Back to the Drawing Board

Just a note before getting to the meat of the matter - I'm feeling oh so responsible taking time and care to both plan and swatch and then, when swatching revealed something other than "what a great idea", I didn't whine, instead listened to the thing and moved on, better informed and hopeful of an improved outcome. How many, many years its taken me toe realize the value in such an approach! Better late than never though.

I'm told by my Review Committee (Darling Daughter - close friend of recipients),  my swatch for "Welsh Blanket" is "dingy" and I concede, it is. Important not to take offence that unlike me, she doesn't mourn the need to let go of one vision for another. She's quite free of passion for creative pursuits - more of a mechanic than an artist - and so just calls 'em as she sees 'em.

To me though, in that dinginess is the feeling of well worn denim - useful, comfortable, practical, ready for years of use filled with kids and dogs and family life.

For young women just starting out , thrilled with the prospect of a shiny, new, first married home" I get it might read instead a bit "university dorm".

Importantly I'm also told it doesn't look like something the recipients would choose for themselves if they saw it in a shop.

So back to Ravelry, where "Nebraska Throw" jumps out from among my favourites. Quince and Co. patterns have a rustic delicacy about them that to me feels quietly feminine, young and fresh - just what I'm looking for. "Committee" says absolutely perfect!

Then I focussed on searching superwash yarn (Committee says that would be preferable) in the rustic colours of the wedding invitation. 'Can't go wrong with those can I? Committee says "great idea!"

So I ended up with a less graphic design, hopefully to stand the test of time across many years of married bliss.

The web told me only Eweknit had enough Berroco Vintage "Oats" and "Douglas Fir" in stock so off we went and picked it up then I came home and cast on before the bulk of the snow started to fall yesterday.

None of this means I'll be returning the original yarn I picked up at Romni of course!

As soon as it seemed the Welsh Blanket was doomed My Beloved requested a "Dunaway" scarf in the blue yarn. (He's been coveting one since seeing the navy version Darling Daughter knit as a Christmas gift.)

As for the natural, buff coloured "baby" yarn, of which there's about 800 meters, it might become a rustic baby wrap of some kind...like a "Kelpie" shawl knit in a square or a vintage baby piece. Time will tell.

So "The King is dead, long live the King".  One project was swatched right out the window, another project cast on to take its place.

And there's new yarn and knitting aspirations in the house to boot.

All something to ruminate on while I bathe and groom a certain grimy cream poodle today.

Thanks for dropping by!

A Most Successful Outing

Yesterday, I did the rounds of my usual yarn shop haunts....

Starting with Romni Wools to hunt up yarn for a mosaic stitch "Welsh Blanket"  -  a wedding gift, for the couple who've asked Darling Daughter to be in their August wedding party.

This is what I bought...

...and I feel pretty sure its going to look great - having help selecting the colours from designer Kiomy Burgin who is no stranger to fantastic colourwork (and works at Romni!) and, importantly, being of the same age range as the Brides-to-Be, could advise on something more "Millennial" than "Boomer".

We considered yarns from the DK, Worsted and Aran sections, as she explained the variances in yarns mean that, for example, lighter, loftier Arans can work with a beefy DK etc. depending on the technique used to combine them.

As we crouched over a basket, contemplating options I asked her whether yarn dominance exerts itself or could be used to affect the look of mosaic knitting and therefore balance mixed yarns of different sizes but before she had time to answer, none other than colour work and mosaic designer Barbara Gregory, a former member of the Romni team, seemed to materialize behind her with a bright "hello there" and an explanation that, because there is only one colour being carried across any single row in mosaic knitting, yarn dominance is absent from it.

The two of them then talked a bit about pairing yarns and referenced the difference between actual weight and what I think they called "label weight". In other words, two seasoned yarn experts discussing the fact you shouldn't rely exclusively on the information on a yarn label when deciding on the suitability of a yarn for a particular application. There's a sobering thought eh?

All the more reason to seek good advice on yarn when you're considering something you've never done/worked with before.

All the more reason for me to then feel good about what I would buy because I couldn't have asked for better, more informed advice. I had a little knitting "dream team" right there helping me!

After that, obviously confident with my 20 balls of DK, I headed off from Romni to visit Eweknit. It is the most beautiful yarn store ever  but I wasn't looking for yarn there, rather yesterday, I forced myself to focus on their selection of fabrics.

