welford p u r l s

complete.

2012-02-11T15:59:00.001-08:00

It’s dry. It’s finished. I don’t love it but I like it. Now that I see the photos, I’m liking it a little more – it’s quite cute.

I wanted this to be a good pregnancy sweater for Spring and I think that is exactly what I got – so in that regard, I am relieved! You can see my bump (which is actually starting to grow finally) and I think as I get bigger, I will be happy for a sweater that buttons at the top but has flattering lines down the sides.

I have quite a few scarves I love with this blue – which is good since I wear a scarf everyday. I knit a size M (38”) but it is actually a 35” (so I ended up with an inch of negative ease). I was hoping for a slightly bigger, comfy cardigan but I think I knit this quite tight without meaning to. Lessons for next time! I lengthened it by 3” as well – I would even lengthen it a bit more. Say, 4.5” next time?

As I mentioned prior, I made my own fabric-covered buttons, which turned out really well. I love them with this cardigan. I backed them with little 1/4” clear buttons to give them more structure to hang - they were causing the sweater to pull down in the front.

The one thing I love about this cardigan and I would do again is the doubled collar. Very comfy and gives it the needed structure around the neck.

Modifications:

Added 3” length to body prior to picking up the ribbing band,
Knit it in St st instead of Reverse St st,
Added one Purl row prior to starting the cuff ribbing, and
5 buttons instead of 4.

I hope this sees a lot of wear – I will let you know :)

fabric & buttons.

2012-02-10T09:53:00.001-08:00

My mom is a fabulous sewer but she’s been cleaning out her excess supply of sewing notions over the past few years. Occasionally, I get a ‘gift’ from her that was my grandmother’s (whom I never really knew) and I am always saving theses items for a ‘special’ project.

I will tell you more later, but I have not been overly ecstatic about a certain just-finished project. It is currently drying and blocking - I love certain elements of the sweater but overall ... eh.

I do love the yarn. It is Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL Sport in Spinel. Love. And it was wonderful to work with.

There isn’t much else I love about this project. So, I decided it was time to dig into my button & notion stash and see what I could come up with.

These have been sitting in my button stash forever. I decided maybe I could find some neat fabric to cover them with (I absolutely love fabric-covered buttons but have yet to make a sweater with them – weird, huh?).

Enter my most favourite fabric ever. It’s just a scrape left from some unfinished hot-mats I’ve been working on. This would help bring this sweater into love territory, yes?

This is the back with the instructions – I couldn’t bring myself to cut up the packaging as I would like to save it but nifty, huh? Guess how much this package of 5 stainless steel buttons cost?

$1.02 at The Bay in Winnipeg in who-knows-when :)

For those who’ve never made fabric-covered buttons, they are super simple:

Et viola:

Sweater photos next time.

ps. I realized after my post last time that I accidentally may have lead you to believe that Donegal is in Northern Ireland, the country, when I meant it was just in the north of Ireland compared to where the shop was that I bought the yarn from. Sorry for the mix up!

Ireland’s arrival.

2012-01-29T11:21:00.001-08:00

Something exciting arrived in the post this week.

It cam in a big red plastic vacuum-sealed envelope:

To be honest, I was very surprised how quickly it arrived since the estimated shipping dates were 4 – 6 weeks. I ordered about 2 weeks ago …

The customs label doesn’t fully express the contents of said red envelope with it’s simple statement, “Wool.” What is actually inside is luxurious, grey-green, Donegal tweed from Kilcar, Ireland. The yarn is Donegal Yarns’ Aran Tweed. Donegal, and the tweed yarns we associate with the name that come from that area, is in northern Ireland but the company (or rather, store) that ships their yarn all over the world is Commodum Art and Design, which is located in Dingle, Co. Kerry, which is located in southern Ireland. They re-skein the yarn into 200gm hanks, I suspect for ease of shipping, which is the equivalent of 4 x 50gm balls. The 200gm hanks are about 350 yards. I bought 4 for a jacket with the intention of having a little leftover to add a belt if I want.

Gorgeous, ain’t it?

I had hoped to buy some Donegal Tweed from my LYS but unfortunately, it seems to be no longer available … and I was starting to think I should choose another tweed for this jacket project (to be revealed later) like Berroco’s Blackstone Tweed or Aran Tweed from Rowan. But I was torn.

What I really wanted, though, was an authentic Donegal like the one’s I had seen a few years ago when we backpacked all of the British Isles and Ireland. But how to get them? They generally aren’t available in Canada – or at least not in my area of the country out West. I have heard of people back East being able to get these yarns more easily… what to do?

I stumbled across a Canadian Raveler who had Donegal Yarn’s Aran Tweed in her stash and listed Commodum as the supplier she had been able to buy it from – I followed the link and purchased! It arrived without a hitch :)

It’s funny. Yarns that aren’t 100% wool don’t interest the dogs but as soon as I lay real-deal 100% wool, rich with the smell of lanolin on front of them, they can’t seem to get enough of it [Charlotte, above, proceeded to steal a hank and carry it around].

The more I knit and work with a variety of yarns, the more I am realizing I am much like my dogs – 100% wool makes me really happy and satisfied. It’s my favourite to work with and wear (I’m lucky that I grew up in a northern BC town because wool against my skin doesn’t bother me – thank goodness!). What are your favourite yarns to work with? I am quite interested to know :)

ps. Thank you for all the wishes of congratulations from last post!

radio resurgence.

2012-01-25T11:41:00.001-08:00

After the much needed period of radio silence, I have been able to catch up on things. This included focusing for the final months of 2011 on finishing my master’s degree and fighting off feeling sick for three months. I’m sure you can guess why – yes, I am almost 4 months pregnant. We are very excited and I am due in the middle of July.

Now that I am feeling caught up and definitely better, I am able to start thinking about knitting and crafting again. Looking forward to knitting for a growing family, as well as starting to design a little bit, I am hopeful that this space will once again be busy.

I have finished quite a few things during my radio silence. One of my favourite projects is Gamine, a cardigan-vest from designer Tori Gurbisz. Another one of her patterns I am looking forward to knitting is Zephyr, a simple contiguous yoke cardigan. I am, however, on a yarn diet, and will not be purchasing the yarn for this sweater for a while!

One of my ‘projects’ this January has been to empty out my 'office’ as it will morph into the nursery. In rearranging and preparing to store much of my yarn and notions, I have been able to cull my stash of a large bag of yarn for donation. It is strangely liberating. If the remaining has not been touched by December 2012, the rest is being donated as well.

So, Gamine. I used stash yarn – which will be an ongoing trend here at Chez Welfordpurls for the rest of the year!

Berroco Flicker is a relatively new yarn that is very pretty. Odette, the colourway I chose, is a soft cream with flecks of green-gold in it. The flicker is not overpowering and because it’s gold, it’s very subtle against the cream. Gold buttons set it off nicely. As I mentioned on my rav page, though, the yarn is quite splitty.

In terms of modifications, I added about 2.5 inches of length to the body. Flicker’s gauge is strange. It’s listed as a worsted weight but when knit up on 5.00mm needles, it’s quite stiff. Even with washing, I wasn’t too happy with the look or feel of it after. On 6.00mm needles, it’s light and airy – I think it shows off the yarn nicely. And that gave me gauge too.

I hope this finds you happily knitting, enjoying the new year and looking forward to the projects you have planned.

simplify.

2011-10-27T11:36:00.001-07:00

In an effort to simplify my commitments, I am going to take a break from blogging. I have thought long and hard about this, and while I really enjoy it, I know there are other things I enjoy as much – like actually knitting. I will continue to share my projects on Ravelry under my username welfordpurls. Thank you for all of your comments and support – it has not gone unnoticed. I look forward to hearing from you over on ravelry & this is just a ‘see you soon,’ not a permanent goodbye :)

chances.

2011-10-09T11:21:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately, this past week has been filled with kleenex and decongestants as my body fights a particularly nasty cold that just won’t seem to go away. I am starting to feel a bit better but am completely winded after just making a bowl of cereal! You would think a lot of knitting would have been done but school work took precedence when I was feeling well enough to sit and do anything.

Allegheny was completed though! She sat on my dress form for a week while I stared at her thinking, Please wash out into something I love … please. A sweater dress is a difficult thing. It can add 10 pounds or be the most flattering thing ever. When I tried it on prior to blocking, I was so disappointed but after tacking down the belt, sewing on a small, flat button that wasn’t chunky (which I had originally done and immediately removed), I have to say … I’m pretty happy.

In total, I used 5.5 skeins of Cascade 220 Wool in colour 8509. On 5mm needles, the size that was called for based on my slightly looser was the 35 3/4” bust but I decided to knit the 37 3/4” size instead and just kept trying it on during the raglan increases. I ended up with a 7” length raglan, then cast on about 8 extra stitches under each arm to get up to 36” for my bust size (I’m 34” but like a little room).

The cable was straight forward and progressed quickly. I made no modifications, although because I am not very tall, I knit the skirt 1 inch shorter after trying it on. I’m glad I did because it’s already stretched a little bit in length.

The pattern was written for Brooklyntweed’s Wool People Vol 1. If any of the other patterns in the volume are as well written as this one, then I would highly recommend these patterns. There’s no trickery – that’s for sure. Thea Colman has done a beautiful job with this dress. Gorgeous!

last time.

2011-09-25T10:09:00.001-07:00

I can’t really say that school is just starting up – because it’s not. Already we are in full swing and I have submitted a couple of assignments. What has struck me about this semester is the lack of pressure I feel. Working steadily on my assignments, getting group work up and running … none of it feels particularly difficult. I remind myself that part of this is because it’s the last time. Part of me is sad about that – the other part of me can’t wait to be finished. Looking towards life without school work, though, seems a little overwhelming.

Strange how we come to enjoy the things we love to complain about, huh?

williamette.

2011-09-19T10:09:00.001-07:00

Only good things can be said about this jacket. Only good. There is nothing about this jacket I don’t like. Nothing. I absolutely love it.

Seaming it was challenging as I am still learning but I think it actually went okay – every time it gets a little better. The pocket and sleeve insets worked up over the course of a couple of evenings.

I couldn’t be happier with the finished pockets – no loose change falling through the bottom here! The finished I-Cord on the pockets gives the sweater a very polished look that not only suits the jacket, it also gives it a certain sophistication.

The collar is added after the shaping in the yoke is finished and cast off. I knit it to the intended length – I really make no modifications but I did want a button at the top of collar to fasten it around my neck in the winter. I added one more buttonhole when I did the I-Cord bind off down the fronts.

At Fibres West, I found these very cool coconut buttons which suit the jacket. I’m glad I saved them for this project. The fit? I could not be happier. When I tried it on for the first time, my husband was even impressed and he usually doesn’t pay much attention – mostly because he’s seen me working on something for so long he forgets which project is which and whether something is done or not.

This is the first time I have not only used the called-for yarn in a project but also the same colour as the designer. I fell in love with this jacket the moment Amy published it – which was sometime last year. Since I hadn’t learned how to seam yet, I kept putting it off and putting it off – but when I had the opportunity to buy the yarn 40% off at my LYS … there was no more excuse making.

I swatched that day, then got quite scared and put it aside for a while. I finally cast on in May and have just been quietly work on it since – between other projects. This took the pressure off for this to be perfect and it worked up beautifully – I could not be happier. I think it’s safe to say this is actually my favourite handknit ever :)

swing.

2011-09-11T14:03:00.001-07:00

In Toronto in July, I went to the Jazz Festival in the Beaches. I love big band music and was able to catch a great show which featured swing dancers.

I was completely captivated by one girl who was wearing a blue wrap skirt with large pockets and a sash. I approached her afterwards and asked her where she had bought it, as well as complimented her on her dancing.

She said she’d made it from a McCall’s pattern (#5430) and that she’d used a cotton twill. I totally copied her – she looked amazing and I love 1920-1940’s swing attire. She was even wearing the 1950’s white Keds and a red tank instead of the yellow. So cute on her. This is my version with no changes to the pattern.

It actually still needs hook & eyes on the inside for the wrap skirt to be complete but I couldn’t want to show you.

This is an easy pattern – I made the size 10 since my hips are 42”. I might actually make this skirt one size smaller next time (I would like to make it in a lighter twill – this is quite heavy which will be great for Fall) as it is a little roomy in the waist.

That said, I still love it! Happy sewing :)

ps. The Pattern says it’s a 1 or 2 hour sewing project – ummm, no. It’s not. It took me an afternoon after cutting it out which took a while in the morning.

pps. I keep this blog related to only my crafting but I wanted to say that those who are mourning today the loss of loved ones from 9/11, my prayers go out to you as you heal and open your hearts to forgiveness. I pray for the children left behind that they would look to their futures with hope, love and joy that the world is a beautiful place and we must continually remind ourselves of this blessing. Amen.

Mist.

2011-08-13T16:03:00.001-07:00

Amelia (designed by Laura Chau) has been in the back of my mind since a trunk show by Sweet Georgia Yarns at Lettuce Knits in Toronto back in November. Also in the back of my mind was the idea that I would use some Cascade 220 from my stash to continue the stash-busting I have been able to accomplish lately …

Instead, I bought 5 skeins of Galway Heather in 1021 Mist. I actually only needed 4 – I have a full untouched 5th ball left.

Since we were in Toronto and I had not the following:

Eucalan wash
Scissors
Gauge ruler

I decided I would just cast on. What is the worst that could happen? I have knit lots of sweaters, I know that my gauge is generally the same as the ball band unless it is a novelty yarn, and this is a straightforward worsted weight sweater.

The stress that this caused of not swatching (while yes, the sweater did work out) has resulted in me resolving never to not swatch again!

There were some happy accidents with this sweater:

My gauge was too big on the 4.5mm needles that I bought (I had to buy needles since I didn’t have all my interchangeables with me and I didn’t want to buy more than one set).
I cast on the wrong number of stitches (161 stitches instead of the 181 called for in the size 34” bust).
I didn’t realise this until I reached the set-up row, 2 inches into the sweater.
I really didn’t want to rip back.
I measured the width of what I had and it measured more than 19” – much too wide for the 30” or 34” bust but perfect for the intended size of 38”. A little smaller than the 38” and a little bigger than the 34”.

It was all an accident. Thank goodness it worked out!

I used buttons from my stash of Fabricana buttons that I bought on sale years ago.

I made only three modifications – I followed the pattern and I love the results. The twisted rib acts beautifully as a shaping tool which meant the lack of increases and decreases resulted in super fast knitting. I cast this on Friday and cast off 9 days later. Garter is my favourite stitch – I love the simplicity of it – and paired with the twisted rib is perfect. I added 2 extra inches after the waist “shaping” and am glad I did. I also added 4 short rows prior to casting off as the back of the neck was too low. And lastly, I omitted the bell sleeves and cast of for an 8.5” cuff.

One last photo with a hint of something else I have been working on …

Can you guess? I have been inspired by msmodiste’s latest work …

solaris.

2011-07-29T21:24:00.001-07:00

We’re home.

Being away for the past 3 weeks was great – we visited with close friends and family, had some great weather (and some not so great weather), and generally were able to refresh. The best part of being away, though, is coming home – I was ready for my own bed, our dogs (they had to be boarded while we were in Toronto), and our own food (funny how those little things in our routines become our creature comforts).

Fortunately, I do have some goods to show for the past 3 weeks of relaxation-indulgence!

Solaris by the Berroco Design Team is finished and blocked but it will not be worn for quite some time – it’s way too warm! I agreed with other people’s comments that the collar seemed too wide for the sweater so I too narrowed it. I’m not a big person and all that extra bulk would have just added pounds to my 5’3” frame.

Here are my modifications based on a 4 stitches per inch gauge (in pattern stitch) in Cascade Eco+ 4010 Straw on 5.00mm needles.

General Modifications:

Worked the length of the sweater to 16” prior to washing and blocking (rather than the 13” suggested in the pattern).
No waist shaping in both back and front pieces.
Measurements: Lower Edge & Bust (Front pieces) = 10”, Back Yoke = 9”.

