of the LYS in which I thought she worked -actually not the right shop - or even in the right town. No matter it was a nice day with My Beloved and our pooch.

I'm about to cast off the bottom hem on my colourful current project so expect an FO post the first of next week! Have a great weekend and thanks for dropping by!

More than a Bunch of Flowers

2011-03-17T08:29:00.000-04:00

Our Wedding Anniversary was last week. The thoughtful tributes I received included a big bouquet of colourful blooms. They were lovely from the moment I opened the box but over the past week the blossoms have aged and become so much more interesting and impressive than when they were fresh and new...

These open blooms emit a sweet scent that hangs heavily in the air, drifting throughout the house. Guests over the last few days have commented how the aroma makes the house feel soooo good.

To me, its all aptly reminiscent of how great we are together

Awwwwww!

Striped Remnant Pullover

2011-03-15T22:26:00.000-04:00

My vision for this was very similar to the "Aimee Pull" of the Mission Falls ads. (No dropped shoulders though...I have enough stuff visibly "drooping" I don't need to optically enhance that impression with sweater construction!)

Anyway I knit a gauge swatch for this worsted on 6.5mm needles and calculated my pattern details using the set of very accurate measurements of my body generated in the two classes I took last spring on knitting for proper fit.

It would seem, however, that with the addition of a creamy white "photo assistant" to my life and the hours of brisk walking and hiking he requires each week, those measurements have become a bit inaccurate. I was going for an inch or so of positive ease...

Instead I've got closer to about 7". I have not shrunk 6", there is some of that magical "why didn't the whole swatch thing work out here?" that seems to so often creep into my knitting life too but I definitely have to put together a new set of measurement data.

I have also received some helpful "feedback" from Darling Daughter that my colour choices are yielding something closer to a clown costume than an adult sweater. She has recommended I ditch the pink, orange and forest green from the palette to focus on the colours below...

If anyone is looking for me just tell them, right after I walk the dog I'll be back at the drawing board!

Thanks for dropping by!

I Am Not a Canadian who's excited about the weather turning warmer...

2011-03-13T22:21:00.000-04:00

When the snow melts and the ground becomes soft a 90 minute walk Saturday morning yields not only a healthy glow to the rest of the day but also this...

Which requires 30 minutes in the shower...

One hour fluff drying (Shop Vac set to "blow")Followed by 40 minutes or so of brushing out mats and just like that...

We have a clean creamy white poodle patiently waiting and ready to go for the afternoon walk!

I need to find a mud free route while things dry up a bit around here!

Distractions

2011-03-02T14:24:00.000-05:00

With sock number one done late last week I felt certain the pair would see completion by the end of the month. Unfortunately sock two has been a case of the proverbial two rows forward, three rows tinked back. My classic error of feeling smug and on top of things, having my mind wander off somewhere and then re-engaging to find I have no idea where exactly I am other than (once again) in trouble!

I'm not the only one with a wandering mind though. Hudson's brain is all over the place these days and its costing as much additional effort to overcome as my silly knitting errors. Now in the final week of our first set of Pre Novice Obedience lessons, getting him to respond to commands is 10% of the challenge. Doing so in the presence of distractions takes 90% of the effort.

Hudson's "distractions" currently include things like twigs on the ground, people across the street, the need to "read" with his nose every lamp post and hydrant along our route, speeding traffic or it could be the scent of a bitch in season a couple of miles up wind!

Obviously the issue with the alluring scents of females will only be resolved with neutering but otherwise I'm managing the rest by trying to understand our training environment from his perspective. I need to take advantage of the learning opportunities these challenges present...

In the evenings we're working with a 30' lead close to where other dogs are running free in the local school yard.
I'm having him work at heel along streets strewn with twigs where the city has been doing late winter tree pruning.
When I know local off leash play areas will be empty, I head there and we work atop ground I'm sure, to Hudson, reeks of the latest doggy "news". Still I ask him to go through his paces without stopping to sniff at it until we're done.