Darling Daughter's Bride's maid muslin is now complete so I'm going to "dip my toe" in the home sewing pond a bit deeper and sew up a simple top to go with a linen cardi called Jessamine, the yarn for which I picked up at my next destination - Knit-O-Matic - where Quince and Co. Kestral just arrived this week.

I've planned a linen something-or-other several spring times in the past but I've always left buying the yarn too late and run up against insufficient stock by the time I was ready to make a purchase.

Not this year though! I left Knit-O-Matic with ten skeins of this crisp, chainnette, tape-like, 100% organic linen yarn. I love how it goes with one of the cotton prints I bought at Eweknit.

Yup, a successful outing indeed. Thanks for dropping by - have a great weekend!

Ola!

The essence of travel - a small knitting project on an airplane seat!

'Decided last minute to join My Beloved on a business trip to Buenos Aires. We've been back a few days but no jet lag as the 13 1/2 hour flight is a straight shot due south making the time difference only an hour!

Buenos Aires held many unexpected surprises for me - I may have to post more on that later but first, as a knitter, the trip was worth the disruption to the days preceding and following it - even for a reluctant traveller/nervous flyer like me.
 

On a brief layover in Santiago Chile, amid a stunning mountain backdrop, we stretched our legs after our first overnight flight and browsed shops featuring gorgeous Chilean crafts.

Among the treasures were inspiring hand knits in undyed local wool...

Then it was on to Buenos Aires where there is a full on yarn district! All the city's yarn shops, almost a dozen of them, are clustered along three city blocks or so in the neighbourhood of Palermo.

Many of the shops are filled with bright/lurid colours of largely acrylic yarn as well as super shiney "Vegetable Silk" which I assume is also some kind of synthetic.

These stores look like candy or toy stores do here at home and probably are designed to appeal to children as knitting and crochet is part of the elementary school curriculum in Argentina.

In other words 'safe to assume everyone you pass on the street in BA knows how to knit and crochet. How amazing is that?

Sadly, from a male tour guide who took offence at the very suggestion, I was informed that grown men in Argentina don't knit or crochet. He assured me many women do so throughout their lives but it's strictly a domestic activity, never undertaken in polite public society. I got the impression its something they regard as the equivalent of ironing.

The thing is, this kind of matched my impression of the local population. BA has a surprisingly serious vibe - none of the raucous Latin joie de vivre I was expecting - unless of course one of their teams wins a game somewhere, as they did with the Rugby World Championships while we were there. Then its late night fireworks above crowded city squares. These filled with cheering masses who happily stream along side streets, often with sleepy children in tow to collect in the huge crowds. All the while lines of shield carrying riot police surround buildings and monuments to protect them and their contents.

In the morning though, its right back to a more quiet civic demeanour they self describe as "noble".

In keeping with this is a refreshingly meagre sense of consumerism across the urban landscape with yarn stores being no exception. They are places where one buys yarn and only yarn - except maybe the odd bikini???!?

Anyway yarn stores don't seem to offer classes, patterns, books or even notions. There are no chairs or couches and its obvious the expectation among the largely male "yarn consultants" that stand behind deli-like counters with the yarn organized on shelves behind them is that the shopper knows what she is doing, what she is looking for and how she will use what she buys.

I had yet to understand these nuances of Buenos Aires yarn commerce when I started my giddy tour armed with a simplistic notion of trying to get a deal on South American brands like Malabrigo or Manos del Uruguay and accompanied by the saint of a man who secretly packed an empty leather valise in his suitcase to accommodate potential yarn purchases en route home.

Here we are, reflected in the first shop we came upon having just arrived in the "District". I'm madly snapping pictures while he passes the time doing email.

I quickly learned Manos and Malabrigo were only stocked in one shop and when I found that store, the brands were no bargain and only a couple of skeins of each to be had so I put that notion aside, opened my mind to the possibilities and discovered in Buenos Aries...

...They love T-shirt yarn.

Me, not so much, I passed on this stuff. (See the bright colours on the shelves in the background?)

...Knitting/Crochet seems to be about fashion not for the sake of the crafts themselves. It isn't uncommon to see mannequins styled with complete outfits of which the hand made item is but one of the garments on display.

My mum favoured crochet so I grew up with it. Nonetheless its never "spoken to me before. In BA, surrounded by great uses of it like this it really started to call to me.

...They do love their synthetics - not surprising I guess - its not like they need the warmth of wool very often!

The acrylic and "Vegetable Silk " are the only branded yarns I saw.  I bet the school kids love these yarns (and probably also bikinis?) 