Back Piece:

Cast on the 87 stitches called for in the smallest size. When I reached the armhole shaping, I continued to cast off every RS row until the armholes measured 5.5” since I knew it would be too wide across the back otherwise.

Front Piece:

Cast on 49 stitches and worked until 16” prior to starting the armhole shaping.
Cast off 4 stitches at beginning of armhole shaping (44 stitches), then decreased every RS row 8 times (31 stitches).
Worked 8 armhole increases (rather than 5 called for) every RS row to finish armhole shaping (44 stitches).
Worked straight as pattern calls for (11”), then repeated above in reverse.

Sleeves:

Cast on 32 stitches and increased a total of 10 times prior to cap shaping (58 stitches).
Knit sleeve cap 8” deep rather than the 4.5” called for in the pattern.
Shaping for sleeve cap was as follows: Bind off per pattern (first two rows of sleeves). Next row: K1, K2 tog, work in pattern to last 3 stitches, SSK, K1. Row 2: Work back in pattern. I repeated this 14 times for a total of 28 stitches decreased.
Cast off remaining 16 stitches across top of sleeve.

I hope all of this makes sense – please email me or comment if you have any questions!

While I am pleased with the finished product & I know this will get a ton of wear, I am most proud of the fact that this is my first completely seamed sweater (AND it was super easy!). I love the colour and fit … I think I will play with some belts to see what that looks like too.

I hope you are as happy with your projects this summer!

packed up.

2011-07-17T20:09:00.001-07:00

Taking off to the Rockies is one of our favourite things to do. We packed up the dogs, truck and ourselves to tent for the past 2 weeks.

As always, the mountains were stunning. Only home for about 6 hours, we are heading out on another adventure tonight. We will be back in about a week (and I will have some FOs to show you that are currently blocking & drying).

Best to you all and I hope you are having a good summer. xo

teal-erton.

2011-06-27T18:14:00.001-07:00

My future sister-in-law was thrown a bridal shower yesterday from us bridesmaids so I had saved showing this to you until after the event. I knit her a wedding shawl this isn’t for the wedding or anything, but something for her to remember this time by and to think of our family when she wears it out. Susan Dittrich’s Pinkerton Shawl fit the bill perfectly. Simple and elegant (and not too fussy for post-school/summer knitting!). Katy’s favourite colours include teal, sea-foam green and Tiffany’s blue.

Since there’s an obvious pattern there, I chose Sweet Fiber Yarn’s Super Sweet Sock in Teal Feather. Perfect. I love Melissa’s yarns. She choses beautiful colours to work with and results are always fabulous.

Once I had the hang of the pattern, which was easy to memorize, I paid no attention to stitch counts or number of short rows worked … I just kept knitting until I felt it was time to move onto the lace. Again, I paid no attention to counting and cast off the lace when it looked big enough and I felt it was the right time. I didn’t want any leftover yarn from this project other than what I would give her for weaving if it is ever damaged so I just knit until the skein was gone!

The result is a perfectly sized shawl!

Prior to my saying goodnight to you all, I wanted to share a link with you:

trainingabear.blogspot.com

I have mentioned our dogs in previous posts but after some reflection, I have decided to start a blog about the process of “training” Charlie, our male. Our trainer placed him and I together after seeing us interact (I had prior been working with Charlotte) and the journey since has been tumultuous, frustrating and fabulously rewarding. Following some research, as well as conversations with friends, I have decided to journal my experiences. It can be an incredible thing to have animals in our lives but learning to live alongside them when we speak such different languages can be difficult – this blog is dedicated to that experience. I hope I see some of you over there as well!

construction.

2011-06-19T18:36:00.001-07:00

We camped this weekend in the rain that often plagues the Upper Fraser Valley of Southern British Columbia. It was wonderful to get outside, have some time to take the dogs on long walks, and visit with family and good friends. I have been working on a couple of projects recently – one that is drying and I’ll photograph/share it once it is gifted, and another that I wanted to show you prematurely. It isn’t finished but the construction has been a delight. I am not so afraid of seaming anymore so I have started taking on some projects I would never have considered last year or the year prior. Solaris is one of those projects that I have been wanting to make for some time.

I had some Cascade Eco+ in my stash that I have used in colour 4010 Straw. I swatched up on 5.00mm and recalculated the stitches based on my gauge (which was very different – of course) and removed about 5 inches from the bulk of the collar. The construction of the back piece was very interesting:

Rather than knit the back piece to the usual arm depth, you stop at about 5 1/2 inches (or whatever your size is), which as you can see on my dress form leaves you about 3 inches “short” – or so you would think.

The left front is then cast on and worked back and forth to the underarms. From there, armhole shaping is worked as well as the complete arm hole, then the piece is worked across the back. The right front is worked completely in reverse of the left front.

The result is interesting and incredibly satisfying. I haven’t washed the sweater yet and I have only just cast on the arms but I am looking forward to the finished results. There’s part of me that doesn’t even want to do full arms but rather sleeve caps to leave it as a vest but I know I would regret that later. So finish it, I will.

I hope you are working on something interesting and equally satisfying this evening.

sorting.

2011-06-10T10:53:00.001-07:00

From sorting out emotions to frustration to cleaning out for Spring, it has been a tumultuous June over here. June is my favourite month of the year for many reasons but this year has been a little difficult. My plan is to start fresh today by unpacking the rest of the boxes left from the move: All 4 of them. I know it doesn’t sound like much but these are the crafting boxes that need a lot of sorting out.

So from a very dear friend’s awful news and hope/faith in the future (as well as modern medicine):

http://jabrode.com/

To crying last night at dog school (in front of everyone – very embarrassing) due to earth-shattering (it felt that way at the time) frustration with an adolescent puppy:

He looks so innocent, doesn’t he? Herumph.

But feeling a completely silly sense of relief that things are coming together slowly:

They are organized! Finally!

And stumbling on memories long since past while stuck in the back of our family’s van on long summer road trips throughout the West (who knew I packed this in one of my crafting boxes!):

“The Adventures of Mr. Man” by my brother and me.

And lastly, taking a moment to appreciate the back of a sweater that I am loving so much:

This is what it’s all about, isn’t it? The small moments that we often miss is our busy lives – here’s to appreciating them a little more. xo

vintaged.

2011-05-28T17:54:00.001-07:00

Last time I shared with you my experience of setting in my first pair of sleeves. This time I want to share with you Vintage. It’s finished and I am really happy with the cardigan. There are a few things I would change if I were to be starting over. In truth, though, I am content and know this will get worn a huge amount.

The yarn is what makes this cardigan special. Berroco Vintage DK is a new yarn that is 50% acrylic, 40% wool and 10% nylon. Generally, I stay away from acrylic yarns but I have to admit the weight, price point and colours are what caused me to take a change and buy/try the new yarn. I must say, the yardage alone made me look twice. This sweater only took 3 hanks of the Oats colourway and about 0.5 hanks of the Sour Cherry. Amazing. That made it a $30 cardigan – I can’t argue with that! I knit the cardigan up on 4.00mm needles and love the drape of the finished object.

To decide how many stitches to cast on, I laid out my favourite cardigan (bought at Jacob last Christmas in a Large for lots of room and length) and measured it. Casting on enough stitches for the 40” busted cardigan, I just knit and knit and knit … until I was so bored I decided that was enough and divided for the fronts and back.

The buttons are from my button stash and the garter button band matches the original sweater from Jacob.

I have been toying with writing this up and if I do, I will work on that this summer while camping – I will keep you posted. I have 5 sweaters on the go at the moment … 6 if you count the secret sweater. Two of them only need sleeves so I am going to work on them this week and hopefully finish at least one before the end of the month … I hope. Wish me luck!

set-in.

2011-05-25T09:28:00.001-07:00

Ever since I started knitting, I have had a mental block about set-in sleeves. If I am completely honest with myself, it is because my first project was the Tilted Duster (which still isn’t finished) and I had a hell-of-a-time figuring out how the sleeves were to be sewn into the armscye. Having sewed much in the past (and continue to), I was annoyed with myself that I couldn’t do it and have basically avoided them ever since. Until now. I decided that 2011 was the year to conquer my fears and learn how to not only seam but set-in sleeves. No more avoiding patterns or modifying them so that I won’t have to set-in a sleeve.

For those of you who are afraid of set-in sleeves just like I was, I used this tutorial from Berroco that was excellent at demonstrating the sewing technique. From Knitty, since I didn’t have a pattern (I have been designing this from the get-go and will share more later), I used these articles (Part I, Part II and Part III) from Jenna Wilson to figure out the math and ensure my stripes would match-up.

This was my armscye prior to sewing up. You can see that I have stripes (6 in total) to match up.

Once I had pinned it and matched up the stripes, I put it on my lovely dress form to ensure the sleeve cap would fit appropriately.

Since this is a granny sweater and meant to be loose fitting (I added 4 inches of positive ease to be body), I decided to use the 3rd method described by Jenna to design my sleeves. I cast off 10 stitches once my sleeve was the adequate length and on every RS row thereafter, I decreased a stitch at either side. The reason why I chose this method (since the others tend to fit better) is because this is a loose fitting sweater and I don’t need a close fitting sleeve to finish it off. For my first foray into sleeves, I didn’t think I needed anything more complicated.

In the final 12 rows, I decreased every row 3 times then skipped a row and repeated 3 times in total (4 rows, 3 times = 12 rows).

Taking the time and practicing a few times, I am really happy with the results. I even took the time to sew on the buttons since this baby is almost finished.

If you are still with me after this longer-than-intended post, I bought a shirt in Vegas back in April that I am knitting this sweater for. I don’t wear any red but I saw this t-shirt and had to have it – but of course I needed to knit something to go with it! My good friend helped to chose the yarn and here I am: Almost done!

Photos are coming once it is dried from washing it this morning.

Onions.

2011-05-18T13:07:00.001-07:00

It’s been a while.

I haven’t found my knitting mojo yet but I am steadily working on some projects that have been very gratifying. With the weather finally changing, warming up and long walks through my favourite parks, I’m not sure my mojo will return for a while. There is a sense of peace about that, though. Slowly the yard is being cleaned up and things are coming together in the house. Luckily, no spring cleaning this year since we moved and cleaned out in January. Whew!

Amazingly, I have a finished project to share with you. Before we moved, I was working on this like mad. For a while, I had nothing else to work on since all yarn and notions were packed but I really burned out on it when I started the second sleeve. I felt like there was no end in sight.

I pulled it out on Sunday evening and decided: Win or lose, we were watching the Canucks game (thank goodness we won) and that would give me 3 hours of solid knitting/weaving in ends time. I was not going to quit till it was done! As the third period came to an end, I was washing and laying it out to dry. Awesome, huh?

Amy Christoffers’ Larch Cardigan.

In some ways I modified this a lot and in other ways, I did nothing. Having trialed some different construction methods in other sweaters (namely, Audrey in Unst), I decided to do short-row sleeves from the cap down. This worked really well but I had major decreasing to do through the arms. The result is perfectly fitting sleeves but I’m not sure it was the best technique to use – I would knit set-in sleeves next time.

The detail in this cardigan is what makes it special. The miles of St st for the body with a small amount of shaping for the A-line cardigan is a little tedious but I kept thinking “This is for the greater good of this cardi – it’s just so cute!”

The collar alone makes this sweater-jacket special.

The buttons and crocheted toggles create a classic look (that I absolutely love).

And while tedious, my absolute favourite thing is the picked up hem and twisted rob combo. Absolutely perfect – kudos Amy, well done.

I bought this dress from H&M in Vegas back in April for $20US and loved it. It has a paisley pattern that is difficult to see from the sun’s exposure but the colours in the cardigan are a perfect match so my yarn choice was reinforced again (I had bought the yarn to go with the above t-shirt and scarf). I chose (from Dressew for $1.99) Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds DK Wool in Onion. The yarn I bought has been discontinued but I saw that they are bringing this yarn back in a different form, same great organic yarn.

Thank you for sticking with my through my hiatus – have a lovely Spring and happy knitting!

ps. Yes, that’s Charlie in the first photos – he is fully grown now at 17 months. And so much fun :)

vintage.

2011-04-27T09:15:00.001-07:00

My knitting mojo was left somewhere in the Nevada desert at the beginning of the month while we had a good time in Las Vegas. I bought some Berroco Vintage DK yesterday with some good friends, did some math and cast on a very simple sweater. Maybe my mojo is slowly returning?

socker.

2011-04-05T20:21:00.001-07:00

His new best friend needed a little protection without the price tag so I had to oblige with a 10 minute project.

frock.

2011-03-31T09:17:00.001-07:00

One of those projects that you never feel you’ve made any progress on despite hours and hours of knitting time.

c’est fin.

2011-03-21T17:42:00.001-07:00

I can’t believe that it is finished. While watching a movie last night, I wove in all the ends of Aidez and it is done. It fits like a charm. I modified the construction of this sweater but not the sweater itself. My gauge was different at 14 stitches to 4 inches. My row gauge was amazingly accurate so I followed the yoke decreases and while the yoke is deeper than I would normally like (8.75 inches), the extra 1.5 inches works well for a bulky sweater like this (I want to wear long-sleeved shirts underneath).

I cast on 152 stitches and divided 72 for the back and 40 for each front. I knit the body in one piece as many have done. I added 2 inches to the body for a total of 18 inches. It blocked out to closer to 20 inches, which I had hoped for. I had fewer St st for the side and fronts but I didn’t decrease as much as is called for in the pattern so it didn’t matter. I decreased a total of 4 times up the side.

One “mistake” that I made was instead of double moss stitch for the middle of the cables on the back, I changed at some point to knitting single seed stitch. I quite liked this so when I went back to fix it, I kept it all in seed stitch. I really like seed stitch, so this was a nice “mistake” although fixing took forever but I’ve already told you about that and I am so happy with the result.

The cable charts are very well thought out because your big cable up the back is worked over 24 rows. The smallest is worked over 4 rows and the medium Wishbone chart is over 8 rows. You cable on the large chart every right side row so that’s easy – you don’t need the chart once you get the hang of how the “arms” move. The 4-row chart, you double wrap on the WS on row 2. Easy. And the 8-row chart, you cable only on the 1st row so 3 times during the working of the 24 row chart. It’s so easy to memorize and I ended up having a scrap piece of paper next to me and just marking off the row I had just finished. It meant it was a very portable project.

I know this sounds silly but this is the first handknit I have made that I put on and thought, “Nope, I wouldn’t change anything.” What a great feeling. I love how the collar came out even though I was petrified of the seaming. I did use a 3 needle bind-off for the back collar, which turned out nicely. The seaming wasn’t too bad – I took the advice and expertise of some information on Knitting Daily which boosted my confidence greatly.

You are going to laugh at me but … I am actually planning to make this again this summer. I bought some Cascade Eco+ in straw, which is my absolutely most favourite colour. I am planning to skip the cables and have a plain St st cardigan since I don’t really want two exactly-the-same cardigans! I was actually thinking quite seriously about putting a lace panel up the back of the straw cardigan … something like the lotus pattern from Barbara Walker’s First Treasury. I am still toying with that idea though.

In yarn (& finished projects),

-r.

settling.

2011-03-17T10:56:00.001-07:00

I have had some questions about whether Charlotte is fitting into our little family and how it’s going. She is doing really well. We have had her for about a month now but we both feel that she has always been here.

It’s great having a friend to run with, as well – I find that since she keeps going, I do too!

I am hoping to have some things to show you on the weekend so please wish me luck that this *&%! paper gets finished and I have some time to spend with the needles :) I hope you are casting on or casting off something special!

In yarn (& friends),

-r.

softwood.

2011-03-11T13:25:00.001-08:00

The yarn that I chose for my Larch Cardigan reminds me of softwood – soft colour, texture and loft. Larch is also a softwood so I am happy that I chose this yarn for it! I haven’t knit one of Amy Christoffers’ patterns before but I have already downloaded and swatched for White Pine. The Larch pattern was written extremely well – easy to follow, thorough and technical enough that the results appear professional. This is becoming more and more important to me as the finished object is something I want to be able to wear out and feel good in. Is this the same for you?

