a leap of faith.

Learning how to knit has opened up a whole new world of creations, people and expression. Part of my love for ravelry is that at any given moment we can peruse through the millions of galleries of projects and find inspiration in other people’s finished creations. I have long wanted to knit an Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater, namely the seamless yoke out of Knitting Without Tears. Cruising through the projects pages of the EPS sweater I found this sweater. Immediately I thought, I have to knit something like that. 

This is the body thus far. The sleeves are finished and waiting to be added to the body (after 1.75” more of knitting, which I hope to complete tonight). I will type up my notes at some point but I would like to finish the cardigan prior to sharing them. I am knitting back-and-forth rather than steeking mostly because I am having difficulty with my right wrist and need to rest it with alternating knit and purl rows rather than all of one or the other. I am knitting on 3.00mm circulars and knit the sleeves on three 3.00mm DPNs. I will share more when I am a little further along! Wish me luck as this is my first sweater that I am “designing” on my own. . .

-r.

cleaning out.

I always said I would never have a stash. I was so naive. I will always have a stash. However, that doesn’t mean I will let it fester and grow. I have been making a real effort to knit through most of my project-quantity stash and use stuff up this Fall. I had originally said I wouldn’t buy anything till it was all gone but that didn’t happen. I did, however, manage to use up some more Cascade 220 with this wonderful, simple and effective toque: Piper by Christa Giles.

There isn’t much to say about it although I was a little worried about the drape while I was knitting as I had seen some that unfortunately hadn’t worked out. The reason this bothered me is because the few people who’s toques I had seen that hadn’t worked were people that usually get good results – so I was bothered! I had swatched for Cascade on 5.00mm months ago and knew that I was at gauge so I didn’t bother doing another swatch, I just cast on for the 20” toque. I will definitely make this pattern again. It was so fast.

Something that I am adding to my list of “Things to do in the New Year” is learning how to do nice short rows when knitting in the round. There are some online tutorials and I know Knitty has done some articles. That is something I would like to perfect because this is three projects now that I am satisfied but not happy with the short rows in the round. Back-and-forth – No Problem. Circular – not so much.

So I now have two toques for this winter and I am stoked! The colourways for the Cascade 220 are: Cascade 220 Heathers 2441 (tan) and Cascade 220 Wool 9404 (red). I used about 0.5 a skein of the tan and about 0.2 of the red. Go go stash-busting!

-r.

turn-a-green-square-in-blue

This is the second Christmas that my brother has asked me for a toque. Last Christmas, he just asked for a toque. This year, however, he was pretty specific. “Can I have the same one as last year, just new?” No problem. Jared Flood’s Turn-a-Square is a great pattern and it knits up quickly. Because my brother has a small head, both years I downsized the pattern by using a full needle size smaller. The ribbing is on a 3.00mm 16” circular and the toque itself is knit on 4.00mm 16” circular. I think next year I won’t actually do the increases after the ribbing – my brother’s head is just not big enough to need them. The cast-on number of stitches are perfect for the size needed for him – I’ll try that next year.

The Noro Silk Garden is the same ball as last year but that’s the beauty of Noro – because the first row of colour picks up right where the other one left off, the colour changed right away (you can see the first row of blue in this toque) and – LO! - I ended up a green toque. Very green. Thankfully, my brother loves green. The solid colour is Cascade 220 wool in navy blue. It’s a very dark colour of navy and almost looks black, but it’s not. I really like it and the toque that I knit for my father-in-law is out of the rest of the skein (I got both toques out of the one skein).

Mistakenly, I didn’t do 3 rows of solid and 2 rows of Noro until the crown. I totally forgot. So it ended up being quite green being 2:2 rows of solid:noro - and bright. But I still like it. When dear husband and I were out on our walk yesterday and I was photographing, the colours look great. For blocking, I pinned the 4 corner crowns to my blocking mats and let it dry. It worked well because the square is quite nicely defined compared to the one I knit for my brother last year.

Did I mention that I was photographing yesterday? December 16th. Yup – Vancouver is still bright green and although the trees are naked (except the evergreens in the background), it looks like Fall. Hope the weather where you are is treating you nicely too!

-r.

safari.

