startng the Christmas stuff...

I've changed my whole outlook on Christmas lately. Instead of trying to force that hand made stuff on family, and getting shot down all the time, I just don't bother anymore. I keep the effort for those that are appreciative. People like my husband, son, Mom, Father and Mother in Law, and some friends.
My boss is one of those people. He loves the handknit socks I gave him last spring, and even told me as we were carpooling last week, that I "could sit in the back to knit if I wanted to keep his Christmas gift a surprise". We discussed it a bit, and he said socks would be good, or he could use a scarf to go with his black leather jacket. Sold.
Digging around the stash brought me this:

It's some unknown yarn I've had forever, lost the tag on, but always wanted to knit with. It's about a DK weight - heavier than regular sock yarn, but not quite worsted.

I tried a few patterns out - slip stitch patterns, linen stitch, since I find them the best with variegated yarns. However, I got a few inches in, weighed what I knit, and what was left, did a little math to see how long the scarf would be and, well, it won't be long enough. Rip. Try striping it with some Red Cascade (Did I mention my boss requested red?), but the weights were just different enough to make it not quite right. I tried it with some black silk, but the black overpowered the red and grey.

Then while doing laundry, I looked up and saw it. My loom. I could use the Red Cascade as the warp, and the variegated as the weft.

I think it's going to work.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is our Canadian Thanksgiving. Unlike our American neighbours, our Thanksgiving is on a Monday, giving us a three day weekend. I am, of course, at the cottage, enjoying some spectacular un-autumn like weather. Seriously, we are talking Humidex this weekend, it's been so warm. The kids have been swimming, and we've been relaxing with the neighbours, enjoying a final warm long weekend, before we start enjoying the cooler, snowier long weekends that are to come.
I roasted a huge turkey on Saturday (cottage Thanksgivings take liberties with the actual days) - by cooking the turkey early, we get more opportunity for leftovers - quesadillas, sandwiches, and possibly soup, although it's been a little warm to have a boiling pot on the stove all day!
I hope my Canadian friends are enjoying time with family and friends, and for my American friends, I know you're looking forward to 4 days in November. (actually, I am too! I hope to be in Florida visiting my Mom during that time - I'm good with the double turkey thing...)


Enjoy!

Wow!

I did Needles a small favour - I sent her a signed copy of Steph's new book (my LYS had advance copies, and Steph signed them all when she visited). Needles confessed to being a bathroom reader as I am, and well, we have to stick together, so when I offered to send her the book, she jumped at the chance, and we traded - she was going to mail me the money.
Well, she did, but when I got home yesterday and saw this waiting for me, I knew there was more than cash in there.

All I can say is wow! How Needles knew is beyond me - Alpaca is my favourite fibre, I am all about the naturals and home grown, and I'm pretty sure this is from a local (to her) alpaca farm.

I feel incredibly lucky to have friends like this - we've never met, and probably won't - we live 3 provinces apart in Canada (3,317 km, according to Google Maps) and that's a couple of days of travel. But through the Internet and a shared love of knitting and fibre, she got a book signed by an author in Ontario, and I got some of the most delicious and squooshy Alberta alpaca.
And the coolest card ever, by the way.

I definitely got the better part of the deal...

new sweater for me

I wanted another cardigan for me. I wear them a lot, so knitting them for me is a no brainer. But this time, I wanted something a little different. Not my basic top down cardigan, something DIFFERENT.
Enter the Dahlia cardigan. It's beautiful, it's different. it's drapey, it had to be mine.
And at the Kitchener Knitters Fair, I found the perfect wool - Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool. I've used it before in my blue cardigan, and I love how it knits up and how it wears and how it feels. The Purple Purl had the perfect colour as well - a rich, ruby red.
Done Deal.

The lace panel on the back knit up in no time, and was fun to knit. I reminded me that I really like knitting lace.
Now I'm in the endless stockinette portion, and it's dragging a bit, but I'm continuing because I love the wool and the sweater.

Red is SO hard to photograph properly. It's not as pinky as it appears above.

It's closer to this shade of red, dark, but still some brightness to it. It also uses an afterthought sleeve, which is kind of funny, since I'm demonstrating afterthought heels (a method that can be used for many uses, not just heels) at our Guild on Tuesday night.

found and fixed

A while back, probably about a year ago, I made this little shrug like sweater, using one ball of a chunky Rowan wool I had. It's a beautiful blue, with flecks of green in it, and I just love the colour. I was sure I had bought two balls of the wool, but at the time of construction, I only had the one on hand.

I loved the sweater, but there was a problem. Who needs a short sleeved, cropped sweater made out of CHUNKY WOOL? Right - not many people. So this sat. Then, I found the second ball, and put it in a bag with the sweater and the proper sized needles... and it still sat.
Recently I picked it up, and decided to just do it. I unpicked the sleeve ribbing, and added length to the sleeves first. (Longer sleeves were more important to me that added length).

Much better. I've even worn it already. I know it will get more use this way. Tossing the stash and finding the other ball of wool was a good thing.