...The yarn stores that look styled for grown ups, where the natural fibre yarns are to be had, are subdued places with soft, muted colours, thoughtful displays and without a bikini in sight.

...Mohair is big but often combined with acrylic. I was eager to jump on the mohair bandwagon and was enchanted with the colours of the 30/30/30 Mohair/Wool/Acrylic yarn below...

However lovely it looked in the skein, a knitted sample demonstrated you could feel the 30% Acrylic to a degree I knew would bother me so I very sadly left this stuff behind.

You see you don't get to handle the skeins, which are all priced by the kilo, and remember, devoid of labels! If you are curious about it, why there, in the middle of the shop is a table heaped with big knitted/crocheted swatches. Only the consultants touch the yarn in the skeins, its out of shoppers' potentially grimy hands on those tidy shelves behind the counters around the perimeter of the store.

I must say though, considering yarn via swatches in varying shades of white and grey is pretty effective in helping you select something based primarily on what a yarn can do, how it drapes, its heft or delicacy etc.

Once you have a swatch in your hands you like, your male yarn consultant piles skeins onto the big shiny scales just like when you order deli meats at the butcher shop. They don't want shoppers pawing yarn for sale with potentially grimy hands I guess.

You have no idea about yardage, no two skeins are the same length. There are no dye lots, colour names or numbers, recommendations for gauge, needle size or washing instructions because, remember, no labels! You need to recognize what you are looking at, know what to do with it and how much to buy. They didn't really seem prepared to help you with that kind of information.

(Just like you wouldn't walk up the counter where they sell the cold cuts, point at a salami and ask how you might serve that or for lessons on how to slice it or make a sandwich with it.)

So there I was, 20 minutes left to make some decisions, surrounded by yarn, My Beloved patiently doing emails and my yarn buying experience rendered null and void for tackling the task before me of filling that empty valise.

It took a few minutes for this prospect to stop being terrifying, but then, I have to say, I felt kind of empowered. I took a deep breath, adjusted my mental point of view and looked about for some yarn to grab my attention and tell me what it wanted to become back here at home.

Can you guess what screamed out to me as I approached this shop window?

Yup, the creamy basket of undyed, locally grown, hand spun crazy fabulousness in the bottom left corner...

I marched into the shop, located the swatch, found the consultant with the best English and bought 1.5 glorious kilos, (about 3.3 pounds) of that stuff for $67.00 Canadian.

Then from the same shop - 75 grams of undyed wool roving, silky with lanolin for under $3.00 - my plan, to tuck this BA souvenir secretly into the lining of mittens - ironic for a sub-equatorial souvenir don't you think?

This was followed shortly thereafter in another store by a purchase of 2 kilos of bulky Patagonian cotton for just over $40.00.

Both of these larger treasures told me, in no uncertain terms they desired to become glorious throws - the wool one for home, the cotton for the cottage.

Next we joined some friends for coffee in an outdoor cafe on the grounds of a former Mansion turned Decorative Arts Museum.

Al fresco Espresso and Candied Orange Peel

BA is a most civilized place - everyone knows how to knit and no one drinks coffee from paper cups! 'Hard to say if I'll ever go back but most certainly I am glad I chose to make the trip this time!

Worthwhile Extravagance

While Guacamole-fest preparing to do a little home dying was fun, the most exciting yarn adventure of the summer was selecting, ordering, picking up and knitting a batch of hand dyed, untreated Blue Faced Leicester from Georgian Bay Fibre Co. ...

• My order was dyed with my project in mind after I had a chance to talk with the dyer Carla herself at the farmer's market in town near the cottage.
• When I picked it up a week later it was beautifully packaged, with a post card tucked inside outlining and illustrating the inky blue colour way's inspiration - the stormy waters of Georgian Bay, in whose waves I played endlessly as a child.
• Impossibly gorgeous, heavy, rich and glossy yarn put up in beefy 200 yard skeins.
• All this and I'm supporting a new local business and a keen young entrepreneur.

Extravagant yarn purchases are not my usual practice. I recently realized that between shopping carefully at LYS's and the Guild Frolic, re-knitting yarn from hand knits I no longer wear, renovating old pieces and using remnant yarn over the last couple of years, I've spent, an average of $30.00 per sweater.

Now those knits were in the wake of heavily investing in the Shepherd and Shearer program but that was so enjoyable, felt so good, yielded blissful knitting and an heirloom quality FO My Beloved wears constantly in the winter.