Back to the yarn. Remember at the beginning of the year I said that I was going to limit the number of sweaters I cast on this year? I suspect that is out the window as I now have about 5 that I am dying to knit. It is important to me that I keep the gauge (3mm to 5.5mm needles) in mind since that seems to be the root of a lot of my wrist issues. I found the yarn at Dressew back in November (for $1.99 since it is now discontinued) and was keeping it stored away until I found the perfect cardigan. I stumbled on Larch and knew it was game over: I swatched and cast on. The problem is the same it always is: The sleeves. I always leave them till last and by then I am usually a little burned out on the sweater.

I finished the yoke at work, which was a huge blessing since I wouldn’t have finished it otherwise. Unfortunately I have to go back and re-cast off. I don’t like how it looks and I think a sewn cast off will suit it better.

I added an inch to the body. The length of this sweater is perfect for me since I want to be able to wear it as an A-line sweater with a long shirt underneath. I modified the length of the yoke slightly since I know this yarn will stretch once washed (I love swatching – it means you know things like this!).

I have the buttons: wooden ones from my button stash which I am hoping gives me the motivation I need to finish the sleeves and move on to finishing Aidez. Cirilia’s cardigan is another knit I am loving and can’t wait to show you photos. I am not a blue person (I was actually thinking about that on my run this morning – I would actually chose red/orange over blue most of the time) but I was totally inspired by another one of my knitting inspirations: Kate’s Shale. Absolutely gorgeous.

In yarn,

-r.

super serious.

2011-03-07T09:29:00.001-08:00

I was completely inspired to knit these when I saw ElsaLemon’s Delicious Knee Socks out of Noro Kureyon Sock in colour 217. Unfortunately, Kureyon Sock is being discontinued by Noro so it is becoming more and more difficult to find. A friend at work found two skeins online from Little Knits in Seattle, WA, which was great. I ordered the yarn and cast on right away. I have to put in a small plug for this store before I continue. Their online store/shipping was great – I ordered the yarn and up through the border it came without a hitch. It was shipped when they said it would be, and their emails were kind and professional. I will order from them again in the future. Anyway, these were worked on through out February as I slogged through school, shifts, unpacking and dreary weather. By the way, February is my least favourite month in the year.

I couldn’t be more happy with the results since the colours were a pleasure to knit with. The Kureyon stripes quickly enough to keep you interested in the changing colours, which is motivating and therefore knits up quickly. I have had trouble in the past with socks that wear threw at the heel so I have started knitting my socks on 2.25mm. This has been working really well although it does mean extra stitches and more knitting. This is fine by me as long as the finished object(s) last. I will keep you posted on how these wear.

The plan for these? They were always intended for camping. I get really cold in the evenings, especially when it’s been hot all day so even with the campfire going strong I always crave warm woolly socks. I think these might be perfect.

One comment about Noro. I didn’t have much trouble with the 2 balls that these socks took (I had minimal knots). My complaints would be that the joins within the ball are so poorly done. I was able to get the yarn 50% off since they were clearing it out so I wasn’t concerned that I needed to cut the ball up even more to get past some of the not-so-nice parts but as a knitter, I spend a lot of time on my crafting and I spend my hard-earned money on my yarns to have beautiful projects to work on and lovely finished objects. It’s frustrating that even when spending a certain amount on Noro, it never quite feels worthwhile. The colours are gorgeous and I am always drawn to Noro for that quality but more and more I am choosing other yarns when I know I will be fighting with the Noro ball and cutting out sections. What are your thoughts? Does knowing this problem exists still pull you over to the Noro corner or does it turn you off? I would love to hear your thoughts.

In yarn,

-r.

apple crumble.

2011-03-05T15:30:00.001-08:00

One of my favourite things to do is cook but I haven’t really shared that hobby with you since I started this blog. It was something that I intended to do but then I lost the cable to my camera and I don’t like having my “nice” camera in the kitchen. Then we moved and guess what turned up in the unpacking? You guessed it: My cable! And so an aspect of this blog that I have been missing can begin!

This is one of my favourites to make for my husband who’s most favourite thing in the world is apple pie but to cut calories (aka, minus the pastry crust), I make him apple crumble instead. I’m not sure where I learned to make this: I just do!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Ingredients:

5-6 medium Gala apples or whatever you have on hand (I really like to add a Granny Smith for the tartness) – I don’t peel mine but you can

1 C water

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. (heaping) brown sugar

1 tsp. nutmeg

Combine these ingredients in a saucepan on the stove and bring water to a boil. Continue to cook (about 15-20 minutes) until the apples are soft.

In the meantime, combine in a large bowl (I use the one I threw the apples into) the topping:

2/3rds of a block of margarine (softened from sitting on the counter for approximately 30 minutes)

1/2 C white flour

1/2 C quick oats

1 tbsp brown suger (again, heaping)

Mix together with a pastry blender until flakey and no flour is “loose” – this takes a bit of working.

Once the apples have cooked, place into the bottom of a lightly greased glass baking bowl (I use a Pyrex 1.6L bowl with lid for storing in the fridge later). Pour crumble topping evenly overtop.

I like to add a sprinkle of cinnamon and roughly chopped almonds to the top prior to cooking.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until top is golden brown and sides are bubbling.

Serve with plain yogurt or ice cream! Enjoy :)

-r.

to a dear friend, with love.

2011-02-28T16:19:00.001-08:00

A very close friend of mine needed a toque for the winter months in Toronto. She had seen one in the Maritimes that she loved but hadn’t bought it so was doing without a toque. If you’ve been watching the weather channel this past month, you will know that all across our dear country, there have been very cold temperatures everywhere. Right now in fact, it is snowing outside … in Vancouver … in February. What the ?*!& ?

In January, I ordered some yarn to make her a much needed and deserved toque. She had seen my Selbu when we were in Toronto in November and had commented on it, so I cast on as soon as the yarn arrived and finished it last week. We headed to Tofino for a week of relaxation and I mailed it from Nanaimo … it hasn’t arrived yet … so I can’t post this yet! If you are in fact reading this post, then she has received it … finally :)

It was freezing when we were taking these photos in a playground in Nanaimo but the sun … it was gorgeous.

Although these are far from the colours I would have chosen for myself, Sam is a dark brunette with large dark eyes so the Salsa Heather and Oyster combination will look amazing on her. I didn’t make any modifications to the pattern – I used the 2.00mm and 2.75mm circs called for to get gauge. That’s the beauty of knitting a pattern again – I knew exactly what to do!

I stretched it over on of our 10 inch Ikea dinner plates and dipped it into a warm soapy bath. Gently draining the water off, I left it on a towel to dry. Every evening I just flipped it over to allow it to dry on the bottom. I am really happy with this knit and I hope Sam will wear it and wear it and wear it .. and wear it and wear it and wear it …

-r.

ps. Isn’t the blue sky beautiful? I love Vancouver Island so much …

tofino.

2011-02-26T13:37:00.001-08:00

A much needed break that came to an end too soon.

We are home now but sand, sea and walks are still occupying my head.

Break.

2011-02-22T19:02:00.001-08:00

Last year we were able to get up into the mountains of the Upper Fraser Valley (north of Hope) for a serene get-a-way in the middle of winter. This year we decided to jump at a window of 5 days off for each of us and run away (more like sail away) to Vancouver Island’s most beautiful shoreline: Tofino. With world-renowned surf and gorgeous weather, we walked Long Beach for hours with the dogs, who tonight are finally tired out … just in time to go home tomorrow morning. This is Charlie-boy watching the surf in this afternoon’s sun:

For myself, getting away in the winter is a good mental break for me since I find that by about February 1st I am getting pretty sick of the rain and grey. I love the Vancouver rain but getting a change of scene really helps me to feel refreshed. Also, it’s great for getting bodies of Aidez sweaters done … but more on that later :)

-r.

anniversary.

2011-02-21T11:26:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was my 2 year blog anniversary. I can’t believe it! Through all of my crafting and creating, this has been a great venue to air out ideas and discuss my projects. Thank you for reading and commenting – I really appreciate it! Here’s to another year :) Cheers!

I hope you are surrounded by piles of yarn and stash-y goodness,

-rach

+1.

2011-02-16T11:11:00.001-08:00

For a while we have known that we were going to be getting a second dog, we just didn’t know when we would be able to take her home as ours. I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our little family:

Please meet Charlie-girl, to be known as Chuck (she’s on the right, Charlie [boy] is on the left). She was already named so we decided that rather than re-naming either/both of them, we would give her a perma-nickname (especially since she will be seeing her original owner (the breeder) all the time who will still call her Charlie – and, honestly? It suits her just as much as it suits our boy Charlie).

The cool thing about these two is that they are pretty much identical in personality and disposition. The draw-back to these two is that they are pretty much identical in personality and disposition! haha … I think that’s why their names suit them!!!

Chuck is Charlie’s Aunt – her mom is Charlie’s grandmother, which is very cool. She is 3 years old and, like Charlie (1 year old), takes after her mother (his grandmother). They are the same colour and size although she’s “fluffier” than he is – she’s a little bigger but part of that is he’s still growing. Like him, she’s always smiling! Although she has a huge tongue … :)

What can I say? We love ‘em!

Sorry for the crappy phone-photo – they will not stay still so I had to click a shot when I had treats in my hand! I hope you are enjoying your family as much as we are ;)

-r.

mistakes.

2011-02-09T10:59:00.001-08:00

Before we moved I cast on for Aidez by Cirilia Rose. It’s a gorgeous pattern but I read one of the charts wrong. Once I figured out that it was actually double moss stitch, I liked the single moss stitch better (by then I had half and half). But what to do? I had two different stitch patterns and I knew I would always see it in the future. The sweater would never be worn if I didn’t fix it … I took the plunge and ripped the section out:

Here’s the thing: Why leave something and not fix it when I know that while it’s fiddly to get it right, it eventually will be right? I hate ripping and re-knitting but I have done so much of it that, yes, I just take a deep breath, say a prayer and frogged.

All 20 rows.

But guess what happens when it’s fixed?

Happiness. That’s what :)

ruby blue.

2011-02-01T15:44:00.001-08:00

Around Christmas I mentioned a sweater I finished in mid-December for a secret/special someone. That secret/special someone is my mom – it was a gift for Christmas. Between you and me, this was a very stressful knit for a couple of reasons. First, it wasn’t the type of knit that took a few evenings. If it didn’t fit, it was kind of a big deal – there would be no easy fixes. Second, I had evening after evening to work on it. This meant I sat there stewing about the fact that it might not fit and wouldn’t look nice. Third, and perhaps the most agonizing of the whole project – what if she didn’t like it when I gave it to her? Thankfully, I worried in vain. There were no such disasters.

I bought Kim Hargreave’s Breeze collection in the Fall after looking through it many times. My favourite patterns in the book are actually Daisy and Georgie but I am saving each of them for rainy day knits – and I am not casting on any sweaters for a while. Ruby caught my eye because I was looking for a cardigan with simple lines, a belt and a shawl-like collar.

I didn’t actually modify the pattern much – I used the stitch counts provided (although I didn’t have gauge so I had to adjust for my gauge). The difference was I knit it in one piece from the bottom-up. The sleeves were too baggy for what my mom would want, so I changed those using the instructions from Laura Chau’s Amelia cardigan in Knitty’s Winter 2008 issue (which is in my queue for 2011 as one of 3 sweaters I would like to knit).

Unfortunately the photos aren’t great but I think you can see the sheen of the Berroco Lustra [colour 3156] in the photo above. The yarn was quite difficult to work with since it splices often. The effect of the yarn, however, makes it worthwhile to deal with the splitting since the sheen and drape is irrefutable. I was hoping to get some photos of Mom actually wearing the cardigan so I will continue to work on that – it did fit her well, though.

Overall, I am very happy with this sweater. I would sort of like one for myself but I’m not sure I can cope with all of the St st again. I enjoyed working the raglan decreases in one piece – it made the finishing work minimal since weaving in ends doesn’t take long. I loved that the button band was knit along with it – no picking up for more finishing work at the end. You can tell I was anxious to have it finished!

One note about this colour of Lustra – it bleeds. As I was knitting, it stained my wooden needles and a cream shirt I was wearing while it rested on my lap. Beware! I have instructed my mom to wear dark colours underneath until I can get some colour-seal wash for it.

-r.

quick.

2011-01-25T11:50:00.001-08:00

This is just a little post to check in and let you know how things are going over here! We are still in boxes. Of course! School is heavy. Of course! I have started my training for the Sun Run in Vancouver on April 17th. Yay! and everyone is tired.

There has been some very productive sock knitting around here – I have 1/2 finished my February socks for my monthly challenge and it’s only the end of January so I am pretty happy about that. In my excitement (and I can’t find the other skein of Koigu to finish them), I started my March socks too! I am getting a little ahead of myself … but that’s okay :)

Hope you are finding excitement in your endeavours this winter!

-r.

home.

2011-01-17T14:24:00.001-08:00

Over this past weekend, we moved. Between the boxes and cleaning, I am glad to finally see the light at the end of tunnel that we will be settling into our new home soon. It is also one step closer to the country life that we eventually would like to share together. It was pretty awesome this morning after taking the dogs out to not have to go up an elevator but instead have a choice between walking through the garage or the front door – also, when my phone was searching for Wi-Fi this morning there was one network (ours) to chose from rather than the 20 or 30 I am used to scrolling through. Amazing.

After the movers had left yesterday, however, we had two very tired puppies on our hands. One [Charlie, who I have shared with you before and was 1yr on Saturday] decided it was all too much, an crashed on his new living room floor:

The other [Burma, a gorgeous 5 month Shar pei/Lab/German Shepard cross who we are dog-sitting right now] went exploring – but she did finally crash as well!

I hope your home is as warm and cozy as I am hoping ours will be once we are settled in :)

-r.

time for tea.

2011-01-10T12:25:00.001-08:00

tea leaves is done! I thought it was doomed but I saved it! And I will share what happened with you so that it never happens to you and you almost start crying when you are out on a beautiful walk with your dear husband :)

[FYI – I am sorry for such a long, drawn out post but there is so much to share with you about this sweater! But there are lots of photos to make up for it!]

Previously in my short knitting career, I have generally chosen what I call “work horse” yarns to craft with. Part of this decision was based in cost. Most of the decision was based on apprehension. I was apprehensive that if I bought what I call “luxury yarn” that I wouldn’t like the project I knit or something would go horribly wrong. I still have that fear but I am learning that as my knowledge grows and skills improve that I am seeking out alternative yarns to work with. I am also seeking to learn more about all fibre and yarn in general.

Yarn and colour choice aligned with this knit. When Melissa LaBarre first published her Tea Leaves Cardigan through Madelinetosh, I knew that at some point I would knit this. However, the idea of knitting 16 inches of St st after finishing Manu left me feeling a little bit overwhelmed so the cardigan continued to be pushed to the back burner. I am really glad this happened as I can’t get madelinetosh here at my LYS so it was meant to be when I bought it in Toronto. And – you have no idea how meant to be it was!

Let me tell you about the journey of this sweater …

Enter our yearly trip to Toronto in November and a visit to Lettuce Knit for Felicia Lo’s Trunk Show. I showed you my treasure find in a previous post and at that time I was swatching. My gauge was different from the pattern by about 0.7 of a stitch which actually worked out perfectly because when I worked the math it was exactly 10 stitches less to cast on. I could have downsized my needles but my poor ganglion-filled right wrist wouldn’t have been able to work the heavy worsted on anything less than 4.5mm. Even the yoke, when working on the 4.00mm, was starting to cause me problems and I had to put the sweater down for a couple of days to let the inflammation go down. This is part of my reason for wanting to knit smaller projects this year – my wrist never acts up when I work on projects 4.00mm and smaller with lighter weight yarn.

[ps. can you see the snow flakes in the tree? yup! it’s snowing here this morning!]