Halloween approaches...

... and the talk turns to costumes. My son is at that age - he's 12 (a TALL twelve), and is still sort of wanting to go trick or treating. But his age, and especially his height, are against him. The fact that most of his friends are smaller than him is a point in his favour, so they might yet still go out. If not, there might be a large group of them in my house that night...

But... he still wants a costume. And I'm still enough of a sucker that I will indulge him again this year. Last year's Robin Hood was a pretty big hit. And easy, since it was a pattern - I just followed the directions. So when I casually asked what he wanted for this year, I wasn't really prepared for this:

Meet Ezio from the video game Assassin's Creed. (Yes, I let my 12 year old play Mature rated video games. Yes, I'm a horrible mother, but I highly doubt he will grow up to be a serial killer. We monitor and talk about what going on.)
Anyhoo, Simplicity, McCalls, Butterick and Vogue don't make these patterns. So I'm cobbling it together. I have a couple of patterns that will work with some tweaking for the main parts, and the hood and cape. The belt will be interesting to figure out, and I've already told him he can forget the hidden hand knives. I do have some standards!
I hit Fabricland last weekend for the members sale, and haunted the clearout section. I got some great heavy white cotton, some metallic red, and bits and pieces of other stuff to make this work. We can steal from some past costumes and stuff around the house for the belt and such, and I guess my tall black boots will be pulled into use again (if they still fit him!)

I admit, I do like making his costumes, and I get a lot of pleasure from the creation of them. But sometimes, I wish for the easy...

info for Barbie O

Barbie O. in Montreal wanted to know where I found my serger part. I started with a site called www.smscanada.com (Sewing Machine Canada). I found the part there, but they only deal wholesales, so through them I was directed to http://www.sewingpartsonline.com/, as they had the best price for the particular part I needed.

Hope this helps, Barbie!

for want of a $20 piece...

A few years ago, I broke my serger. I know, with the amount of sewing I do, you'd think I'd run right out a get it fixed. But I didn't. For one reason or another, I just never got around to it. My sewing machine (which is fairly new), does a pretty good overlock stitch, so I just used that. However, my pet peeve with the sewing machine is the bobbin. I hate winding bobbins - they never hold enough thread for me, and it's a pain to stop what I'm doing to wind a new bobbin. I would rather buy two spools of thread, than wind a bobbin.
But I digress.
After a few years of seeing my shrouded serger just sitting there, I decided to take a look at the problem a little more closely.  The piece that broke was the lower looper, and for some reason I thought it was an actual welded part of the whole mechanism. Turns out it's not. It's a small piece that screws onto the assembly. Huh, who knew? So I unscrewed it, and took what was left of it to my computer, and started Googling. I found out a couple of things. You really can find ANYTHING on the Internet, and there are hundred of different lower loopers for sergers!
I started with the easy - I found some sewing supply places near me and emailed them asking if they had the part that would fit my particular serger. Two of them never got back to me (there's some customer service for you!) and the one that did, simply said "we don't have your part. Can I interest you in a new Babylock or Bernina?" Sure! Instead of a part, I'll just get a while new machine. Okay, so the search continues.
I found a great site that actually showed pictures of the parts - very handy, considering my serger is a lesser known make. After scrolling through page after page of lower loopers, I saw it! The part! It had the right curve, the right bend, it all looked right! I looked at the price, and including shipping, it cost me all of $22.46. Really? I waited 3 years to replace a $20 part?
It proves my points. The internet is a wonderful place, and I'm an idiot for waiting so long.
Now I am waiting for the part to arrive from Tennessee. I've been madly cutting into my stash of fabrics that really need proper edge finishing. First up - a pair of evening parts in black vintage satin. Yum. Because a woman that dresses as casually as I do really needs vintage satin evening pants...

Stephanie came to visit!

Last night, the York Region Knitting Guild was happy to host Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka (for those of you living under a rock) The Yarn Harlot.
Even better, I was happy to host her, Rachel H, and assorted Guild members at my house for dinner. It's the second or third time Steph and Rachel have come by, and I tell ya, they are always welcome in my house! Great company, great food, and a terrifc drive to the meeting!
I had a degree of camnesia, but I did get a few shots...

Stephanie in my bathroom (seriously!) I don't know where you read her books, but that's my favourite place for them. We are a family of bathroom readers - out of camera range is the stack of Archie Comic Digests, and fishing and trivia books. Go ahead and judge us if you like - I make no excuses...

Dinner was a pot luck (thanks to all who brought food - so yummy!!) with lots of laughter and general merriment. (My husband and son were hiding in the living room before they left for dinner away from THE KNITTERS!