So jumping in with both feet to invest in something special again seemed reasonable enough and

boy this yarn is special.

As with The Shepherd and Shearer, every stitch has been laden with pleasure at the features of this wonderfully aromatic yarn and how they're playing out into the garment. Similarly too, despite being keen to see My Beloved wearing it, I'm sorry to see the end of this project's knitting phase.

All the pieces are currently blocking under a fan in the hopes they'll dry quickly. I'd like to take them to the cottage tonight, seam them tomorrow and get going on the button band/collar.

Its about 200 stitches around, 2x2 rib for 6" all while wrestling the entirety of the garment as I go. Not my favourite kind of knitting but I'll have the wonder of the yarn for distraction as well as tracking/helping Darling Daughter with her project.

In 10 days of knitting she's made it to the point where shaping for the neck begins, having established steeks for the armholes 4" earlier. By tomorrow she'll be undertaking her first attempt at a few short rows and doing a bit more shaping and then it'll be on to securing and cutting the steeks!

All kinds of knitting fun to look forward to this weekend. Hope you have a great one too!

Frolic

After standing in the sunny but cool line with many dozens  of other knitters waiting for the doors to open I was able to get in a quick tour of the show before it got crowded.

I was shocked, along with a lot of others, to see Emily of VIOLA yarns standing at the Purple Purl booth.  After her own beautiful booth was literally swamped by seriously crazed women at the Frolic a couple of years ago she and her wonderful hand dyed creations moved to England and all but disappeared from our local scene. So it was great to see and handle her lace weight and fingering and even be able to chat a bit and share how much I've appreciated her "dirty pink" colourway "Blossom" (that I got as part of that riot of colour crazed women - see above.).

As I was telling her of my appreciation for how this colourway "does" pink but in such a cool, contemporary way she remembered the colour and said she too loved that kind of pink. Maybe she'll offer more in that vein in coming months! Fingers crossed!

Next it was time to actually make some purchases.

I spent some time drooling over giant cakes of  Briggs and Little Country Roving. I think I'll need to work with that someday soon - not sure if that's because of the yarn, because as a proud Canadian Knitter I probably should work up a Cowichan sweater at some point in my knitting career 'and that's the yarn to do it with, the fabulous red colourway or because the cakes are so amazing looking. ('Can't believe there isn't a good image of them on line!

I spent quite a bit of time hemming and hawing in front of the Peace Fleece yarns contemplating various tweed options for a casual pullover until one kind woman asked how many skeins I needed and pointed out none of the options had sufficient for my requirements. Man its always the details that get you!

So in the end I only came away with one sweater's quantity of yarn - Debbie Bliss Donegal Fine made in Ireland. I picked up four balls at half price from the Purple Purl booth.

I was drawn to the thick and thin texture as well as the tweedy bits in blue and white.

I bought it with a "Clayton" cardigan by Julie Hoover in mind, but since coming home, cruising through my Favourites and starting to swatch I'm thinking it might instead become a Julie Hoover "Elmont".

I'm having trouble signing into the new and "improved" BT website so I won't be able to decide for sure until I can get in there and buy a pattern or two.

It was a fun morning, a bit of visiting, a bit of shopping and little bit of yarn to bring home at the end of it. Many thanks to all the TKG volunteers that make this event possible every spring!

And thank you for dropping by!

Regularly scheduled programming has been interrupted.

Last week Hudson committed what the vet calls a "Dietary Indiscretion". Don't worry I will not put too fine a point on it, nor would I likely raise it here at all except that it has gotten in the way of knitting activities.

In particular the ensuing mayhem distracted me to the point I missed the application deadline for the Work of our Hands Fashion Show.

And the persistence of the "condition"  now means I can't even attend tonight to watch the show as a spectator as the dog cannot be left alone and everyone else will be out or away on what we like to think of here as their "paying gigs".

All hands were on deck over the long weekend though which meant I was able to make good progress on winding the re purposed Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran.

In its recently freed-from-another-sweater state it's less lofty than the fresh remnant ball with which I swatched so I'm going to make another with the used yarn and check out the difference.

And the winner of the "what shall I cast on this weekend" lottery was the Orkney Angora Mitten project...

It has not disappointed one bit. Colours, yarns, pattern - all fantastic on their own and together!

Except for the headache of moving between dpn's, two-handed, stranded geometric colour work is blissful knitting indeed.