This was already the second time I had started the yoke. The first time, when I knit the K1FB, I really didn’t like what the garter ridge above it looked like. I decided to re-knit it, instead working a YO for every K1FB. On the WS, when I came to the YO, I knit it through the back loop to cause it to twist. This closed the gap, and left the garter ridge above smooth and untouched. Much much cleaner. I had cast on for the 34” bust but I knit to 7.5inches for the yoke, wanting the sweater to sit higher on my shoulders than in the photos. When I placed the sweater on my dress form for fitting, it fit perfectly. So I knit on. I added 3 Japanese short rows to each side just underneath the yoke patterning prior to finishing the rest of the yoke.

I knit on, finishing the sweater but a bit disappointed that although the yarn was all from the same dye lot, it was in fact quite different. I just wish I had blended them so that there was 2 or 3 skeins going at once and it wouldn’t be so obvious – you can see the pooling on the back of sweater the most [see the photo directly above]. It’s not something I am willing to rip out and re-knit but I did learn a lesson: Hand-dyed yarn = knit from more than 1 skein at a time.

So I was pretty happy with my treasure. I washed it. Laid it out to dry and was quite excited to go out yesterday and take some photos, write this post and share!

It dried. I put it on. IT WAS 4 INCHES TOO BIG! And sitting about 4 inches lower than where it is now sitting in the photos. SAGGY & BAGGY! OMGoodness. I was so upset. M and I were headed out on a walk since it was such a beautiful day so we decided to go anyways and we talked/I moped about the sweater. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would have to rip and re-knit it by the time we went to bed last night.

I have to say, it is amazing what a good nights sleep will do for a distressed brain and heart. Sleep really is the answer to all problems. Really – it is!

Let me explain. I don’t believe in consequences – I think everything happens for a reason and let me share why. Remember I mentioned that I was at a trunk show at Lettuce Knit the night I bought this yarn? Well. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was there and she was helping a new-ish knitter fix his neckline of a sweater he had finished. The reason why it needed fixing was because it was all stretched out. He had cast on for a top-down raglan and due to the weight of the sweater, it had STRETCHED THE NECKLINE OUT OF SHAPE! EUREKA! That’s what had happened to my dear sweater!

I woke with a start this morning at 6am, jumped out of bed, grabbed my 4.00mm needles, and immediately started picking up the cast on stitches around the neckline. I then knit one row of knit stitch on the WS (creating a garter row on the RS) and CAST OFF TIGHTLY! What happened?

Well, of course it fixed it! It pulled the sweater’s neckline in and up to where it was supposed to be in the first place! It wasn’t 4 inches too big, it was sitting way down on my chest! The weight of the madelinetosh was what caused this – and because I was able to fiddle and pull on the sweater while fitting it on the dress form, of course I had fit it correctly but didn’t realize this would be a problem.

I hope this never happens to any of you, but if it does – just know that there will be a fix for a stretched out neckline! Who knew that that conversation Stephanie was having the night I was buying the yarn for the sweater would be the conversation that saved it? Amazing! oh, and thank you!

Cheers everyone!

-r.

herringbone.

2011-01-08T15:39:00.001-08:00

Left over from other projects, namely a big one I have yet to show you, I cast on for Kate Gagnon Osborn’s Opus Spicatum out of some Malabrigo and Madelinetosh. I had actually stumbled onto this pattern by accident about a month ago when browsing through the most recent Kelbourne Woolens’ available patterns. I love everything Kate designs and have knit quite a few of her patterns so when I saw Opus, I knew it was just a matter of time. I printed off the pattern and kept it close!

The Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in 63 Natural was a great yarn to pair with the leftovers of the madelinetosh tosh merino in Cove that I bought in Toronto in November. I cast on for the brim in 4.00mm needles, as specified by the pattern and I literally knit and knit and knit and knit …

Well, you get the picture! It took two evenings of about 3 hours of knitting. This was a very quick knit. The body of the toque was knit on 5.5mm needles as the pattern calls for. I made no modifications. And as always, I stretched it over a 10 inch dinner plate before gently dousing it in warm eucalan soapy water. I left it to dry over night and VIOLA! Best toque ever (besides all the other ones I have knit that I love this much!)! What I enjoyed most about this design was the herringbone pattern that evolves as you knit. It’s very intuitive, so you are not constantly looking at the chart to see if you are following it correctly – all you have to do is look at your knitting! As you reach the end of the crown shaping, you have this absolutely beautiful star pattern in the middle of the crown which I think makes the toque. Kate’s attention to detail is what I enjoy most about her patterns, like for example the cast on in a contrast colour. Again, it’s a detail that finishes the toque professionally.

This is a great first project for beginning Fair Islers too – the worsted weight merino on a 16” or 24” circular makes it easy to keep gauge, make progress relatively quickly, and learn the Continental and English styles of knitting (carrying one colour in each hand). Beautiful! I hope you are enjoying your knits as much as I am this weekend :)

And yes, it is this sunny outside today with no snow on the ground and green grass! We are having a tough time believing it’s January today . . . oh, Vancouver . . .

-r.

Molly.

2011-01-07T17:06:00.001-08:00

In my last post, I had mentioned a new knit that I was working on – Alana Dakos’ Molly. It’s finished! In total, this simple beret with its very cute lace brim took me 2 evenings to finish. You can’t beat that!

Molly is knit in the lace weight New Zealana’s Kia Ora Kiwi. I still used the same needle sizes called for and I am very happy with the results. From the brim, I knit to 4.5 inches before starting the decreases through the crown. This worked brilliantly since I ended up with a perfect sized beret for me.

For a quick knit, in two colours I love, in new fibre … well, I couldn’t be happier! Prior to washing, I stretched it gently over a 10 inch dinner plate and gently doused it into the water. I then just left it to dry, flipping it over every so often to let both sides dry. Worked like a charm!

Now onto January’s Socks. What is your first knit of 2011?

-r.

kiwi.

2011-01-04T13:57:00.001-08:00

Generally, I am pretty good about not going into a yarn shop and just buying anything. Generally, I have a project in mind. Usually, I go in with the pattern-in-hand and proceed to choose the yarn to knit said project.

I broke those rules yesterday. I saw a sample of Molly by Alana Dakos that I just absolutely fell in love with and immediately wanted to knit. It was sized in an Adult Small. But, oh. Wait. Yeah, no. It’s knit in cotton. I can walk away. I don’t really like it that much.

Then, from behind me, “Isn’t that neat yarn?”

“Umm, yeah. I love that pattern.” Secretly I’m thinking, No, it’s cotton. Cotton hurts my hands when knitting with it so I can’t.

“Yeah, it’s Possom.”

Wait. What? Possom? Like the animal?

I was sold. The yarn in discussion is Zealana’s Kiwi Lace Weight. The content of the yarn is 30% Organic Cotton, so I wasn’t wrong but the remaining 70% is 40% New Zealand Merino and 30% Possum. Weird! And completely lovely. I am really enjoying working with it and I can’t wait to work with it again – I would like to try some of their other yarns, actually. Some more information about Possum fibre can be found on Zealana’s website [I have directly linked Possum Attributes].

To make the striped version of Molly, I chose the colours Beach and Pounamu. I was very torn about colour choices but thankfully I had a very good friend helping me.

Although the pattern calls for DK, I am knitting it in the lace weight but on the same needles called for. It’s working out beautifully thus far. I will keep you posted!

-r.

Looking back. Looking forward.

2011-01-01T10:09:00.001-08:00

Happy New Years! I always dread the end of a year and the start of a new one since I usually feel that the year was a good one and I am not quite ready for it to be finished and past. 2010 was no different – I am not quite ready to say goodbye.

I do, however, enjoy taking the opportunity to reflect on the year of crafting and plan some loose goals for the year to come. I have been cruising through my “2010” folder on my hard drive where I keep all of my project photos organized by year and then alphabetically.

I have 39 project folders for 2010. Wow.

Not every one of the projects is finished – for example, Tea Leaves and Effortless are almost done – but I am pretty amazed at myself from a crafting perspective given the activity of the past year.

Just highlighting a couple of my favourites, which have helped me to identify some of the things I am hoping to focus on in the coming year include (alphabetically of course):

1. Audrey in Unst.

My first real sweater success. I wear it a lot.

2. EPS Seamless Striped Yoke.

From design to math to yarn choice, this was a huge milestone and confidence booster to create this sweater. I love it. I learned so much and I now have to confidence to put some of my ideas from 2010 into reality in 2011. So exciting – all because of this sweater.

3. Manu.

The most challenging sweater I have ever knit. And I love it. I wouldn’t change anything about it.

4. Old Penny [Forestry #11].

Cables. Great fit. Great designer. Love. Everything. About. This. Sweater. And some.

And lastly … my favourite knit this year that I love most of all . . .

5. Selbu Modern.

It was my first successful colourwork project and I wear it all the time. This has lead me to wanting to do a Fair Isle project in the early New Year . . . some gloves maybe . . .

Going through the folders I realized that I knit a lot of sweaters which is actually something new for 2011 – I would like to knit some smaller projects like socks, toques and gloves/mitts for some more manageable slightly less marathon-type projects. It was interesting to me that my favourite project this year was my Selbu but I think that’s myself trying to tell me something!

What was your favourite project from 2010? What are you planning going forward?

Many happy and healthy blessings for 2011 – I hope you find your knitting mojo throughout the year active and always questing … I am hoping my spinning mojo gets active again as well …

-r.

penny for your thoughts.

2010-12-20T15:37:00.001-08:00

For my birthday this year, Mom and Dad gave me yarn. They are awesome. And know me!

I chose Berroco Blackstone Tweed in 2601 (cream/natural). I have lots to say about the yarn but I am too excited to tell you about Old Penny [Forestry #11] – so, I will do that first. Veronik Avery’s patterns have always caught my attention – I love her attention to detail and fibre choices for her garments. Her St Denis collections are beautiful. I am so looking forward to knitting some of those patterns soon.

Back to Old Penny (or Forestry #11 from Vogue Knitting Fall 2008). I made some major modifications to the construction of the sweater. To get gauge, I used 4.00mm needles.

First, I knit the sweater seamless from the bottom so I cast on the stated number of stitches for the back, right and left fronts. I liked some of the modifications people had made to the back of the sweater, so I added 5 penny cables to the center back. The twist that some people added to the middle of the center back to create 2 pennies on either side looked really good but I liked the sweaters best that had only pennies across the back. I like the effect and the added ribbing effect that the cables give creates great shaping.

I knit the sleeves in the round to the armholes and then worked the yoke in the round. I decreased every RS row 21 times. The yoke measures 7.5” in length along the raglan seam.

I ripped back to the beginning of the yoke to add another 2 inches to the body as I didn’t like the length and knew I wouldn’t wear it if it wasn’t longer. I am so so so glad I did this – although I was annoyed at the time and put it down for a couple of weeks for a break from it, the satisfaction of knowing that it is exactly what I want for length.

I encountered a hic-up when I reached the collar, which proved to be quite annoying. I didn’t like the look of the increases at the “corner” of the R & L fronts before the shaping at the neck (see the photo below, where the twist along the button band ends). After working and re-working the collar, I decided to go back to what I know and love: Short Rows. Japanese short rows to be exact.

Leaving the markers as specified by the pattern on either side, I worked to 12 stitches past the second marker, turned, worked back to the first marker and 12 stitches past, turned. I continued this to create 3 short rows on either side of the markers on each side – 4 stitches apart. I then just followed the pattern for Veronik’s spacing of short rows. I ended up with a total of 11 row markers on each side before working each short row across. I then knit another 6 rows back and forth before casting off loosely. Confused? Yup, me too. I just wrote down what I was doing as I was doing it but I am not sure I would be able to do it again.

Now, the yarn before this post gets too much longer! I thought the price point on this tweed was a bit high, however the yarn was beautiful to work with – absolutely beautiful. The mohair and angora in the yarn creates a beautiful halo that I don’t usually like but in this yarn, it works. It’s quite even which is sometimes not common in tweeds. I washed the swatch in eucalan and the finished sweater, I washed also in eucalan then spun it in the washer to get all the extra water out. The sweater looks as if I never did anything – the yarn’s sheen is gorgeous. I have to say, as well, the yardage isn’t bad either for a 50g ball.

This is hands down my favourite handknit. Oh, other than my Selbu Modern.

Before I sign off, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday. See you in the New Year!

-r.

p.s. Christmas came early this year for me since the dressmaking models came on sale at my local sewing shop, so yes, she is new & I love her! It’s great that even though it’s raining like crazy outside, I could still take photos and share with you. Any ideas for names for her?

kaffe. socks. & poetry.

2010-12-17T09:08:00.001-08:00

I started these over a year ago after finding the yarn at Dressew here in Vancouver for $1.99. All I had to do to finish them was graft the toe of one of the two socks. And they had been sitting in a zip lock like that – needles still in the toes – for over a year. I finished them yesterday while shaking my head and thinking I can’t believe I didn’t finish these a year ago.

But they are done now and I have been wearing them all day! The yarn is Regia Kaffe Fassett Design Line Sock in colour Mirage Fog 4252. I knit these on 2.5mm and cast on 60sts. I prefer 2.25mm knitted socks and 64sts but they are comfortable and I will wear them – Live and learn, yes?

Definitely.

-r.

ps. I wrote a poem about these socks … Do you want to hear it? Okay. It’s pretty nerdy though …

They are just socks oh

But I love them so.

Have you seen the purple grey and green show?

Did we mention the yellow?

botanical.

2010-12-13T15:37:00.001-08:00

In a scramble for a last knitted Christmas gift for my brother [P], I ravelry searched “hat, men, toque” and came up with Stephen West’s Botanic Hat. I had bought burnt orange to add to the brown Ultra Alpaca in my stash that I was going to put together for another Noro Striped Scarf. I was about 10 inches into it and hating every stitch. Literally hating it. There was no way it would have been finished in time for Christmas let alone for this lifetime.

The Botanic toque was the perfect answer – especially since P loves loves loves toques. I have knit him one for the past 2 years – both of which he wears. Why not add to the growing stash of toques since it’s what he loves? I have always gifted him toques, even before I learned to knit.

One thing about P when knitting toques for him is that his head is small. Weird, I know. In the pattern, Stephen calls for 4 and 4.5mm needles, so I downsized to 3.5 and 4mm needles. Worked perfectly.

No other modifications! It’s nice to have something finished in 2 days, off the needles and wrapped. I did want to share a couple of thoughts about this pattern. First, it’s a great pattern. The instructions are clear and concise. Secondly, because you are working on the knitted side, you can’t see the growing “veins” of the inside so I found myself constantly turning it inside out and back again. I liked this about the pattern - especially when I got to the crown shaping. It kept it interesting and I stayed focused on finishing!

Alpaca tends to stretch. I wouldn’t chose alpaca for a toque again as just photographing it on M [husband extraordinaire] caused some stretching. The colours of the Berroco are perfect for P’s taste, though, so maybe some heathered Cascade 220 next time …

I love the reversibility of this toque – how cool is that?

I have another finished Christmas knit that is the largest gift knitting I have ever taken on. It’s drying and I am finishing the belt (yup, you guessed it – it’s a sweater). I will share that after Christmas as the person receiving it sometimes clicks onto this blog to check out what I have been working on! To be honest, I can’t believe it’s finished. Some of you will know what project I am talking about!

-r.

traveling in lace.

2010-12-12T08:24:00.001-08:00

This is just a quick post to share a finished Christmas present:

You might remember that my mom asked for a couple of gifts for two very dear friends – the first Traveling Woman was finished back in the summer for one and this is the second. The first travelled to Halifax, where they get winter and storms so I held the yarn double. This one is staying here in Vancouver where we get rain but not really cold weather so I didn’t double the yarn.

I didn’t do yarn overs along the center stitch again – just M1L and M1R on either side. The yarn is Classic Elite in Silky Alpaca Lace colour #2409 Teal. Gorgeous. It softened beautifully when I washed and blocked it. Quite lovely.

-r.

tea leaves + tosh = POSH.

