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.