Blissful too is now having a medicated pooch resting comfortably, hopefully back to normal by next weekend and the ability to put a post together without a nasty interruption. To "celebrate"  I might even treat myself to taking a lunch hour and dedicating it to knitting! I'll let you know how that goes. In the meantime, thanks for dropping by!

Tomten Coat/Yarn Love

First of all - this Yarn! Fantastic!  Big! Round! "Meaty" and with bona fide sheepiness scent too yet easy on the hands to knit.

There are 5 undyed colourways available in this yarn - my choice this time being "Steel Grey Suffolk 954" and as you can see it looks so rich against brown but then look at it on a cream background and the white in it pops calling the Grey in there to the forefront along with it.

Knit up in garter stitch there's no stiffness, it feels substantial but also light and easy on the hands. It will be cozy and easy to wrap around a new baby despite the thickness of the garter fabric.

Its still in need of buttons - I'm hoping whatever I get will be able to infer gender while also being of a naturally occurring material (Mother of Pearl, Wood, Horn?) to best compliment the wool yarn.

Of course the pattern is genius - I'll likely gush further on that aspect in my FO post once the buttons are on and I'm ready to wrap it up and send it off to the new parents.  Baby is still almost a month from due date so I've got time to also toy with lining it in flannel - maybe something with a cute print if I can find some.

This being the third Tomten I've worked up and modified I'm amazed I'm still intrigued by the pattern's possibilitites. 'Not sure how much of that is prompted by how this particular yarn/pattern combination has come together. There is such satisfaction when all the elements "click" isn't there?

Meanwhile I've been working on little hats to include in this new baby package - more on that tomorrow!

A Colour Vacation in January!

Yarn shopping last weekend was for a list of projects, none of which were particularly tied to gauge or fibre content. So I shopped colour!

I wove my way through Romni's aisles thinking of one project at a time and when I saw a colour that appealed to me I put in my basket. I worked out what I would keep versus discard for that project then I did it again for the next planned knit.

It was a thoroughly engrossing creative exercise rather than a mathematical hunt for gauge. Fun! I came out of the shop feeling like I'd been on a little yarn vacation, complete with "souvenirs" to bring home!

Here's what I got...

Rowan Pure Life British Sheep Breeds Chunky - 'Plan to try this out on a Tomten jacket. Its a bit of an odd choice for a baby but my hope is to produce something more sleeping bag than garment. Then as baby grows towards the spring and even fall it might work as a sweater-coat.

Drops Lima Alpaca/Wool DK -  a hat to go with the TomTen - again a heavy weight for such a task. We'll see how it goes but I cannot stand how fantastic the colour of this stuff is with the Pure Life yarn!

(I pulled out a couple of options for straight up blue or pink hats from my remnants in case the wheels fall of this idea.)

El Cheapo Acrylic/Wool blend from Romni's basement - A toy for said baby. This one to be precise. The dog looks just like theirs!

Rowan Kid Classic Mohair/Wool Aran - A hat for me. This one. It will be either fabulous (because the yarn is!) or awful (If the hat doesn't suit me). I'll keep you posted.

Once home I set about nailing down the patterns, making copies where necessary and collecting needles and project bags for each. Honestly it took hours but again, fully engaged in the process it was entirely enjoyable.

Now all I have to do is finish Hawser which, in reality is coming along nicely but in my head, with all these fun new projects ready to go, feels like its crawling along.

I know you know what I mean!

Ahhhh That's Better!

Camera back in my hands, daughter back in Canada, a coherent professional leader back in the Mayor's Seat in Toronto.

(Very) Darling Daughter brought her mother some yarn from Edinburgh...

Authentic Scottish. It smells divine and fills the void of aromatic yarn left by the final knitting up of the Shearer Yarn last week. What remains is too small to give a good woolly "sniff"! No matter, I have a remnant - not a sweater to rip out for lack of yarn to finish it. Whew!

The plan is to work up either Gloaming Mitts by Leila Raabe (I'm on quite a Brooklyn Tweed jag these days!) or Herdsman Mittens by Outi Kater. Currently the generous jet lagged shopper is weighing the options.

Devlan is almost dry...'thrilled with the fit of this one! Can't wait to have pictures to share!

The behemoth Double Knit Dog Mat is down to the final two skeins. I'll measure when I'm getting to the end of this one and decide whether to add in the last skein or not. 

Lots of fun and exciting things happening around here!