Early Saturday after a Friday night snowfall we headed to a nearby riverside where I hoped lots of people would be out enjoying the lovely white scene. Every time someone approached I had him heel and sit and wait while they passed. If they showed interest I would invite them to pat him. For his part, he needed to stay sitting for the duration. By the end of the 2 hour hike he was coming back to me when he saw someone up ahead. He enjoyed all the interactions and it was great to see a bit of success for my efforts!

This is what happens when the temperature is around freezing and the snow is soft packing snow. See the hair sticking out of the balls at the top on the left? Each ball is similarly formed around the length of the hair and since the snow at these temperatures is so sticky there's no breaking up the balls. After the walk I have to immerse his legs in warm water and melt them off!

At last night's class two intact (un-neutered) males had a bit of a "discussion" just before class started. The doggy testosterone that must have filled that gymnasium kept Hudson, as well as the other male pups distracted until the dying minutes of the session. By the end Hudson managed to pull it back together so despite it being a 45 minute ordeal of a wrestling match between the two of us I have to think of it as an ultimately successful exercise.

I had to adopt a similar outlook when I got home from class and went to work on the socks...I may be tinking as much or more than I'm knitting but I'm sure going to love these when they're done!

Yes that nose in the background is my "helpful assistant". I'm not sure how I got any photos organized for posting before I had such a great helper!

Thanks for dropping by!

Men's Stockinette Vest FO

2011-02-22T14:14:00.001-05:00

Pattern: Gauge-based for 24sts/inch (252 sts around yielding 42" chest - 1" negative ease)

Yarn: Sheldridge Farm Soft Touch DK - Approx. 1000 yards

Colour: Navy

Needles: Tubular Cast On: 3.25mm, Ribbing: 3.75mm, Body: 4mm, Bind Off: 3.75mm

Start: January 30, Finish: February 21, 2011

Years ago I used to knit things for My Beloved that I liked and that entertained me to knit. They were worn on occasion and generally at my request. The things I've knit for him in recent years are worn all the time because I've started knitting what he wants to wear. Like most men's clothes they have few, if any decorative detail and are muted colours. This vest is very much in keeping with that The resulting expanse of stockinette was variously tedious or relaxing - 'depending on my mood I guess. So I tried to entertain myself by making the small details the best they could be and the fit exactly as he wanted.

Knitting flat and seaming blocked pieces allowed me to ensure the sizing was dead accurate. (42" around - 1" negative ease)

I used a Long Tail Tubular Cast On with two tubular rows as a foundation. 'Love the result...stretchy and soft. Switching to a needle 2 sizes smaller than for the body of the knit kept the edge tidy with no biggish loops hanging down.

This piece has no shaping...on the back I knit straight up from the hem for 17 3/4" then a few rows of armhole shaping before knitting straight to the shoulder which I bound off at the edge over 3 right side rows. For the front I started shaping for the V neck the row after I finished the armhole shaping.

I did try a Tubular Bind Off. I didn't like the result...too fussy looking. (the photo above shows a section of completed tubular bind off above what is supposed to be the matching cast on...I think I had tension issues with the bind off) I picked it back (that was a hateful procedure!) and opted instead for a Ribbed Knitted Bind Off. Much better!

The subtle variations in the yarn yield the impression of denim...

Its springy but soft yarn (does the superwash contribute to the softness?) so I hand wound centre pull balls from the skeins just as I needed them to protect every bit of spring and the integrity of the yarn`s twist. The ultimate hand of this fabric feels soft, light and a bit bouncy. Quite satisfying!

The best thing about this knit though is that the recipient loves it. Last night while I made dinner he sat wearing it even before I had sewn in the ends. Then he carefully removed it before sitting down to eat - `didn`t want to get anything on it!

So that leaves me free to move on to something that ticks all the boxes the vest left unaddressed...

Its got colour and knitted detail aplenty and as I`ve already rounded the heel on sock one, getting this WIP into the FO colomn should be nothing but fun!

