Comments

How wonderful to read so much feedback on Celtic Tote! Thank you for taking the time! For those who expressed interest in someday making one of your own I think you should feel good about diving right in. There is a lot of bang for the buck in this pattern, the small amount of yarn it requires and the very serviceable item that results. (I should clarify though I think it seems more suited to use as a purse than as a true "tote").

As for Tiennie and her suggestion that I just send it off to her - I could but Tiennie's knitting output is the stuff of legends - the way she knits she could no doubt finish half a dozen multi coloured versions before a package from me would even arrive ;)! 

Can anyone tell me why most, but not all comments to my blog arrive with a no reply comment return address that prevents my replies from going anywhere? Not all the comments I receive are like this so I assumed it was a setting chosen by commenters themselves. I asked frequent commenters (thanks Brenda and Cheryl!) about the settings they choose when they comment to see if it was the case but they tell me it isn't. I've double checked the settings in my comment moderation specs but I cannot figure it out. Does anyone out there know if this is something I can fix and if so how to do it? 

In terms of moving on in the wake of the Celtic Tote to something to entertain between the tedium of red scarf and blue socks in stockinette I did manage to find a project! Its a Tilting Blocks scarf - I'm calling it my "DKC Diamond Tea Time Special".

I reference "Diamond" because they are the Canadian Distributors and the men who threw the yarn my way at the DKC Men Throwing Yarn meeting.

I have 270 yards of this very special silk and merino blend in a DK weight. The colourway -"Thistle" evokes its pale lavender colour but the prickly nature of a thistle is diametrically opposed to this yarn's smooth, almost liquid texture that also somehow features a slight haze of fluffiness. It reminds me of liquid mercury or plumber's flux. You really have to feel and see this yarn to understand it but the photo above at least captures the various features fairly accurately absent the tactile experience of course.

I reference DKC because of its role in making the yarn part of my stash but also because the Tilting Blocks scarf pattern I chose is featured in the January 2009 DKC Newsletter!

The pattern has a 12 row repeat on 37 stitches.  To knit 12 rows takes me the same amount of time as it does to have a hot mug of tea - hence the inclusion of tea time in the name. One cup, one repeat, a bit of knitting entertainment each day without dedicating evening knitting time to something other than red scarf and blue socks. Perfect!

BTW for those of you who don't belong to the DKC but have access to Toronto, a DKC meeting would be a great way to finish a yarny day in T.O. Anyone can attend (non members just pay a small entrance fee at the door). There are close to a couple of hundred knitters at most meetings so no one will ever know you're not a member (I attended meetings for a couple of years before I actually joined) Meetings always feature presentations to appeal to knitters and crocheters and sometimes there's also a bit of spinning or weaving thrown in!

The next meeting is this Wednesday - details on the DKC Website!