2010-12-01T09:23:00.001-08:00

While in Toronto last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Lettuce Knits as per my usual. I love looking around the store and seeing the luxurious yarn – some of which is still hard to find here in Vancouver. I especially fell in love with the Madelinetosh Tosh Merino in Cove. Thoughts of Tea Leaves started to circle in my head and next thing I knew, I was at the till, paying for 5 hanks of gorgeous-ness. Each hank was different so after conferring with my 3 girlfriends that I went with, we chose these ones because they looked relatively similar …

Although the yarn cost an arm and a leg to purchase, I am really excited about working with this fibre – I have swatched for Tea Leaves already. I can only liken this yarn to Malabrigo Worsted but a luxury version of it – it’s soft with a beautiful sheen. It’s heavier than Malabrigo, though, and as I work through the yoke of Tea Leaves I can see that my wrist will act up through the entire knit. I am excited about the sweater – thus far, it’s gorgeous – but I probably won’t be able to finish immediately as I will need knitting breaks to rest my right wrist from purling. I need to learn to knit backwards …

Can I be in love with a yarn? What are you in love with right now?

-r.

sockies.

2010-11-29T10:39:00.001-08:00

They are finished. One pair of socks in 7 days. A new record for me. And they are lovely.

I used 2.25mm DPNs for these bad boys.

I love the manly colour and they look especially good with jeans:

Another Christmas gift down – two more to go!

sockies for daddy-kins.

2010-11-24T06:46:00.001-08:00

Remember my gift rant from last post? Well, I felt a lot better once I talked about the reasons that I like gift knitting – and I think in some ways it was a little prayer for something like this, “Please show me some indication that they appreciate the hand knits.”

So on Saturday, my mom says to me, “Do you know how to fix holes in knitting?”

“Yes. Is there something I need to fix?”

“Your father’s socks have holes in each of them and I didn’t think it was fixable.”

“What socks?”

“The ones from a couple of Christmas’s ago.”

“I didn’t know he wore those but yes, I can fix them.”

“He does and that would be great. I didn’t think you would still have any yarn in that colour to fix them with.”

“Yup, I still have it – just in case.”

HE WEARS MY HAND KNIT (and not very well knit since I wasn’t a good sock knitter at that time and they were different sizes/gauges) SOCKS!

We headed to Toronto on Sunday and as I was looking at all the WIPs that I have to finish (mainly sweaters, again from a previous post – no, none of them are finished), I thought, How about I make him a pair of socks for Christmas? If they don’t go well and I have trouble finishing them, no worries because we have another gift for him anyway …

So I raided my stash can came up with very manly Sandes Garn Strompegarn superwash in a brown tweed that I had picked out to knit another striped cardigan but I can get another ball no problem so I am not overly concerned about using this for Dear Dad.

I used the Universal Top-Down pattern from Vogue Knitting’s Ultimate Sock Book since I knit him bottom up socks last time and I don’t think they fit in the heel as best as they could have. He doesn’t have big feet – although he’s 6’ tall, he only wears a 9.5 men’s shoe (yes, I was super lucky and got his feet – my mom wears 10.5), so the sock was only knit until 9.5” from the back of the heel through the foot. My husband wears a 9 men’s shoe so thankfully, as long as they are slightly loose, they will fit Dad perfectly.

Rather than slipping the yarn behind to knit the heel, I slipped it with yarn in front to create a mock seed stitch.

This yarn has acrylic, polyester and wool in it so I am not worried about wear. Besides I can knit another pair!

I will cast the second one on this afternoon and I hope to have them finished before the end of the week …

We are heading to Lettuce Knits tonight to see SweetGeorgia’s Felicia Lo and her trunk show. Who would have thought I would have to travel all the way to TO so see Felicia rather than in our own city? Funny how that happens … I am taking a good friend to the Purple Purl this afternoon as well since she has never been there even though she lives here. It’s sunny here so although cold, it’s a sunglasses day in the center of the universe :)

-r.

gift knitting.

2010-11-16T12:35:00.001-08:00

There have been a lot of things happening on this home-front that have kept me a little under the weather so when I was thinking about Christmas knitting, I was getting even more down: Really? I have to knit a bunch of gifts before December 25th and then wrap them and happily give them away?

When I caught myself thinking like this, I stopped myself and asked why I enjoy giving hand-knits for Christmas. Here are the reasons:

1. I love creating something a little extra special for my sister-in-law in Toronto since we don’t see her much and we miss her dearly.

2. Giving something handmade means that I chose the yarn, colours and pattern for the other person – they are “in” the project.

3. It’s not a burden to make things for the ones I love when it’s manageable and lovely.

How can I continue to enjoy holiday knitting without the stress attached?

I think the easiest thing to do is set some ground rules for going forward:

1. No sweaters. I’m not going to say never, but I think commission knitting for sweaters works best in my family.

2. Simple simple simple.

3. And quick.

So, for my sister-in-law in Toronto – where it snows entirely too much – I knit the simple Dolores Park Cowl by Parikha Mehta in Fleece Artist Big Merino. No I don’t like pink and no, it doesn’t look good on me – but for her, it will look stunning and gorgeous.

I added the flower out of the left overs. Again, very simple:

Cast on 20 stitches (leave 8” tail).
Knit one row (creates purl ridge on right side)
Knit one row.
Purl one row.

*Knit 1, make 1* repeat until last stitch, K1.

Purl one row.

*Knit 1, make 1* repeat until last stitch, K1.

Purl one row.
Cast off loosely.

Thread cast on tail through purl ridge and pull tight. Weave in ends. Add button to center. Add pin backing.

I hope your holiday knitting is coming along swimmingly (or knittingly, I should say)! Good luck and we are off to Toronto so talk to you … when we get back :)

-r.

p.s. Yes, the cowl really is this bright. We shot it in RAW format and then auto balanced – the photo is accurate in the colour!!!

unfinished. equals un-bliss.

2010-11-04T14:51:00.001-07:00

I am feeling a little frustrated with the number of unfinished projects in my knitting basket. The number unfinished seem to be climbing and I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Part of the reason they are unfinished is because the majority are not simple, fast or easy knits.

Take the first project. Old Penny (Forestry) by Veronik Avery was published in Vogue (Fall 2008) which was their best issue ever in my humble opinion. It’s a very enjoyable knit – but the ripping and re-knitting for fitting purposes has put a damper on my progress towards the final casting off. I was finished and knitting the collar and realized that it was about 3 inches too short. Now I am re-working the yoke and I think the sleeves are too tight so I may have to rip back again.

The second project is an epic tale which will be shared at a later time in another post. Norah Gaughan’s Tilted Duster is still not done. It has been on the needles for a while and I am hoping the skirt starts to come to near completion soon … I am starting to get annoyed with the black. It’s amazing what happens when you start to knit with colour … all of a sudden, boring neutrals not the interesting knit do they make!

Although there are more projects on the needles that need to be cast off and finished, I am only going to share one more that is plaguing me. The Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig is lovely … when finished. Unfortunately it is miles and miles of St st … which I am just plain sick of. I like some challenge in my knitting but I am putting up with simple for the shear love of the finished product – and I have the mostest perfectest yarn for it!

I hope I am not the only one with unfinished projects piling up around them. I think I will feel a lot better once I actually finish just one project – just one. That’s all I ask. I am putting my money on the Tilted Duster as the first one to the gate but at this rate … who knows? Thanks for listening to my little crisis! Hope you are finishing lots in your knitting bag :)

-r.

Garter Cowl.

2010-11-04T09:46:00.001-07:00

Gauge: approximately 5.5stitches per inch.

Needles: 3.00mm circulars (at least 32” long – 24” circs and your stitches are all jumbled on top of each other)

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock (MC) and Knit Picks Palette (or an equivalent sock/fingering weight yarn) (CC)

Abbreviations: MC = main colour; CC = contrast colour

Cast on 302 stitches with MC.

Join to work in the round.

Row 1: Purl in MC

Row 2: Knit in MC

Row 3: Purl in MC

Row 4: Knit in CC

Repeat Rows 1 – 4.

Work until ~ 6.5 inches wide or almost out of MC, cast off.

When laid flat, cowl measures 27” long (54” around) and 6.5inches wide.

Enjoy!

-r.

for cool Fall evenings.

2010-10-20T16:34:00.001-07:00

I stumbled across these in the Fall 2010 issue of Vogue Knitting in an advertisement. I had seen them before but it was actually my mom who mentioned how much she liked them. The Long Striped Hand Warmers by Whitney Van Nes is a simple, easy-to-follow, instant-gratification-type pattern. I loved it.

That said, I almost didn’t share these because they have ended up having a little bit of a fumble. But a good friend said, “Carry on, carry on – they are for warmth – who cares?” She’s right and I can always make a new pair since these took no time at all.

Let me talk a little about these before I share the fumble with you. I chose Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift since I have been trying to stash bust and I had some gorgeous “Granny Smith” colourway waiting quietly to be knit into something. I also had some Rowan rowanspun 4ply needing to be knit. There is lots of the rowanspun left over and I fully intend on making another pair. There was not, however, enough to finish the mitts with the Jamieson’s. Bummer. Enter the Fumble.

Do you see it? Yup. I had to sub in some of another colourway of Jamieson’s I had in my stash. The colour isn’t perfect – the Pistachio is quite yellow compared to the rich colour of the Granny Smith but it’s actually not that bad. They’ll mostly be under my jacket sleeves anyhow!

I used 2.75mm DPNs for the ribbing and 3.00mm DPNs for the body of the mitts.

I think what I love most about these is that there is no shaping. No fancy work. They are just simple simple simple. And so effective. Unbelievably effective. I am tempted to cast on for another pair now …

I hope you are knitting something warm this Fall!

apples. apples.

2010-10-20T11:56:00.001-07:00

I love Fall – I think I mentioned that in a recent post. We have lived in our current apartment for almost 4 years but we have never been free to go to the Annual UBC Apple Festival. Since we will be moving soon, we decided to make sure to go this year.

I couldn’t resist an almond-caramel covered Granny Smith, though!

Apples seem to be theme around here lately because I am currently knitting with a colourway called “Granny Smith” – more on that soon!

colour backlash.

2010-10-06T18:28:00.001-07:00

I love neutrals ... I love working with cream and beige ... I love to focus on the fabric and texture rather than the colour ... I think my tastes are changing.

Recently, thinking outside the box in terms of the knits I have been choosing to focus on has had me thinking about branching out and looking at alternatives when it comes to colour. Yellow. Rust. Teal.

They have been calling my name. Incessantly. “Come … knit with us … don’t be afraaaid…”

So what happens next?

Well.

Chaos.

Obviously.

And I love it.

Look, Ma! No GREY!

What happens when you put Noro Silk Garden Sock with a little hint of White Knit Picks Palette and allow the white, which is bright and bold, to fight against the colourful Noro?

Not just contrast, which in this knit I love, but also a bright cowl that reflects the light and leaves me feeling quite content.

The inspiration was a cowl I saw in Pacific Center in downtown Vancouver but it was grey and I just couldn’t stomach another grey knit (It can be so grey in Vancouver in the winter and I know I have to get outta that funk).

Also, I liked the idea of fingering/sock weight yarn since it doesn’t hover around –5 degrees for long here – you really just need something around your neck to take the chill of +5 degrees off.

The Pattern:

So on 3.00mm circs, I cast on 302 stitches and garter-stitched on! Every 3rd row, or 2nd “garter ridge” I added the Palette White. Knit until you almost run out of Noro Sock and cast off.

C’est bon! I love it. What chaos are you creating this Fall?

-r.

bright + beautiful + cute sweater.

2010-10-05T09:16:00.001-07:00

A close friend of mine deserves a wonderful, colourful baby sweater knit out of yarn that she would probably never splurge on and buy for herself. Therefore, when trying to decide on a baby project for said close friend, it didn’t take me long to decide on Sweet Georgia – but which to choose? Enter Sweet Georgia Superwash Worsted. For a new mom, knitter or not, superwash is the only way to go. Check. Slightly thicker gauge for a warm sweater. Check. But what colour? Well …

1. Boy or a girl? No idea.

2. Bright or muted? Bright … but unisex.

3. Yellow or green? … Why do we always chose one of those two colours when the sex is unknown? … How about neither. A dear friend said to me, “Purple. I put my nephews in purple.” Awesome!

4. Must have buttons. Therefore it must be a cardigan for ease of placing said new baby in said new baby sweater.

5. We live in the city that just hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. Like it or not, baby will be born in the year that we had this enormous event and it would be nice to … What’s that? Sweet Georgia had a colourway that was a limited edition dyed just for the Olympics in the Olympic colours since she’s from Vancouver too? And it’s really beautiful and bright? But not too green? Really? hmmm …

Enter:

Sweet Georgia Superwash Worsted in Wetcoast Winter.

Perfect for the February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman on 5.00mm needles and knit in an afternoon. A perfectly enjoyable knit. In Stockinette stitch, rather than the gull lace pattern.

With the cutest 18mm lime green buttons with white polka dots to match.

This little sweater took one skein of yarn – although it was cutting it very very close – and I have to say that I am really looking forward to knitting another February Baby Sweater. I think between the joy of working with the Sweet Georgia and the colourway (which I ended up really liking), this was one of the most enjoyable knits I have done in a long time.

Did I mention the lime green polka dot buttons? I mean really. Can you get any cuter?

Yup. With sewn on buttons:

This post was written back in August while we were waiting for Baby Jack to be born. I couldn’t post it until now because Trace didn’t have to sweater yet and then I forgot about posting with everything else going on! Hope everyone is having a happy Fall … we are, it’s just hectic :)

-r.

to cause to glow.

2010-09-30T11:44:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I quite heart what husbands do. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am working on a graduate degree at the moment. The end is coming into sight as I will be finished in December 2011. I am getting pretty excited to be done. In the meantime though, I have been trying to figure out a way to go paperless due to the amount of PDF files and WORD documents that seem to come reaming out of our printer every week. There has to be a better way. Doesn’t there?

puh-leeeeeeeeeeeeeezz?

Enter the surprise gift from my dear hubby: The latest generation Kindle, newly available in Canada. I am officially paperless. YAHOO!

The added benefit is that I can knit simple garter stitch or St st while reading books because I don’t have to hold a book open and I can make the typeface larger. Genius! I have even added some of my current knitting patterns to Miss Kindle and I fully intend to go paperless for my knitting patterns as well. Annotating and adding notes is easy.

I was torn between all the different e-readers out there and was the main reason why I hadn’t made a decision prior to now – I am actually glad that my husband just ordered me one and made the decision for me. Part of the reason it was a tough decision is that I love books and own plenty. My husband is a lover of the library. I have realized recently that an e-reader doesn’t replace all that but it does open up alternatives for things like the amount of paper wasted with school work or printing needlessly when there may be a better alternative. I will let you know how it goes and what I end up thinking.

Well, back to Northanger Abbey and my noro cowl (photos of that soon). No more school work for me today!

ruffled.

2010-09-09T09:48:00.001-07:00

Here at Casa de Welford things are a little ruffled. School started up again on Tuesday. Work has been quite busy as, on top of my regular position, I am orientating at a new centre – a big trauma ICU (yikes!). And, there remain unfinished projects from the summer.

In an effort to eliminate further ruffling and stress, I have been working on finishing projects that I have had on the needles for some time or through the summer. No casting on! There is a great sense of satisfaction in finishing projects when knitting time is seriously limited. I’m sure you would agree!

As I look towards the semester ahead, I look down at my knitting and realize I have a new fall cardigan almost off the needles:

It completely expresses how I feel about this Fall, and while I look forward to the months ahead, I also feel the sense of pressure and busy-ness mounting. So ruffles on a cardigan are just what this nurse has ordered!

I hope you are looking forward to your Fall also, whatever it holds :)

oh, the PNE …

2010-09-05T10:08:00.001-07:00

and it’s crazy food!

anatinae (noun). a dabbling bird. a grey teal.

2010-08-31T08:54:00.001-07:00

While touring around the Gibsons’ Fibre Festival a couple of weeks ago, I found 1218 meters of Bluefaced Leicester, hand-dyed by Knitopia’s owner, Lynne. With subtle greys, teal and black through-out the yarn, I knew it was destined to come home with me. It’s a heavy sport weight, almost DK but not quite. I have managed to wind 2 balls off the 454 gram hank. Each has been about 150 grams thus far.