Thanks for dropping by today!

Hats Off to the DKC Board of Directors!

2011-02-17T14:35:00.000-05:00

Last night was the monthly DKC Meeting. There were draws for great door prizes, inspiring "show and tell", two great and engaging speakers sharing knitting tips and tricks and news about new yarns. The room was full of happy knitters clicking away...what more could a knitter ask for?

Well there was more! There was an invitation to contribute ideas and energy to making the DKC as useful, inclusive, enjoyable and relevant as possible.

I've been involved in numerous community based groups since way back when I was still a brunette! Almost all of these really needed to step up and undertake the kinds of initiatives the DKC President spoke of last night.. I can't remember a single one that unless by government directive to do so or because continued funding or facilities hung in the balance, ever did. In fact even the ones that were "forced" into updating and changing things for the better generally did so kicking and screaming all the way. Change. Is. Hard.

That's why I was so impressed and encouraged by the invitation we heard last night to get engaged with the business of the DKC...to make sure it is everything knitters want it to be and to make sure all knitters feel welcome. (This was also balanced by the assurance that those who just want to keep showing up to enjoy DKC meetings, workshops etc. are more than welcome to just keep right on doing that alone.)

I'm going to put on my thinking cap and share any little gems I come up with.

If you are from the Greater Toronto Area...what do you think about the DKC? Is it relevant to you? If you aren't a member and don't attend...is it because there is something lacking? What would make it better? What do you think?

What's that I "see" in my tea cup?

2011-02-16T14:19:00.000-05:00

You might only see a tea ball steeping some lovely organic green and Moroccan mint tea but every afternoon this tea gives me visions like this...

I purchased this loose tea on the upper east side of Manhattan when Darling Daughter and I visited there last autumn. (Its become a little habit of mine to buy tea when I''m away because when I enjoy it back at home each cup makes me relive a little of the magic of the place I visited.)

While there is nothing negative to be said about this delicious tea or the majority of that wee vacation, the knitterly aspects of the trip were sadly lacking.

First of all our flights were quick and right on time, our taxis were readily available traffic was light!? Our days and evenings were so full I didn't knit a stitch in 5 days.

Secondly, the Lion Brand Flagship store is closed on Saturdays and is only open in the morning on Fridays. This meant we couldn't work a trip there into our busy schedule.

We did make it to Purl in Soho on our first afternoon. I was looking very much forward to seeing their new combined knitting and quilting storefront and picking up a yarn treat (or two or three) while I was there. I was resolved that one of those treats would be a sweater's worth of Brooklyn Tweed's new yarn "Shelter".

The store is sweet but the contents of its yarn inventory was utterly sparse! I don't think they had as much yarn on display as any one LYS does here in Toronto and none of it was the type that I couldn't buy here at home. Then to add insult to injury I found the "Shelter" selection was about 11 skeins of yarn in a few drab colourways.

Good thing there was an entire fabulous city there to be explored and enjoyed with my entirely fabulous daughter to take my mind off it!

Today I'm stiff all over with a few particularly sore spots from my sidewalk face plant Monday night so I think right now I'll enjoy the rest of this"Memories of New York" tea and knit a few rows on My Beloved's vest. My wrist is still sore but the movement involved in knitting is somehow quite pain free!

P.S. To curlerchick Sandra's comment on my Valentine's post, my shiner has creeped out my Beloved to the point where I've been given a pass on the business function we were to attend together tomorrow night! It must be a "guy" thing!

Valentine's Day Redux

2011-02-15T12:15:00.000-05:00

I love Valentine's Day. I always have.

'Ever a red fan I've always loved the "look" of the day. I'm not really into chocolate but I've always indulged in it on Valentines'...such a treat. When I was in school receiving male attention and tributes on Valentines was always the topic of great anticipation and My Beloved has always been very good with Valentine acknowledgements of varying sorts.