For my birthday in June, dear hubby bought me some roving from FreckleFaceFibers in California. I love her roving so much but since I hadn’t been able to get my wheel working the way I wanted it to be working, I had put the fibre on hold. Now that I figured out what was wrong, and the wheel is spinning like a dream, I decided to delve into the Safari colourway:

The roving is beautiful to work with. For a first-time, beginning spinner, once I got going, it was not daunting but very very enjoyable. I am very happy with the 2-ply results:

Once I washed and measured, the finished results:

I have a plan for this yarn – the Mitered Mittens by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I have about 26 yards and I purposely spun worsted/aran weight to get the right weight (although I can play with needles to get the right gauge or do some math). Knitting with this yarn is going to be awesome – I can’t wait. So, as soon as I am finished a sweater that is currently on the needles, these mitts are next! 

Sorry for the dark photos. We had our first snowfall yesterday here in Vancouver (very odd) and I didn’t want to go outside to photograph the yarn like I would normally. I have about 6 projects on the dinning room table blocking and waiting to be wrapped for Christmas and I am finishing up one last gift for my father-in-law. Then Christmas knitting is f-i-n-i-s-h-e-d! Hope you are doing well with yours!

-r.

MISTER W-I-L-S-O-N!

This is the first of the Christmas knitting. I have knit for everyone in my family but two (dear husband and my brother). Each of them will receive a hand knit for Christmas but both are receiving … how should I say … simple? projects for Christmas. My brother is being given his requisite Turn-a-Square toque, which he got last year. He has worn it so much this past year it has felted. And he asked for a new one. Of course, I said – not realising how close Christmas really is. Holy Hannah – has this Fall gone quickly. And no, Christmas shopping is not started. Since school has been so heavy, I refuse to feel stressed.

The first present finished for my family is for my father. He is easy to knit for because he generally wears everything I knit for him – including the scarf from last year that I was worried he wouldn’t because up until then, he hadn’t worn scarves. I stumbled across this pattern on ravelry and decided that the book didn’t look half bad. I also really liked the Wilson Hat so I decided to track down the book, which wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, and did a gauge swatch. Ha. And I thought, with pattern and yarn in hand, this project would be easy!

 

After finishing my gauge swatch (I have turned over a new leaf, I am swatching for everything – and washing it prior to casting on, too!), I realized this: Thank goodness I hadn’t cast on right away and started knitting because my toque would have fit a sasquatch. No kidding. My gauge was totally different using 5.00mm circs. I ended up with a gauge of 18 sts = 4in over the toque’s stitch pattern, so I cast on 90 sts, which meant that after the ribbing, I would have 15 repeats of the cable pattern.

To clarify: my gauge gave me 1 repeat per 1.5 inches so that’s how I figured out how to get an 18” toque, which if the gauge was right for the pattern, the pattern’s stitch repeat would give you an 18” toque if the gauge was right. I think it’s more of a DK weight that’s needed for this pattern, not the worsted or aran like the Peruvia (I’m not sure though, just guessing – going down significantly in needle size would give you gauge obviously but then the knitting would be really tight). I did the decreases the same just taking into account I had a different stitch count, so I didn’t count my stitches or anything, I just decreased with faith it would work out ~ and it did!

Lastly, the toque is still very loose. My dad had asked for “a loose fitting, turned-up brim for the cold days – you know I feel the cold more now” when I talked to him back at Thanksgiving {yes, I always talk to loved ones about what they want because I want to knit something they will use – unless they drop hints, then I just go ahead}.

What do I mean by loose. I mean this:

• the cable ends up working like a rib so it stretches a lot more than I initially thought
• even with my gauge, the 18” toque is more like 24” (which is good because my dad’s head is 25” around)
• the photos here look “normal” on dear husband – his head is approx. 21” but do not be fooled – it’s HUGE on him (we folded the brim an additional 0.5-1” to take the photos. There is actually a lot of cable hiding under the brim!)

I really liked making this because it was fast and once the gauge issues worked themselves out, it was fun. I would make it again in the same yarn, doing exactly the same thing for the same results.