I was going to stick to my same-old same-old and knit a cardigan – long, flowing … something like the Audrey Coat. But then I had a stroke of genius: I have always wanted a wool dress. Yup. Always. So the swatching, sketching and designing started …

A couple of my friends always tease me because swatching is my most favourite part of a project. There’s anticipation, excitement to be working with a new yarn, and the needles clicking away patiently as you muddle through figuring out what is going to work. And yes, I am a total nerd, I label my swatches – but you know, before you laugh, I now have a drawer full of various yarns and gauges and I can now pull out alpaca, cotton, acrylic, wool, blends, etc. and show you how the yarn will act at different gauges. It’s really quite helpful! and a good learning tool.

So with the designing going along as I knit, I cast on, said a prayer and started to knit!

I have tacked on buttons to get an idea of what they might look like and I think they are great with this since they pick up the teal. I will put them on properly soon.

The dress starts with a 4.5 inch band that sits immediately below the bust. The bust stitches were then picked up off one of the long sides of the band, then increases were done over the first 3 right side rows which leaves a slightly gathered look in front. I then picked up the garter bands and knit the button holes. I left the stitches live along what would have been the cast off edge and did an i-cord bind off all the way around, along the front bust and back down the other side.

I am now working on the short row sleeves and the skirt, which increases from 28 inches at the top, where the stitches are picked up on the opposite side of the band, to 70 inches for a full, flirty skirt that will swish (yup, swish!) around my knees. I am so excited about this knit. To ensure I was heading in the right direction, I placed everything on scrap yarn and tried it on – it fits! Whoot!

Here’s to continuing to push push push my comfort zone – I hope you are too :)

alpakka love.

2010-08-27T09:41:00.001-07:00

I can’t believe it’s finished: Manu by Kate Davies is finished. I started this in March 2010 and have been working on it steadily since over the spring and summer. I even started bargaining with myself to knit an inch on the body after I worked a 50g ball on Kerrera. That meant I had 9 inches knit on the body by the time I finished – which also meant I was finished the body (I had previously knit 10inches)!

The yarn. Oh, the yarn. 11 balls of 50g Sandes Garn Alpakka in colour 6765 (teal). I have to admit, Sandes Garn is one of my favourite yarn companies – there is variety in the types of yarn; they produce tons of sport, DK and fingering weights (in lots of gorgeous colours); and they are real workhorse yarns. The yardage is generally very good so it results in affordable yarn because you don’t have to buy tons. I highly recommend this alpakka yarn – it washes well, it’s soft, and the colour. Wow. I was able to obtain gauge with 3mm. And the i-cord was knit on 4mm.

The sweater. Wow again.

The details are what make the sweater so pleasing -

The i-cord around every edge which gives it such a professional finish.

The i-cord bound-off button band.

The garter edges finishing off the edges prior to the i-cord.

The buttons. Yes, I took the pearls off – these worked so much better.

The pleats. Oh, they are so perfect. I changed direction halfway through as others have done.

The pockets. Instead of the K1, M1 across to double the stitches, I knit K1, M1, * K2, M1, rpt from *, K1.

The short rows: Pure. Genius.

I used this link to learn about Japanese Short Rows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd-H081fq4w

Lastly, while I am pleased that this project is finished, I am sad since it was the most challenging project thus far and very enjoyable. I am looking forward to choosing some more projects that push my comfort zone. I hope you are pushing your comfort zone too :)

seamless pockets.

2010-08-22T14:15:00.001-07:00

Finishing the pockets on Manu left me thinking that possibly seamless pockets weren’t something that people commonly do. I was taught by my Aunt Yvonne prior to her dying a couple of years ago (the blog is named after her home in England). She was working on a baby jacket and I just filed the knowledge away until I needed it – and funnily enough, I have knit 2 things in a row with pockets (Kerrera was the other recent pocketed-knit)!

Here are Yvonne’s Seamless Pockets:

These instructions start at the first row of the pocket but I took the photos halfway up so that you could really see what I was doing – you continue to pick up the left edge of the stitch in the corresponding row (every 2nd row, as you would have picked up the odd row on the other side) as you continue up the pocket. These also work by not slipping the first stitch of every row but I like the finished look.

1. Purl across, when you reach the last stitch in the row, slip the stitch purlwise (photo A). With right needle, pick up left edge of stitch that will be directly below the pocket if you were seaming (Photo B). Work these two stitches together in a P2tog (Photo C). Turn work and slip first stitch (this is the stitch you just worked as a P2tog), continue knitting across row.

Photo A.

Photo B.

Photo C.

2. Knit across after slipping first stitch purlwise. When you reach the last stitch, knit into the stitch as if to knit but don’t (Photo A). Reach right hand needle into left edge of stitch that will be directly below the pocket if you were seaming (Photo B). Work these two stitches together in a K2tog (Photo C). Turn work and slip first stitch (this is the stitch you just worked as a K2tog), continue purlinging across row.

Photo A.

Photo B.

Photo C.

I hope these are helpful – I love finishing something and the seaming is already done. Good luck and just ask if you have questions :) I use row markers (and continually move them up) so that I know exactly which row I need to be picking up on. I find this keeps the edge straight (no wobbles!) – especially with puckered pockets like Manu.

So, as Manu is drying on the dining room table and waiting for a model shoot, I will show you how the pearls turned out:

Charlie and I were exhausted when I finally finished – so we cuddled up for a sleep:

Hope you are cuddling with your loved ones too :)

pearls for Manu. and other inspirations.

2010-08-20T10:01:00.001-07:00

Manu was un-zipped this morning. Although I kept a cool exterior while I was doing it, I was internally freaking out the whole way. I always worry when I am un-zipping a provisional cast-on that things are not going to go as planned. Of course, I worried for nothing and she is now being applied i-corded. Yippee!

I am hoping that I can get her pearls on this afternoon but the i-cord takes a while so we’ll see. Yes, she is getting pearls for buttons – she deserves it. I have been working on Kate Davies’ Manu since March 2010 – a very enjoyable but enduring knit. It was definitely a marathon (and she’s not even done yet) but that’s why I decided she needed pearls. They are a symbol of time, care and love, and a product of enduring creation. And they are lovely. Just lovely.

Also, thank you for all your feedback about Twin Leaves. I really appreciate it! I realized yesterday at Gibsons’ Fibre Festival that I have so many projects I would like to cast on for (3 sweaters and 1 half finished to be exact) that I am going to continue on with my other crafting and continue to mull over my ideas. Speaking of the Fibre Festival (which was awesome and I got to spend a whole day with my great friend, Plae), these absolutely beautiful BC-inspired Norwegian mittens were a part of the Juried Exhibit. The workmanship of these hand-dyed, hand-knitted garments is exquisite. Have a look:

The label (I know it’s small):

Hansa Mittens

Louise Todhunter

Garden Bay, BC

Acid kettle-dyed, blue is long colour repeat,

both yarns are merino wool

Dyeing and knitting

“Blending coastal colours with old world patterns.”

These mittens are why I love fibre festivals so much: They are utterly inspiring. I want to go dye and weave and spin and knit until I can’t anymore!

twin leaves cardigan.

2010-08-18T10:34:00.001-07:00

I showed you this cardigan as it was drying a couple of months ago. I haven’t done a photo shoot yet because I just didn’t know about it and I wasn’t sure what to say.

This is my own design – the inspiration came from a woman walking past me on 4th Avenue wearing something similar but there were some differences, which has had me thinking about some possible changes (which I am quite excited about).

This is my Twin Leaves Cardigan. Knit on 4.5mm circulars out of Louet Gems Sport Weight 100% merino (colour #43 Pewter), this cardigan is meant to be light and airy, cropped and summery. I know the colour isn’t particularly “summery” but if you look back at the post from prior (linked above), you’ll understand why.

There are some things I love about this cardigan and there are some things I would like to change, which is why I am going to hold off on further sizing and design until I figure some of that out - although I have a few of you in mind for test-knitting. Eventually.

Things I love:

1. The mirrored Twin Lace pattern:

This mirrored pattern with the leaves pointing upwards on the outsides necessitates the cardigan to be knit from the bottom up, which I love because I think bottom-up cardigans fit beautifully.

2. Twisted rib button bands:

This actually finished the lace off perfectly, so despite my original scepticism, this will not change in the final design.

3. The look:

I quite like the look of the little cropped cardi – it’s cute and a little retro.

The things I would like to change about this cardigan, things I am working on, are few but significant:

1. It doesn’t button together well.

This is due to a design flaw – I shouldn’t have made it so skimpy in the waist. This took out too much fabric, and while cute when open, not so good when the wearer wants to close said cardigan! This cardigan almost doesn’t need a lot of waist shaping (being cropped) and I am tempted to take it out completely. For now, it will remain open.

2. The obvious yoke shaping.

This is partly the yarn, partly the knitter. I used K2tog for the yoke shaping 3 times through the yoke. Although it’s not super obvious in the front (below), it’s a little too obvious in the back (above). Would you mind having a look at both photos and let me know what you think – I would appreciate it! I like things to look seamless – I am a perfectionist in that way. So I am working on some different things (changing gauge for one) and we will see.

I may actually be being too picky at this point but it’s something for me to think about. Also, I think it’s the yarn, too. If this was alpaca, you wouldn’t see the yoke decreases – although you wouldn’t see the lace either, so there you go!

All-in-all I think when you are designing something it’s expected that things will need changing, fixing and re-arranging, so I am actually quite happy with this. The yarn slides on the needles beautifully – I’ve never worked in Louet before, let alone Gems. Sport and DK are my favourite weights to work in, so this was a pleasure. I will keep you posted!

Anything special happening in your knitting bag?

traveling again.

2010-08-05T12:37:00.001-07:00

This is a gift for a family friend who my parents are going to visit later this month. I had promised Mom that it would be finished before they left so that she could gift it to Nancy before they came home (mailing it after having been there would have been a little tacky!). And … it’s finished!

I don’t want to give it away. Is that wrong? I held the Knit Picks Gloss Lace double on 4.5mm needles and love the results. It’s a lot like Ishbel so I need to remember that when I am giving it to Mom on Sunday … but still. Who would have thought that a grey shawlette was exactly what I wanted?

The mind amazes me sometimes! I made a Traveling Woman (by Liz Abinante) back in the Spring for Mom but this one is a little different: As you can see, I did the same thing as Ishbel, the middle increases (also known as yarn-overs) are M1L and M1R. I just love this type of increase. While it’s not completely invisible, the middle stitch just looks so … perfect sitting there in the centre. Looking all centre-stitch-like. Love.

Mom chose “Sterling” as the colourway because she knows that the recipient wears a lot of black. Also, unbenounced to me, grey goes with everything and you automatically love it and want one when you put it on! Again … I am just flabbergasted. Anything leave you flabbergasted at the moment?

And yes, the yarn actually looks like different colours in different light. It’s just gorgeous.

hooded. and adorable.

2010-08-03T17:49:00.001-07:00

Finishing Kerrera (by Gudrun Johnston) was a bit of a marathon but well worth it! I heart this sweater although I was sweating through the photo shoot because it is so warm.

I started this on 5.5mm circs in size 36.5” bust but frogged and started over on 5.00mm circs in size 34.5” bust. I realized after washing and drying my swatch that the fabric would stretch quite a bit if I continued on the 5.5mm. I have to admit, it did stretch quite a bit as it is but in some ways, it’s appropriate since it’s more of a coat than a sweater.

In the end, my row gauge was still larger than the pattern, which led to significant changes in the yoke and armhole shaping. I had to re-calculate the armholes based on the pattern – which worked well because if I hadn’t changed anything, the sweater would have been enormous.

My row gauge was 4.5 rows per inch – the pattern is 6 rows per inch (just to give you an idea). That row and a half starts to really add up as you work the pattern which I learned making Audrey in Unst. The end result was 49 picked up stitches for each sleeve, so I didn’t do any decreases.

I also ran out of yarn for the long sleeves! The yarn I used is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Snickerdoodle. I love the colour – natural but not boring and no need to dye it. Since Knit Picks doesn’t seem to carry this particular colour anymore, I settled for the shorter sleeves but I actually like the shorter sleeves, especially since it doesn’t get that cold here in the winter and often we don’t need the heaviest sweaters – I think it worked out well.

The hood is slightly oversized since I didn’t make any changes based on the different gauge. I often wear toques in the winter and wanted to be able to fit the hood over top – I think it worked out well :)

Lastly, I added a fourth toggle button while I was weaving in the ends – I think it closes a little more nicely for me. I found them at Dressew in downtown Vancouver (I was also quite naughty and picked up some yarn but more about that later) and at 25 cents each, I am not complaining!

Overall, I am really happy with this sweater – it turned out very well. I am not completely happy with how the pockets sewed up – I really need to practice seaming. For my first pockets, though, I am pretty okay with them (washing and blocking helps a lot).

I am currently working on Manu – I am hoping to have it finished sometime this month. I have been working on it since March … I think it’s time it got some quality time and was finished! I hope you are finishing up projects that you are equally happy with!

-r.

mountains and vineyards.

2010-07-27T12:58:00.001-07:00

For the past 10 days, we drove through the Rocky Mountain trench, down the Columbia Valley (to Cranbrook), to the East (Creston) and across the Kootney Lake ferry to the West Kootneys (Nelson and down to Castlegar), and across and up to the Okanogan (Kelowna/Vernon). We both love British Columbia and this type of trip is our favourite, especially now that we get to enjoy it with our dog, Charlie.

So between his exploring and discovering, our awe of the views from our campsites, and many walks along beaches and lakes (as well as much eating!), you would think there wouldn’t be a lot of time for knitting, right?

I thought so too, but no, we are both wrong. I have an almost finished Kerrera to show you as soon as the ends are woven in and it’s dry! A very good and dear friend helped me choose buttons for it yesterday, which are just lovely with the yarn:

I hope you’re enjoying the summer where you are as much as we are enjoying the summer here :)

-r.

twin leaves.

2010-07-14T11:55:00.001-07:00

Dresses without a matching cardigan are usually in want of a matching cardigan, yes? Yes. Especially when the matching cardigan is leafy, graceful and “rich in texture, line, and openwork” (Barbara Walker’s A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, p. 235). While flipping through Walker’s book one evening to find a leaf pattern for something else, I stumbled onto the Twin Leaf Panel. Gorgeous lines and texture for sure. I was hooked. But how to make it into a sweater I could wear around and not look too 1920’s retro? but a little 1920’s retro … a little.

Enter the dress (Banana Republic, circa 2008).

Yup. That’s the one. How to knit a cardigan to go with that I ask? Well, you find the most boring Louet Gems Sport Weight 100% merino (colour #43 Pewter) that is actually the same colour as the third tone in the dress. Then you knit a simple bottom-up twin lace panel cropped cardigan. You can’t knit a top-down raglan style because you end up halfway through realize the lace panel is upside down. Then you choose the most hated but effective rib pattern (twisted rib – it hurts my wrist) and add that to finish off the texture and grace of the item.

That’s what you do. So, while it’s blocking, here’s a sneak peek:

With cap sleeves that I did a provisional cast-on for, I finished the yoke (so as to not run out of yarn) and went back and knit little cap sleeves. Three decreases through the yoke for a round-neck. And definitely cropped – the cardigan is meant to hit my lower waist when it’s on. To be honest, this is a proto-type for a pattern I am in the process of designing but I wanted to give you a chance to see what I have been working on!

While my precious sweater is drying and blocking on the back deck in the scorching sun, I am working on sizing and further design elements (like eliminating the provisional cast-on!). What are you doing while it’s hot and sunny out?

-r.

double garter tutorial.

2010-07-07T13:32:00.001-07:00

I have started working on Kerrera by Gudrun Johnston out of some worsted that I have been staring at for a while and wondering what it shall be. I am happy to report that I am thoroughly enjoying the pattern and can’t wait to share it with you – as per usual, Gudrun’s pattern is wonderfully written.