Then came Elementary School for our kids and the hateful practice of having to produce a Valentine for every child in the class . At first I looked forward to it...assembling all manner of materials for making home made, charming cards en masse. Darling Daughter was having none of it. She wanted regular old buy them at the drugstore commercialized cards. "Just like the ones everyone else was giving out!". Once Number One Son was having to produce cards too (nothing like a list from the teacher with every student's name on it to really apply the social pressure!) I began to dread and despise the day.

With all of that now behind us I find myself in recent years coming back to enjoying February 14th again.

Yesterday's celebrations were particularly fun. For dinner I made Lasagna (its red and everybody LOVES it) and a very decadent Devil's Food chocolate cake with a fruit and nut filling and tons of glossy, chocolate icing.

A rich red wine topped the whole thing off nicely as did the kid's happily cleaning up after dinner.

My Beloved brought home flowers that Darling Daughter artfully arranged...

We even enjoyed the whole thing in front of the television watching the Westminster Dog Show. (I'm a big stickler for nightly Dining Room dinners so moving to the TV always sets a meal apart around here.)

For the kids, My Beloved and I had bought a red rain coat of sorts for Hudson in which he closely resembles a white, fluffy version of the Wolf in Little Red Riding Hood's outfit and of course also a Giant Bouncy Living Valentine. We had arranged little packets of Valentine's chocolate and floral scented, red, "Stoop and Scoop" bags for delivery to each of them by the Giant Valentine himself.

It was great good fun. Even though, right before dinner, while out walking the dog, I slipped on the flash frozen sidewalk and tried to "save myselfe" by slamming my left brow into the pavement. You'd almost think it was on purpose because the event yielded a thematically consistent Valentine's Day shiner!

I also did some damage to my right wrist. Not good for knitting! It seems better today though and to get it moving I even did a couple of rows of slow stockinette this morning.

I had been hoping to have the vest for My Beloved done in time to make it a Valentine's Day present but I didn't make it.

I'm close - the back is complete and I'm only a few inches from decreasing for the armholes on the front. An assembled, blocked vest ready for him to wear was a couple of days away before I hurt myself. Now, who knows. As long as I can knit a bit I'm not going to become despondent about it

I hope your Valentine's Day was a good one (shiner free!)

Thanks for dropping by today!

P.S. I should note - Darling Daughter has come around from her anti-homemade card stance. This year she made lovely valentines using the same method as I did last spring on note cards for my Mom.

Daring to Dream

2011-02-08T14:16:00.002-05:00

As I fly along the stockinette rows of the vest for My Beloved I'm getting close enough to cleaning up the WIP's around here. Soon I'll feel free to cast on for something new and novel.

Moving projects out of the knitting basket also compels me to treat my wee little stash the same way.

The 13 colour cardigan from autumn 2009 and the multicoloured Bon Bon Pullover have left a significant legacy of part balls of worsted in my possession that now I feel keen to clear out.

The just completed mittens helped with this.

A while ago I also amassed a little pile to dedicate to a linen stitch scarf like this.

Then late last week I saw a many coloured striped pullover in the window at Passionknit... a tunic length yoke style sweater knit in the round with bottom edges rolling and even the semi cowl-like collar turning over at the top to show off its "wrong sidedness" as a design feature. Perfect!

It was knit on a generous needle for the yarn. I'm sure this gives the piece with its extra long length the necessary drape to cope with bending at the waist.

I noted the colours were arranged alternating dark and bright two row stripes so that's what I've been toying with as the navy blue knitting and purling continues along.

And I'm keenly following along with blogger and Sel and Poivre Commenter Siga. She is posting about selecting a new LYS for herself in Zurich. The store fronts of these shops are gorgeous and her musings on just what might make her ideal LYS are interesting questions to consider.

I got a whole bunch of inspiration from visiting my LYS the other day...the thoughts about a striped sweater of my own being certain testament to that!

I hope you're having an inspired knitting day today - thanks for dropping by!