So, through the comedy of errors  that was this toque (Dennis the Menace and Mr. Wilson style!), I really enjoyed knitting it and am excited to see it be used. Now all we need is snow …

things to say …

There are so many things that I want to share but I haven’t because I really want this blog to remain my knitting blog. Part of the reason that I abandoned my last blog was because there were things there that were not knitting (and spinning). Upon reflection, I wanted to create a place that I could come just to share knitting and spinning projects. I have ended up suppressing a lot of my ideas because while I like that some people are able to fuse their inspiration and ideas, therefore, creating blogs that encompass more that one thing, I unfortunately can not. For whatever reason, I can not.

Therefore, with much thought and trepidation, I have decided to start a photo journal that I have been wanting to do for a while. It will share my thoughts, ideas and inspirations that may or may not have to do with knitting and spinning but are the things that I come across in daily life that give give me ideas, thoughts, or just plain inspiration and renewal. So, without further adieu:

http://welfordphotojournal.tumblr.com/

This will be my place of inspiration and ongoing creativity, while here, welford p u r l s, will remain my place to dissect and discuss my projects. I am very happy with my decision and will start referencing one and the other, which is the balance I have been trying to strike for a long time.

Thank you for you support and patience as I find my way through blogging, knitting, spinning and general creativity!

texture and teaching moments with wine

I tend to use the same yarns again and again. I also tend to knit the same things again and again. I like comfort. This is all especially true when I am teaching someone else! A very dear friend asked me to knit something with her while we were in Toronto in July 2009. She actually taught me how to knit years ago but with school and other commitments, she has asked me to help her get going again. It’s wonderful to knit side-by-side with her now as we both fly through the balls of yarn and chat and drink wine. I think there’s more wine drinking than anything but it’s wonderful!

So this last time in Toronto, we decided to make the Textured Shawl Recipe together. It taught her how to increase, do a provisional cast-on, and work some patterns other than garter, rib or St st. I bought some Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a new colourway Gneiss. This is one of my favourite yarns out there. I just never get sick of it, the finished product or the colours. I finished my second hank on the plane home halfway through the final pattern repeat and not having started the final garter section. I thought, Well, when we are back at New Years, I’ll get one more hank. THANKFULLY, one of the LYSs brought in Gneiss this Fall, I bought one and finished it so that I can now wear it back at New Years!

I soaked it in eucalan for ~20mins before “blocking” it – I literally just lay it out on the dinning room table to dry. It’s soft and wonderful – doesn’t scratch at all. Eucalan is amazing for that though!

  I knit on 5.5mm circs. While we were flying back I mentioned to dear hubby that maybe I should have gone up to 6.00mm but now that I have been wearing it, I wouldn’t want it any bigger to be honest. It drapes really nicely – I thought it might be stiff but it’s not at all. I did lifted make 1’s for the increases (EZ style) – the results of which are perfect.

This pattern is definitely a favourite. I think I added a few extra garter rows to the end. I did cast off with 6.5mm needles for a slightly stretchier edge, which I am glad I did. Happy Winter!

antique, boutique, quite wonderful.

I have been meaning to share this for a while but some of my steam to share it ran out when I realized I needed hubby to photograph me and he wasn’t around … then I honestly forgot! This will be my Toronto toque when we go to visit at Christmas time – that’s how warm it is! While I was modeling it, I had to take it off for a bit because I was starting to sweat – and it’s cold, rainy and icky outside – the perfect toque day! Ohhh Malabrigo, how I love your warmth.

So, the Sideways Grande Cloche by Laura Irwin is amazing. I love her style and sense of design. After I knit this I thought, This was challenging in the terms of the construction. Then, after reflecting on the results, I thought, No, this was a good skills project. I’ll explain. This would be a really good project for the new knitter who hasn’t done much in terms of seaming, decreases and construction. There’s just enough of those skills that you learn them but not enough that you get frustrated. And the beauty of it is that your seaming will be hidden behind the cloche and your decreases are on top of your head, so no one will see them! Perfect!

My modifications included casting on 27 stitches as my gauge was quite different. I followed the pattern for the rest – I think I ended up with one less “twist” in the cloche, which I just noticed! I have not washed or blocked this – I’m not sure that I’m going to either. I have what’s called “Blocker’s Anxiety” about most of my projects I finish. This means that I worry about what the project is going to look like after I block it: Will it look the same? Will it stretch to some un-Godly size? Will I ruin it? etc. etc.