In starting out and casting on I was stuck immediately as I could not figure out for the life of me the double garter stitch. The thread on Ravelry was incredibly helpful and I eventually got going. M noticed that I was struggling and asked me if there was a video out there. I said not yet, that it was just a matter of time and there would be one. He had his camera in hand and so we decided to post one!

I hope this helps people who were struggling as much as I was – and thank you so much to the people who helped me get going on Ravelry:

I am off to continue working away on Kerrera! Happy July Knitting – I hope the weather is a beautiful where you are as it is here :)

-r.

meet elijah.

2010-06-23T16:49:00.001-07:00

This project sat in my unfinished objects drawer for the past 18 months. I know. It’s a long time. And it only took the better half of a day to finish him – why didn’t I finish him sooner? Oh well.

Please meet Elijah:

Another one of Ysolda’s ingenious patterns, Elijah is a great little toy since there is no seaming!

Isn’t he just too cute? I love grey and red together so as it was getting close to finishing time this afternoon, I decided he needed a red scarf. I rooted through my stash, found some red Cascade 220 left over from my second Swallowtail that I knit a couple of years ago and I think the simple 7-stitch garter will keep him warm:

One note about the yarn and gauge. Because I started this when I was not a particularly experienced knitter, I knew nothing of gauge when I started him. Therefore, the row gauge was wrong … very wrong. So he’s a little short – his trunk should be longer, as should his little body, arms and legs. BUT – I am glad I finished him.

He’s knit in Mission Falls 136 Superwash Merino in colour 015. I used 3.00mm DPNs. More yarn gone from my stash!

I started knitting Elijah because my husband was working on “Project Elephant” at work and I wanted to give him a toy elephant at the end of the project. Two years later, the project was completed this past week. Although Elijah is a little late, I am still able to give it to him! Yay!

-r.

strawberries in the strawberry patch.

2010-06-21T10:34:00.001-07:00

Even though Fall is my favourite season of the year, June is my most favourite month. It’s probably partly because my birthday is in June but I think it’s mostly because of the anticipation of Summer. June is just prior to the hot weather of July but there are strong hints of the things to come and with that comes strawberries, my second favourite fruit (raspberries).

So, while I hunt through the strawberry patch, I am aware that there other creatures of the patch that are aware Summer is just around the corner:

Snails, for one. And lady bugs – can you see the little creature perched on the leaf below the strawberry on the right? Even after I had picked both the ripe berries, she still rested there.

The results? Oh yes.

Wonderful strawberries and a very very happy puppy named Charlie who loves strawberries so much that I think he might explode!

I don’t know what we are going to do with him once he finds out about raspberries.

-r.

those bold dandelions.

2010-06-19T15:47:00.001-07:00

Another shawl to share with you! I am on a roll!

As those who know me will tell you, I love muted colours. I’m talking about really quiet neutrals that I know I will wear for a long time and love. That will coordinate with many things and that I will never “get sick of.” I was recently complimented about this quality of mine so not only did this yarn have me stepping outside my comfort zone, it has also opened up a new world of colour to me. The yarn was originally going to be knit into a sweater but I just wasn’t feeling it (it really was too bright to be a sweater – even though I am turning over a new leaf). I decided to rip it and re-knit the gorgeous lace weight into Ishbel {by Ysolda Teague}.

[Knit Picks Gloss Lace in Dandelion]

I love Ysolda’s designs and although Vine Yoke was not my favourite sweater, I will always by a huge fan of Ysolda’s ideas and creativity. Ishbel is no different.

I used 1.3 skeins of yarn for the smaller of the two sizes of shawl available in the pattern. Holding the yarn double, for the stockinette stitch (St st) portion of the shawl, I did Make 1 (M1) on either side of the center marker. When I got to the lace section I switched back to yarn-overs. I just really like the look of solid St st rather than YOs in the center of the section. This was something I wished I had done for the Travelling Woman shawl I made back in March (however, I have enough yarn to make a second Travelling Woman and plan on doing just what I did here).

I started knitting on 4.00mm circular needles but halfway through the St st section, I ripped it all out and started again on 4.5mm circulars. I’m not sure that 0.5mm makes a huge difference but it was enough to loosen up the St st a little and create a nicer drape. The 4.00mm created a tight St st section that I didn’t think would loosen when washed. Also, the 4.5mm knits an ever so slightly larger shawl.

Holding the lace weight double also gives the lace itself more structure. I like this effect over using a heavier yarn (such as a worsted) and it leaves the shawl light enough for breezy evenings in the summer but warm enough for cool Fall and Spring days. It’s the best best best of both worlds and now I have some colour in my life! Bravo!

-r.

satisfaction. simplified.

2010-06-15T22:30:00.001-07:00

Annis (by Susanna IC) is simple. Which is perfect for a quick, enjoyable knit. Considering the lack of finishing around Casa del Welford lately, this is a great feeling to have not only cast something on very recently but also to have finished, cast it off, and write a post about it so quickly.

At Fibres West back in the Spring, I bought a skein of Treenway Silk, specifically the Bombyx Laceweight Silk 20/2. Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. I confess, it is the most I have spent on one hank of yarn E V E R. I was looking forward to knitting Gail out of it and I think I actually have enough left over to still knit it with the yarn held single.

For Annis, I held the yarn double (as you might have just guessed) and added beads over top of the SK2Ps. Because they were seed beads, they don’t show up as nicely as I had hoped; however, the subtly is nice. Hence my satisfaction.

I followed the pattern with no modifications. Needles used were 5.00mm circulars, although I did follow the instructions to use 6.00mm needles to cast on.

This is the first time I have worked with pure silk. I can not complain – it was nice to work with and sailed over the needles beautifully. I did wash it in Eucalan and again, it blocked out beautifully. I am hoping that it stands up to wear but I know it will need to be re-blocked every so often.

I have to say, no matter the price, Treenway Silk was wonderful to work with and I look forward to it again. It was a very lovely knit to knit :)

What’s the most satisfying fibre you’ve ever worked with?

-r.

finishing. or lack thereof!

2010-06-11T14:53:00.001-07:00

I have been terrible lately about finishing projects. I seem to just jump from one cast-on to another. I hope that I will soon have finished items to show you!

Until then, happy Spring :)

-r.

shetland lace.

2010-05-24T15:00:00.001-07:00

in blanket form. in Knit Picks Swish Bulky. colour blackberry.

finished on 8.00mm circs. washed on delicate. laid flat.

dimensions equal approximately 30 inches by 30 inches.

simple. fast. effective.

for karyn. and baby.

~r.

travelling matches.

2010-05-09T20:08:00.001-07:00

The project that was looking for a yarn. Looking for a long time - - - then:

And then:

And Travelling Woman by Liz Abinante was gifted to Mom for Mother’s Day. Finally. She loved it.

I ended up holding the Skacel Merino Lace double for this project - knit it on 4.00mm circs and made no modifications for a quick, enjoyable project that is very effective.

Love it. I am going to knit one for me – I used about a quarter (probably less) of the skein. The yardage with this yarn is insanely awesome.

How was your Mother’s Day?

-r.

ps. Wehave been having the most gorgeous sunny weather here – it’s amazing how much of a difference some sun makes to your mood! I am feeling much better than I was through the winter – I guess I need some sun sometimes!

simply scrumptious.

2010-05-02T15:44:00.001-07:00

First handspun project ever:

Tanis Fibre Arts Superwash Merino in “Chestnut” – I loved working with this fibre.

I love the subtle colour changes of this fibre – and of course my love of garter just leaves me in awe of this yarn. Onto more spinning and continuing to wheedle down my queue as my yarn diet continues …

-r.

moderna.

2010-04-22T13:17:00.001-07:00

In an effort to continue with my finishing streak, I bring you Selbu Modern by Kate Gagnon Osborn. This was a great knit – fun, fast and enjoyable. I was just starting to get bogged down with the colourwork and then I was decreasing and it was finished. Great stuff :)

I made no modifications, no needle change, nothing. I just cast on and knit, following the pattern and instructions. It was quite relaxing – completely stress free knitting.

I have no complaints, only compliments! I love the subtle cast on edge, the perfect amount of ribbing, and the star crown.

Knit Picks Palette was used for this – again, it was part of my Christmas gift from husband. I used colours White (no. 9437) and Wallaby (no. 1170). I love these two together, especially since these are the two colours I wear most: grey, white and black. Boring, I know.

But effective. Especially in this particular knit! Prior to dunking this into it’s eucalan bath, I stretched it over a 10 inch dinner plate. This helped to keep it’s shape, while still getting a perfect block. I find trying to stretch wet fabric just makes everything worse.

I am significantly happier with this compared to my last project (as you can tell by the photos!) and am hoping this is a sign of more good things to come :)

-r.

vines.

2010-04-20T18:24:00.001-07:00

I have been having a lot of success lately with my knits. The process of knitting, choosing the fibre and patterns, as well as putting together the projects has been enjoyable and lovely. This was also one of my New Year’s Resolutions: To continue to enjoy and love working with fibre.

This made this knit even more disappointing because I planned and re-planned so that it would be successful. Therefore, the more I dwell on this project, the more I am concerned that I will allow it to over-shadow the great things that have been happening in my fibre world recently. This means that I am making a personal commitment that once I write this post and unload about this knit, I am going to move on and not think about it (other than when I sit and rip it out). I am going to treat the washing and re-skeining of the yarn as a cleanse, deciding what to do with the yarn after it’s dry and ready to tell me what it really wants to be when it grows up.

Vine Yoke is an awesome knit – I loved every minute of it, which I think is what makes it even worse that it didn’t turn out. The construction is interesting, innovative and ingenious. Most of the reasons that this didn’t turn out was due to me – there were multiple things that I should have done differently, that I didn’t and am now reaping the consequences. Here’s what I did wrong:

1. I added 10 stitches to the bottom, which was too much – I think I should have left it the length that Ysolda had written to cast on. This made an already stretchy cardigan longer, heavier and even more stretchy.

2. I added 10 stitches to the arms to make them longer. Same mistake. Too long. Too heavy. Stretched out. I think I am in denial about how short I really am, regardless of the person who will remain anonymous in knitting group saying, “You’re really quite stretched out.” haha I am still only 5’4”.

3. The i-cord is waaaaay too tight. I either needed to do it after (like in Audrey in Unst - it’s added as a finishing touch) or knit it looser. I think, if I knit this again, I will add it after.

4. Since the sizing it such an issue, I think I would knit this on either 5.00mm or 4.5mm needles next time. I used Cascade 220 Wool for this, expecting it to stretch a little (like people have said) but it stretched a lot. And I knew that it would because garter tends to be stretchy!

Decreasing the needle size may help with the unruly stretching. I knit a size 32” bust, which I would definitely knit again. I am a 36” bust and a 34” upper bust but since this is so stretchy, the smaller size would fit perfectly if I hadn’t added the length and hadn’t knit the i-cord so tightly that the puckering in the yoke wouldn’t have been so bad. The other idea was one that someone in knitting group had, which was to knit it in St st instead of garter. I am seriously considering this … seriously …

Overall, I am really unhappy with this sweater but I think I learned some good lessons from it and there are mistakes that I wouldn’t make again. Like I said, rip it out, wash and re-skein the yarn and I think I will be feeling a whole lot better!

~r.

stilwell. a sweater.

2010-04-13T11:41:00.001-07:00

While this sweater soaks in its Eucalan bath, I thought I would do the write up for it prior to taking some photos later in the week once dry. When I initially saw this sweater (prior to the book being released), I knew I wanted to knit it. I didn’t have high hopes that I would like it – I just wanted to do some simple colourwork that I could learn from and enjoy. Going in with no expectations means I didn’t expect a lot from this sweater … and guess what? I LOVE IT!

I cast on for this sweater at Christmas time after receiving the yarn from husband. I love the softness. I love the colours available. I love the tweed. Jared’s sizing is great – I was a little worried about the bottom being narrower than the bust size since my hips are wider (40 inches) than my bust (36 inches) but it fits perfectly. I knit the 36 3/4 inch bust (size Small). On me, the sweater has about a 1 to 2 inch ease. The pattern calls for a 2 to 3 inch ease. The short row shaping at the waist is genius – it gives me the room in the upper hips/lower waist that I need. This means that the sweater doesn’t end up with a bunch of bulk between the shoulder blades – also a bonus since my body doesn’t need that extra room to accommodate my bust. I know for some women’s bodies this is a blessing but for me, I need the extra all in my hips and buttocks!

Getting gauge however was a little difficult but on 4.0mm needles for the non-colourwork sections, I actually got gauge. And a beautiful fabric as well. I used 3.5mm needles for the colourwork sections and the tension remained consistent with the slight needle change.

There were no modifications in this knit (thank goodness). This meant casting on the stated number of stitches and knitting (something I rarely do). I added another 2.5 inches to the bottom of the sweater, which I am glad I did since the length is now perfect (after washing).

A note about the collar. A few people said that they didn’t like the collar too much and changed it, so I went into this thinking, “I’ll see if I like it and go from there.” The collar is what kept me from finishing this, to be honest. I cast off the collar and was left with the grafting under the arms and the weaving in of ends (which took forever) but I just couldn’t bring myself to finish those things because I was worried that when I tried it on, I wouldn’t like the collar. One of the girls at knitting group showed us her finished Cowichan sweater on Thursday, with almost the same collar. I loved it. Loved it. And so the sweater was finished with an excited anticipation that had been lacking in this project up until that point. No expectations brings brilliant surprise and glee. Yup - glee.

That said, I am glad to have it finished and off the needles. The yarn is great – I would knit with it again. The Knit Picks City Tweed HW is soft and creates a really nice finish. The yellow is a-w-e-s-o-m-e. I love it and am so glad I chose it. I think this will see a lot of wear (especially camping and in evenings outdoors).

The buttons were in my button stash – they are wood buttons that are cut, which creates a slightly star-like pattern. The wood has almost a yellow tinge to places where the wood has been carved so I thought rather than go searching for the perfect buttons, I would go with what was right in front of me – I really like them on this sweater and now more of my stash buttons have been used up! Yay to using what I already have. Now, onto other projects :)

-r.

my STASH is stressing me out. seriously.

2010-03-27T15:33:00.001-07:00

It’s interesting to me that there seems to be a fine line between a comfortable amount of yarn and a stash that has taken on a life of its own. I originally swore I would never ever have a stash. I have now managed to accumulate enough yarn that there is no doubt in my mind that I do indeed have a stash. And it’s stressing me out. So. What do I do about it? There is no point to continuing to feel that my stash is taking over our apartment and therefore causing me undue stress. I need to conquer it and re-gain control! Easier said then done but I am going to try.

Here is what I am proposing:

1. No more buying yarn. I’m not saying forever but I am saying no more for a while.

There is some background to this resolution. I had mentioned to my husband a while back that I didn’t like the idea of having a stash and that I wasn’t going to buy yarn for the sake of buying yarn – I would only buy yarn when I had a specific project in mind. This actually worked really well for me, so most of the yarn I have accumulated actually have specific projects that are assigned to them. Also, I have a “Knitting Budget” that I have been consistently going over the past few months. I was really consistent but I have noticed that my desire to accumulate yarn is increasing (which is directly related to the feeling I have that I don’t have enough time to knit – cough cough – school – cough cough). Therefore, I am declaring that unless it is yarn for someone else (aka a commissioned project since Mom has asked me to do a few things for her and I have yet to get the yarn), there will not be anymore yarn entering this apartment – starting now.

2. Stash organization time.

I did this back in September 2009 when I was trying to get organized but I have not done it recently. It is that time again. My reward to myself (I actually really love organizing my stash and tools and everything – I know, I’m a dork) is to spend the afternoon doing that on the day that I write my final exam for this-one-last-course-this-semester-that-doesn’t-seem-to-end. In organizing the stash, each project will be placed into a zip lock freezer bag or a Tupperware container that will be clearly labelled with the project name and yarn associated. Then I will really know how many projects I am actually planning, not just what I think I have planned (I think I have 5 planned but if I am really honest, I know it’s more like 15).

3. No. More. Gift. Knitting. For. This. Year.

Birthdays and Christmas will come and go this year and there will not be any gift knitting, other than the one project I have committed to, which is for Mom’s birthday in July. I will knit commissioned projects, because I committed to them prior to feeling stressed by how much knitting I have to do.

4. Finish my WIPs. One-by-one. Or rip out the yarn and make something else.

This is a bit harder since I have so many projects that are far enough along that they are really needing to be finished but I am not in love with them anymore. One is a lace shawl that was destined for greatness and honestly, I just completely burned out on it. I love the yarn (and beads, yes, there were beads) but I think I will find another shawl that I can hold the cobweb weight yarn double and knit up something truly beautiful.

5. Love fibre. This is just to remind myself that this is not a bad thing – it’s just a “pause and ponder” moment to look at my stash and say, “I really wanted to make that, so let’s.”

I think those are enough goals to keep me going for the rest of the year. I can’t believe that I have let myself buy as much as I have (I am usually able to restrain myself) but I think I just wasn’t paying attention. It got out of hand before I really realized. So. Here’s to a new beginning and a chance to redeem myself (my husband is a little dismayed at the amount of yarn in our apartment) and to finally casting on (and finishing) those projects I have been dying to make. I am now officially a stash-busting, no-yarn-buying, project-finishing knitter and spinner. Cheers!

By the way, this goes for my fibre too. No more until it’s spun and knit/woven up.

~r.

citron. a fragrant fruit.

2010-03-25T17:39:00.001-07:00

This shawlette is finished! Two projects on the 4 unfinished project list have been crossed off: OWLS was finished on the weekend (photos soon) and Citron was finished yesterday. It dried overnight (I love lace) and will be gifted to Mom tomorrow. It was my first commissioned project: She asked me to knit her a small shawlette that she could wear out in the spring and summer when she wanted “something for her shoulders.” Citron was born!

Citron is a cute, springy, light shawl that has a surprising amount of knitting in it. Like, a lot of knitting in it. Finishing each section comes with it a sense of accomplishment. I added on 2 extra rows to the ruffle and almost didn’t have enough to cast off with. I had 3cm of yarn left after weaving in the ends – not enough to fix it if something happens. BUT I was not about to rip back two rows and three-quarters of the cast off (over 1000 stitches) to fix it if it was going to be okay. This little shawl fits perfectly around ones neck as a handkerchief, which I love. It is also a great shawl around your shoulders since it is the perfect size:

I soaked this overnight in room-temperature water with some Euckalan. I laid it out sopping wet on my blocking boards and pinned the garter edge into a straight line. Then I fluffed out the ruffle edge by gently pulling the shawl from the pinned garter edge. This gave me a great block – the St st between the ruffles is beautifully blocked (I have noticed some people are having trouble blocking this on ravelry). Also, the Malabrigo Lace fulled out beautifully as well (like Malabrigo always does – gorgeous!). I knit on 4.00mm needles and this was also the perfect gauge. It really is a great little pattern – thanks to Hilary Smith Callis.

One note about the cast-off: I used the lace cast-off which is K2, *pass stitches back to left needle and K2 through the back loops, K1, repeat from * until last 2 stitches, K2tog, pass stitches back to left needle and K2 through back loops, pull yarn through. It finishes off any lace or shawl pattern beautifully.

~r.

finishing anxiety.

2010-03-20T10:14:00.001-07:00

I have ended up with a bunch of unfinished projects this winter. I’m not sure if it’s my project ADD setting in again or if I just bit off more than I could chew. It’s probably a little of column A and a little of column B. I have ended up also working on multiple sweaters this winter, which has left me feeling a little burned out on large projects. I had bought some Marks & Katten Quick to knit this. I was super stocked about the pattern but the yarn is a little too thick so I am ripping it back and going to knit the EZ Garter Blanket instead. I think a break from sweater knitting is called for and the blanket is something I have been dying to knit for ages – also, I know I have enough yarn and it would be perfect since it’s acrylic. Go go machine washing! Especially with the dog now. Updates on Charlie? He has gained 4.2lbs, which is right on track for his 2lb weekly gain. He is settling into our little household very well and learning how to “Sit!” He is also learning about his voice although he doesn’t use it often.

He has actually darkened a little since this photo was taken earlier in the week, which I love. I was hoping for a red retriever since I am a redhead, so I got my wish! FIDO commercials here I come! haha. Part of my anxiety about the unfinished projects is that I want to maximize my knitting time since we spend a lot of time with Charlie and school will continue to take up the majority of my spare time. Here are the unfinished projects (from least finished to almost!):

First. Selbu Modern I started during the Olympics and it was supposed to be my Ravelympics project. Since you end up with so many stitches while working fair isle, I quickly got frustrated with the 5 DPNs and a 6th to knit with. It was a little too much. Thankfully, we put in a Knit Picks order in our knitting group and I was able to sit back and wait for a 16” 2.75mm circ to arrive. It has come, so let the finishing begin!

Second. Citron was started for my Mom. She asked me to knit her a shawlette. This is also my first commission knitting – Mom bought the yarn and asked me to make it for her, which is really cool. She has also asked for 2 more for very close friends who always mention my knitting, so I will be working on those later in the spring.

Third. Stilwell. This project has been a bit of a slog. I’m not sure why because I was so excited to knit it but I have ended up feeling that it is hanging over me. I have one more underarm to graft and then ends to weave in, which I am hoping to work on this afternoon. I think part of the reason it has been a slog is because I have channelled everything I have been feeling about school this semester into this sweater. It has ended up being a love-hate sweater – it was meant to be the spring camping sweater since I usually get chilly but not enough that I need a long-sleeved heavy Aran sweater that I boil in. I was so looking forward to this project and I hope that by finishing it, washing and blocking it that I can glean some of that joy back out of it. I think I’ll be able to.

Last. O w l s. I finished this sweater a long time ago. I thought I would wear it a lot and have not worn it once. The reason is that I don’t like the neck – it’s really hard to wear a t-shirt underneath and the Cascade Ecological is too scratchy for me to not wear something underneath (and a tank doesn’t really give me enough “protection” from the itch). Also, it is too warm to wear with a jacket since we live in such a mild climate. It really needs to be workable for an outer layer – on it’s own. So I am re-knitting that neck. I ripped back the ribbing at the top, re-knit in St st, decreased to 54 stitches and am knitting 10” of ribbing. I got the idea from here and was completely inspired to add the turtleneck. Thank you to aileenjo – you have saved this sweater! I am almost finished (I am going to work on it now) and I will take some updated owls photos when it has been re-washed and re-blocked.

I hate having this many unfinished projects since I have really been trying to finish one project at a time lately to continue to work through my stash. I have been procrastinating about starting Coraline, Manu and the Vine Yoke, all of which I have new, exciting yarn to work with (and in colours I have been dying to work with) because these projects have been hanging over me. I also want to finish my Mom’s February Lady Sweater, which is for her birthday but I am saving that until I am finished my final exam next month since I really don’t have the time or energy to engage in starting a project like a sweater that is for someone else – I have to recheck sizing and gauge before I start (I am not re-knitting that project – it’s once or none! haha). Her birthday is in July and I will be working on that through April and May.

Here’s to finishing what is already on the needles :)

~r.

chestnut.

2010-03-12T09:36:00.001-08:00

I finished working on the roving that I bought in Toronto {at The Purple Purl on Queen Street} at New Years.

It’s the Tanis Fibre Arts Superwash Merino in Chestnut.It spun up very nicely – it’s soft and the colours are gorgeous.

I am hoping for a feather and fan shawl out of it – I am going to work on it after I finish Stilwell.

~r.

charlie.

2010-03-07T19:47:00.001-08:00

I have mentioned in previous posts that I really try to keep this knitting focused but I wanted to share the newest addition to our little family:

He has just fallen into his water bowl here and is a little confused about what to do with the wet. He decided eating more was the best plan of action.

~r.

a fixed Audrey.

2010-03-05T15:39:00.001-08:00

This cardigan has taken a long time to write up and there are a myriad of reasons but namely it’s because I re-washed and blocked it before taking photos. I love this cardigan and I hope that it will see a lot of wear through the Spring and Summer months when you need something on your shoulders but not necessarily a heavy sweater or jacket. Audrey in Unst is a classic, cropped cardigan that is precious. I loved it the first time I saw it and thought, “Ooh. Now that’s nice.” I love Twist Collective, too, I might add – I love just about everything they publish and it can be hard to chose what you want to make!

Gudrun is a genius – the construction of this cardigan is beautiful. Don’t get me started on the short-row sleeves – whomever thought of that was/is a genius. I think that construction will be my new standby if I don’t want to seam in-set sleeves. Amazing. I did make some modifications, which were that, rather than the shaping being right next to the seam stitch along the sides, I placed these one stitch in to create a clean border along the edge (basically, P1, K1, K2tog, knit on). I liked this a little better. Also, I cast on a different stitch count and worked from there – it is still about +1 inch of ease that I was hoping to avoid because I was pretty certain that the yarn would create a slightly bulkier sweater than what I wanted. Onto that in a moment.

I had a little mishap in the knitting of the twisted rib, which I have written about on ravelry within my projects page and would rather not delve into it again here but I have to say that with my re-grafting in of new stitches across the back and right front, there is no difference, which is pretty amazing. The fix was literally seamless – the ribbing looks completely normal. Phew.

I used Knit Picks Telemark, which is a sport. It’s listed as having 24 stitches to 4 inches on 3.25-3.5mm needles. I had a tough time getting this gauge with 3.5mm – the yarn is more like a DK. Lovely to work with – the colour was amazing (I used Lichen) but it was slightly too thick to knit as a sport. I think part of this is my wrist problems and the tendonitis I have in my right 1st digit and thumb. I have a tough time doing twist rib for any length of time but that aside – I still think the yarn is gorgeous and will knit with it again, but for a DK pattern.

Before I finish gushing about this pattern (I am definitely going to make it again), I just wanted to touch on a couple of things. One. My favourite part of the cardigan is by far the lace – all the interesting construction that Gudrun incorporated aside. It is classic and effective and I heart it a lot.

Two. I have small shoulders although I am a 36” bust. I took out about an inch of the shoulder length but I think I actually needed to take out another inch because the cardigan is slightly too big in the shoulders – enough that it doesn’t sit quite right without continually pulling it down onto my bust. I think the shirt I am wearing here is going to become a favourite with this cardigan because the sleeves are puffy so Audrey sits right! Third. And Last. I can’t wait to knit this again. I enjoyed every moment, even the fixing part because it challenged me in a way that I needed, that showed me I have come a long way in my capability as a knitter. Sometimes we all need that.

~r.

abalone. [noun]. any of various large edible marine gastropods.

2010-03-02T09:16:00.001-08:00

Please be patient while I self-deprecate for a moment. I have the resolve of a gnat. Yes, I am comparing myself to a mosquito. I had promised myself that I would not engage in any knitting or projects, for that matter, for other people for a while because I was in a mad rush in December with the Christmas knitting – it really stressed me out. So, what do I do on January 25th, exactly one month after Christmas? I cast on a project for someone else. A very special someone else, but someone else. I am very naughty. The project means stash busting but I am very naughty indeed.

Okay. I am glad I got that off my chest. Abalone. I have to say, black is hard to photograph so I am sorry for the not so clear photos of what it looks like but it fits perfectly!

Onto the project details! Abalone is designed by Beata Jezekova, which is a cardigan/shrug/wrap/I’m not sure what exactly it is. It’s awesome. I had some Cascade Eco+ sitting around needing a sweater home to be a part of, so I cast on for Abalone since I had been gazing at it wondrously over the past few months. Thankfully, Beata published the pattern and I have knit one up for the special someone mentioned above. Unfortunately, she has had a tough week, so although this is a birthday gift, it is also a feel-better-you-amazing-thing-and-we-are-praying-for-you-but-this-is-a-small-token-of-what-you-mean-to-us-sweater.

When I make this for myself, I would like to cast on more stitches across the back. I am quite curvy so not having enough length across the back is a problem because the corners don’t come out nicely. Instead of 55%, I think I will do more like 65%. But again, I am curvy so I need that to go across the bum. The recipient is taller than I am and not quite so curvy although we are the same size, so I cast on 68 stitches and increased to 120 stitches for 28” nipple-to-nipple. I would not have made it any bigger or smaller – the 120 stitches was perfect but for myself, like I said, I would start with more like 78 stitches (65%).

I had gauge with 5.5mm circs and cast on immediately after washing the swatch (it wasn’t dry yet) and deciding, “Close enough.” Turns out that it pays to listen to your gut because low-and-behold, I did have gauge after all. Thank goodness. I followed the pattern, the only thing I did differently was that rather than grafting the sleeves, I did a 3-needle bind off. That’s it! No other changes – can you believe it? I know.

Off to gift-wrap.

~r.

Update: The lovely recipient loved it. She said she had been looking for a cardigan like this for a while and hadn’t found one yet and was thankful. Task accomplished.

Closing Ceremonies.

2010-02-27T16:20:00.001-08:00

The Olympics are officially coming to an end. Canada has won more Gold medals than ever before. The Canadian Women’s Hockey team made me cry when Wickenheiser received her medal. It’s been an emotional and exciting two weeks. I am so glad it’s almost at a close so that the 2010 Paralympic Games can begin. We were at the medal ceremony on Tuesday night (congrats Ashleigh McIvor – GOLD in SkiCross), which was our last taste of an Olympic event – wow, can Canadians belt out the anthem!

I am a little sad, however, that the Ravelympics are almost at a close since I am not sure I am totally happy with my finished project: the Shetland Triangle. It’s being made for a dear friend who is getting married this summer. I wanted to knit something special for her that she could wear when she has to be a little dressed up for wedding prep stuff (she’s a bit of a Tom-boy).

On Etsy, I found Saffron Dyeworks. DeAnna does beautiful hand-dyed yarns that are literally to “dye” for. I fell in love. I was looking for a teal since my friend looks amazing in rich teals. I found this gem, bought it and waited! It came very quickly and I decided to wait for the Olympics to cast-on.

After 8 pattern repeats, which is what the pattern recommends, it was too short. I added a 9th pattern repeat and then did the edging. I am still not sure it is “long” enough. The 4.00mm circs that I used meant that I have a tighter knit and I think I would be happier with it if I had knit it on 5.00mm circs (which, I might add, was my instinct and I ignored it!).

I used the cast off from the Swallowtail Shawl (another Evelyn Clark pattern) that creates a gorgeous edge. It’s stretchy too and I like the definition of the scallop points that this cast off gives. Following a good soak, this shawlette got a good block with pins. I found the blocking wires weren’t able to give me the stretch that I needed. I may wash and block again before I gift it to further define the points but I will wait and see.

Overall, I would have added another 2 pattern repeats if it had been for me but since it is going to someone who is not used to wearing something like this, I am going to leave it and hope that she just really enjoys it! So, as the Olympics close, I hope you are happy with your Ravelympics projects as well :)

~r.

Year One.

2010-02-22T09:30:00.001-08:00

I started blogging here on February 20, 2009. It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year already. Thank you to my readers and to those who leave comments. I really appreciate the readership. At the beginning of the year, I was a self-proclaimed non-blogger after poorly maintaining my original blog but I have come to really enjoy this outlet. I refer to it as my "fibre journal” now and it has been a source of comfort for me to chat about my projects and show off the photos. What is even more satisfying are the supportive comments that you have shared. As always, ravelry is a source of inspiration but coming here, writing and posting, has also become a source of inspiration for me because it is my very own.

So, thank you. And here is to Year 2. Cheers!

~r.

it’s official. it’s here.

2010-02-15T12:43:00.001-08:00

Our city has been invaded. The torch is light. The athletes are here. The Auzzies have left up the Fitting Kangaroo (yay!). It is crazy every where we go. And the energy is infectious. I have commenced, like a good little knitter, on my Olympic knitting and hope to have something to show you at the end of next week.

Until then, GO CANADA GO!

~r.