I have decided that my answer with toques and blocking is: wear it, enjoy it, let it get wet (it’s bound too, we live in Vancouver for goodness sake!), just plain enjoy it, and don’t block it. I don’t know if this is right or not but it’s working for me so far! :)

I never mentioned the yarn (although I’m sure you’ve realized!): Malabrigo worsted in Frank Ochre. Lovely.

Anyways, props to Laura for a great pattern and I think I will knit it again in the same Malabrigo for my sister-in-law for her next birthday. It’s totally her style and would look great on her!

strike a pose! that’s VOGUE!

Oh 80’s music. How I miss you and your synthesized wonderfulness. But then we still have Vogue Knitting so that’s a bonus. I have to admit, I don’t generally knit a lot out of Vogue and the few things I have, I was left wishing the magazine came with a 360 degree picture to show you *exactly* what the finished object looks like – complete with the model standing in a *normal* position. But we can’t have everything, can we? No.

But then there is genius in those pages. Sometimes there’s just plain amazing-ness. MMM, yes, designers like Cathy Carron grace their pages and you think, Wow. The #12 Cabled Cowl is what I am talking about. I don’t know why I like it so much – I just do. Cathy actually has a couple of patterns in this issue of Vogue Holiday 2009 but the cabled cowl had me speechless. So naturally, I had to knit it!

  

I had Cascade 220 Heathers left over from the 2009 Boxing Day sale at Three Bags Full here in Vancouver, BC. I had only bought 2 hanks of the yarn, thinking I would knit a vest but I never did and subsequently I used some of the yarn for the Give A Hoot mittens. I ended up needing a fourth of a third hank of the yarn (so much for using things up) to finish the cowl, but I love it, so I don’t mind! The colourway of this particular Heathers is 9410. It’s actually quite grey when knit up, rather than a green. The photos are pretty bang on for the colour, they’re not washed out or over-exposed.

I knit this on 5.5mm circulars. I didn’t change needle sizes for the ribbing – mostly out of laziness. The measurements match the pattern exactly, which amazed me. It’s an interesting pattern in that it changes enough that it keeps you interested and just when you are thinking you don’t want to do it anymore, it’s over! Love it! This will definitely be a permanent addition to my winter jacket this year, especially when we are in Toronto and Ottawa at New Years.

long overdue gushing

I am amazed. Two blog posts in one month! I wrote last week that I hadn’t been doing any knitting. School has in fact taken over my life but I have managed to pick up the needles since then and have *magically* finished some things. While we were on the phone with my parents-in-law last week, I finished the *tedious* task of adding the fringe to an amazingly amazing scarf. I actually hesitate to call it a scarf because it’s more of a monster.

It’s also crochet:

 

When we were in Anacortes, WA, back in June, I found a book by Schachenmayr Nomotta that I had never heard of before but the patterns – oh, the patterns! It’s the first time I have picked up a booklet (other than made in Brooklyn) that I have liked each and every pattern.

  

The yarn that I used when *meant* to use up the rest of the Cascade Ecological left over from my owls sweater; however, I frogged it due to fit and had already started another one in another colour of yarn. Needless to say, I still have 1.5 hanks of Eco left. I actually have plans for it since there is so much left – I am thinking about a cowl or Bella’s Mittens. We shall see.

Back to this scarf. The design number is 6524 for those wanting to look for it. A friend at knitting group who taught me how to crochet this said it’s a kind of shell pattern. All I know is, it was the perfect first crochet project because I had to learn to read a chart, count my stitches and it wasn’t boring! Every row is different – AND right when I was getting the hang of it, it was over! I am definitely going to make another one at some point but in a colour rather than a natural for contrast with this one. It is 99” in length with the 12” fringe (6” either side). I am 63” tall so that gives you some perspective on the length of this monster. It’s pretty rad though, huh?

ps. My boots are an early Christmas present from dear hubby from Aldo.

neck fashion

I have not been knitting lately. School work had taken over my life. As has work and life in general. I don’t think I have had a busier Fall – ever. I decided to leave my full-time position. I am now back where I started: in Emergency. Working casual has it’s perks: I work with all the different lines, set my own schedule and have weekends off. Oh, and no night shifts. Whoot!

Needless to say, no knitting time. Until this past weekend. I realized that if Christmas knitting was going to get done, it needed to be started. But then I got distracted by this: {ravelry link}. I know, right? I had to make it. I had some Cascade 220 left over from my Give a Hoot mittens:

Sadly, they are still lacking eyes. One day soon they will be able to see. This pattern also happens to be one of my Christmas knitting projects. Another pair will be for my mom, who is almost as owl crazy as me. Hers will be out of an aran weight yarn. Her hands are slightly bigger than mine and she gets quite cold so I wanted them to be a little more substantial. And washable, so Misson Falls 1825 Superwash Merino comes to the rescue – in green.

Now to show off the un-blocked #12 Cabled Cowl:

It’s needs to be blocked but I made no mods. I like the “stretchiness” of it already. It’s soft and I think it’ll be perfect for Toronto at New Years over my winter coat. I am going to block it tomorrow and will take some “proper” photos of me wearing and loving it. haha.

Last thing to share: New books! I was wandering in two LYSs this past week and found two books I have been looking for:

I am in love with the Made in Brooklyn by Jared Flood. He is such a talented and resourceful designer. I love everything he touches. Norah’s book is excellent as well. I am knitting the Wilson Hat for my dad for Christmas. The Feldspar Scarf will be for my hubby – it will be the first knitted gift for him ever. I know right? He doesn’t like anything “scratchy” or “that would cause you a lot of work” – very thoughtful. But I want to knit him things!!! So I am just going for it – the Ultra Alpaca he doesn’t find itchy on his skin and I am going to soak it for longer in Soak or Eucalan to soften it up even more. Too bad – it’s time he had a knitted gift!

I finished another scarf this past week that I am anxious to share but I have no photos of it yet. I will get those done this weekend and post them soon. To everyone embarking on Christmas knitting:

~~ Good Luck ~~

missing missing

I have been very busy with school so this is just a very fast check in to say that I am here, just working on getting things in order with work, school and life in general. I am very excited to be able to spend a little time on me tomorrow afternoon – I am going to visit the new LYS in Vancouver, Gina Brown’s. I will let you know how that goes and hopefully have some things to share next week as I wind up some projects that have been on the needles long enough.

Have a great Halloween everyone. Be safe :)

shhhh …

It will continue to be quiet around here as there is little to no knitting taking place. School is in full swing and it’s pretty busy! However, I have been wearing this:

almost exclusively over the past weeks – especially in the mornings when it’s chilly. I blocked it after this photo but it was more like washing it and laying it out to dry! I started this when we went to Toronto in July but ran out of yarn. Thankfully an LYS had just received stock for the fall and I finished it right away. I knit it on 5.5mm circulars out of Berroco Ultra Alpaca in one of the new colours: Gneiss (no. 6223). Very perfect. In terms of the size – when I can I will post photos that show it worn – I added an extra 16 rows of St st and 5 rows of the textured stitch before starting the garter. It’s more of a wrap than a shawl in size – quite large. And perfect. Will post photos asap.

whispers.

I finished the Whisper Cardigan back in August but since life was a little hectic and busy, I slung it over the back of a chair and left it until we came back from Oregon. I feel that it’s waited long enough for a proper entry and discussion. Firstly, I used different yarn – therefore, a different gauge and a slightly different look. I am very happy with the results but I’ll get to that later.

1. The yarn. I used Berroco’s Ultra Alpaca Fine in Prune Mix {colour 1284}. I’m not sure exactly what weight this yarn is but I would hazard a guess (at the risk of being wrong) that it’s Sport/Baby weight. I did a gauge swatch and I wasn’t actually that far off in terms of my needle size and ended up going down to 3.5mm, 2.5mm and 2.0mm for the knitting up. Basically, I went down an entire needle size for the whole thing! Not bad.

2. The fit. The Whisper is really cute just the way it is – and I plan to knit one just like the one in the pictures! However, as I am stash-busting right now and using up everything I have before I buy more, I didn’t want to spend a ton of time on the sleeves as I was unsure how much yarn I would really need. Also, if the fit with the different gauge and needle size didn’t work, why in the tarnation should I spend a bunch of time working on beautiful sleeves when it may get ripped? Right. Short sleeves with ribbing on the end as there wouldn’t be the weight to keep them from curling. I did the same at the bottom of the skirt as the yarn was curling upwards really badly, something (from another experience) I knew wouldn’t be fixed with blocking. I liked the look of the corners curling but not the middle of the back hem!

3. The modifications. Even with the change in yarn and needles, I didn’t actually change that much. I was surprised in the end. I only cast on 72 stitches at the first sleeve and cast off 6 for the armhole rather than 8. I knit across the back 11” and did the same on the other side. I was a little nervous about the gather in the middle but it turned out really well on 2.00mm needles. Picking up for the ribbing … I have no idea how many I actually picked up. I don’t ever count when I am picking up because I figure we all knit a little differently and 30 picked up stitchs might look great in the pattern, but I may need only 25 or as many as 35 for it to look as good! It just depends, so I can’t give a number for that. I can tell you that it was a lot! For the skirt, I did the same thing. I picked up however many looked nice. I continued with the pattern and added 2” to the bottom for a slightly longer skirt.

Overall, I am happy with the fit. I really like the colour. I am happy!

continuing quiet …

We went travelling down the Oregon Coast last week to get away from the city and to camp. Although my wrist is now quite sore (I should know better), I have a lot of knitting to share! Most of it is currently blocking on my new blocking boards and I will share my mods in upcoming posts. It was mostly stash-busting knitting and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The drive from Pacific City, Oregon, to Portland to Seattle to Vancouver on Monday proved to complete a sweater, a mitten and finish 1.5 sleeves. Like I said – lots to share! Here are some photos of where we went:

The beaches were mostly deserted by people but highly populated by birds! We also did something completely out of character and rented ATVs in North Bend to explore the sand duns and ended up at the beach:

We did no shopping while away but of course by ‘no shopping’ I mean that we did do a little! In Homespun Quilts in Astoria, Oregon, I found some fabulous fabric (I don’t know what I am so drawn to red right now but I am):

  

In Canon Beach, I think my most favourite things I have found for a while are these:

I’m sorry that the second photo isn’t as good – the owl button is incredibly small and I was using my point-and-shoot rather than the ‘good’ camara (oh so lazy). BUT, let me talk about the Little Owls pattern – it’s quilted by fusing and top stitching but I saw it and just about fell over. I just love this pattern by Barbara Brandeburg. Amazing. I can’t wait to make it – I think my husband thought I had officially gone crazy when he saw it but oh well! I have been quite owl crazy for a while and I thought these would be good additions to my little craft collection of owls.

As I wind down on my summer projects and knitting to get ready to go back to school, I hope everyone else is getting inspired by the changing colours of Fall and pulling out their needles. Happy Fall!

quiet . . .

Although it's been quiet from me for the past couple of weeks, I have actually been quite a busy little knitter. Things have been coming together - however slowly and however many times I need to re-do things. I have been working on the adult Pinwheel Sweater with some Cascade 220 that was lying around with no project to call home. It was meant to be the Tilted Duster by Norah Gaughan but it was ill-fated. I love the Tilted Duster pattern but unfortunately it didn't love me. I knit a too-small size but I think eventually I may re-knit this. In the meantime, the heathered-grey (colourway 8401) is being knit into a circular sweater that I am loving.

The pattern is written for the increases to be yarn-overs and to change colours every 18th row. I like the look of just make-one along the back like this one, so I decided to keep it "solid" as well. I also scrapped the colour changes - too crazy for my neutral lovin' wardrobe! The garter stitch rows around the edge look great - I actually can't wait to block it out gently because I love the look of ever-so-slightly stretched garter. It looks so crisp!

I am working up the sleeves right now (use the afterthought heel method found here) but as the sweater is now quite bulky and no so good for bus knitting, I have cast on for the Interweave Knits Fall 2009 ohmygoodnessIhavetoknityou cardigan. More on that to come! We are heading down the Oregon coast for a week so this will be my roadtrip sweater. I am also working away on the Triangle Lace Shawl by Karen Joan Raz that was in Knit.1 this past Fall/Winter 2008. It's slow and I have to be at a table when I am adding the beads: Not so good for planes, trains or automobiles as I found out when we went to Toronto in July. Needless to say, I try to do a repeat/week and it is slowly growing!

Lastly, I am very excited that before we go to Oregon, Mom and I are going to the Gibson's Fibre Festival. I have never been to the festival - I have been told it's quite awesome. We are going to head over on Thursday to miss the Friday/Weekend rush on the ferry. Can't wait!

Hark the Romni, evermore.

We just spent a little over a week in Toronto. While M. was working, I walked the streets of the city with my good friend, Sam. Since we are both knitters, our first stop was Romni Wools (per usual). For those who don't frequent Toronto or know the city, Queen Street is the centre of the "craft" world. There is anything from beading & jewellery, fabric (sewing machine shops too), tattooing, yarn, ceramics ... the list goes on ... and on. But the basement of Romni is infamous!

At the beginning of the year, I made a resolution with myself not to have a stash. It's kind of working. But my rule is that everything I buy must have a project in mind at the time of buying. If I see something and can't think of something to knit with it immediately - it's not bought. I have been on a lace kick lately and when I found these little 50g balls of yarn (and the colours -- oh the colours!) stashed deep in the basement of Romni, I think I swooned.

The little plastic bags covering the yarn may not look like much but when you unwrap them ...

They are like little balls of silk! But they trick you - it's cotton. I know. Amazing. I have been eyeing the Druid Mittens from Vogue Knitting Fall 2008. Some discontinued Rowan rowanspun 4-ply was tucked away in one of the bins so I grabbed some of this $4.25 with a 20% discount goodness also:

It's not the looks-like-silk-feels-like-silk-but-it's-cotton-beauty from above, but I love the tweed-y, home-y goodness that a neutral gray brings.

So while it was pouring rain and cool in Toronto, we are now home in the sweltering heat of Vancouver! No sweater knitting for a while me thinks.

ps. The title for this blog was not 'invented' by me - it is courtesy of Franklin Habit's submission to an episode of Cast-On a couple of years ago.

unfinished and ready to start

To attempt to cure my "finishitis", I have been working on one project at a time (even though I still have three projects on the needles - I am trying to focus). The project I am currently trying to finish - and will do so tonight - is the Whisper Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. It's being knit out of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine {colour 1284}. The fabric knitted is slightly denser than the laceweight that the pattern calls. What I like about this yarn is (1) the sleeves were so much easier to knit, (2) the drape is still perfect, and (3) the finished object will be slightly warmer (key for me). I made the cardi with short sleeves instead of 3/4 length.

With my new resolution in the back of my mind, I decided to go to Chapters yesterday to buy Boutique Knits by Laura Irwin. I have had my eye on this book since it was published and finally just broke down yesterday and bought it. I am keen to finish the Whisper as this is what my travelling-to-Toronto knitting will entail:

Yes - the Sideways Grande Hat. So excited. I have been spinning - although not a lot. Mostly it's been a matter of no time. But slowly and surely, I have been working through the Chronicles of Narnia roving to create this:

This pretty handspun is destined to be another Springtime Bandit (at this point ~ destiny may change) by Kate Gagnon. I loved knitting it the first time and wanted to knit one in purple as I stood watching the first one block.

So, here's to will power to finish my unfinished! Cheers.

o w l s v2.0

Somehow, someway, I end up knitting things twice. Often it's because I change my mind about the yarn half-way through, I realize my gauge isn't as bang-on as I thought, or I just plain-don't-like-it.

Owls by Kate Davies befell the same fate. I decided to re-knit this fabulous pattern with some modifications {please find all of the mods written up here, on ravelry}. The need to re-knit had nothing to do with Kate's pattern, rather it was my inexperience with sizing. The first version, which will be frogged now that I have finished the "new and fixed" version, didn't fit me in the back - there was too much extra fabric. I removed it and ~viola!~ fixed!

I learned a lot and have moved onto working the Whisper Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. It's almost finished, so I will refrain from showing photos until completion.

Some final thoughts about Owls:

I chose to knit it in Cascade Ecological, shade 8019 (aka light grey). I bought the yarn at a knit shop in Anacortes, WA, where I will definitely be returning since they have amazing selection. I used my Knit Picks 6.00mm for the ribbing and 6.5mm for the rest. It was fast to knit - I used my Knit Picks cables to hold the stitches while I knit the sleeves, then knit around, transferring the needle tip onto the next cable as I went. Brilliant.