The drive to the meeting was fun - since parking at the shop is limited, we decided to carpool. And once Steph, Rachel and I saw Linda's convertible, with the top down, well, that was an easy choice. We stopped short of jumping in, and demurely used the doors, but we were constantly talking about being in a CONVERTIBLE! (typing cannot convey the silly tone of voice we were all using. I think Lindy was regretting having us in her car...) I was in the back and got Steph's hair blowing all over as she was taking her own picture.
We shan't discuss the drive BACK to my house, after the dew fell on the open car, and the sun went down. Fun ride TO the meeting, slightly damp and chilly ride BACK. Thankfully, I only live about 5 minutes from the shop, so it wasn't TOO bad...

Steph read from her new book, then did a Q and A that could have lasted well into the night, had we let it go on, but there was an opportunity for us to get our copies of her new book signed, so we regretfully ended the talk. Oh, did I mention Tove of Needles and Knits got copies of the new book? Before ANYONE else? I don't know what she did to get them (and probably DON'T want to know...) but she did, and Steph graciously signed copies for all. And get this - if you get to Tove's soon - there are still a dozen copies of the book available, and Steph signed them all!

All in all, a great night, and one I wish we could repeat often. Steph and Rachel are truly nice and genuine people. As she appears on her blog - that's what you get. And Rachel - well, I read her Twitter feed, and can identify with her - we're both Moms of similar aged boys, and have parents with similar issues. I really must get down to Lettuce Knit's Knit Night more often. One night is not enough time to spend with these two incredible women.

Best of all, in lieu of a speaker's fee, our Guild gave a donation to MSF in Steph's name. It meant a lot to her, which means it meant a lot to us.

Steph - good luck on the upcoming yarn crawl/book tour. And you are welcome to drop by my place any time.

Kitchener purchases

While I did very well with winning prizes on the way to Kitchener, I think I did equally well with my purchases. I was after a cardigan's worth, and some sock yarn.

I succeeded at both.

First up is some Amerigo Cottom Flamme - 100% pima cotton, with a slightly thick and thin consistency, in a wonderful emerald green. It really is emerald, not the teal that it appears here. This is destined for a Featherweight Cardigan - possibly mixed with a slightly lighter, lime-ish green I have in my stash, if I determine I need more length.

Next up is my favourite stuff - Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool. I love this stuff. I made my blue cardigan last year in this, and it wears beautifully, and feels wonderful. The Purple Purl had it on sale, and while I passed it up at this years Knitters Frolic in April, I couldn't walk by it again, so eight skeins of this true red ave come home with me. This will be the Dahlia cardigan from the recent Interweave Knits. It has the wonderful back lace panel, and the drapey front I love so much. (It's already been cast on...)

Then there was the sock yarn. Two from Tanis Fibre Arts - her blue label standard sock yarn in Poppy, and her luscious purple label cashmere blend in Stormy. The Poppy's recipient is undetermined, but the Cashmere Stormy will be for my husband. If he continues to put up with all the wool, he deserves cashmere blend socks. The third skein is from Studioloo - it's their Bootsie merino/nylon blend in the Tartan Tease colourway. I walked by this four times and fondled it, and as I told the guy at the booth - if I pick up something four times, then I need to buy it.

Susan and I both splurged at the glass jewellery booth - this sheepy pendant was too cute to say no to! I did swap out the chain that it came on - as you can see, it sis a little close to the scar, which still gets irritated at times. But the sterling chain has gone to a good home, as part of a jewelry set I made for my niece.

Finally - Another ball of laceweight merino. Not much on it's own, but when added to the laceweight Fleece Artist I bought at the Frolic, it's perfect for another Featherweight, or similar light weight cardigan.

Unfortunately - neither of these pictures really captures the rich forest-y green of these yarns, along with the slight tonal variations of the Fleece Artist.

So all in all - a really good day. More knitting to get to, but then again, that's not a bad thing, is it?

Kitchener Prize Haul!

As I've mentioned before, for the Kitchener Knitter's Fair, our Guild charters a bus. It means all of us get to knit on the way there and back, we talk (a lot!!) and best of all, we have draw prizes! So many people and yarn stores in York Region contribute to this draw, and we thank them all. This year, I was ridiculously lucky...

I won a fabulous book...

a lizard mitten kit...

a fantastic briefcase sized bag from the Knitting Guilds of Canada...

and best of all...

you won't believe this...

but first I have to thank Unwind Yarn House in Newmarket for donating this incredible prize. It was so spectacular, we kept it separate from the regular draw.

That's right. A full Knit Picks options needle set!

And not just the needle kit - a beautiful fabric storage bag for it! I was truly lucky! Okay, admittedly, I bought a ton of tickets for this draw - I really wanted it.

And all this before we even got to Kitchener! Still to come - what I bought there. Susan and I were both planning on not buying much - maybe a pattern or two. That lasted about a half hour, then we both overbought, and enjoyed it!

getting caught up...

Before Kitchener, I finished a couple of scarves - Citron and Garden Path Shawlette.

Citron - before blocking

Citron was really a double inspiration from Rue of Tinks and Frogs. Not only did I win the yummy yarn from her (Woolen Rabbit Essence in Oakmoss), When I saw her version of Citron, I knew it would work for this wool!

I had to shorten the final ruffle, as I was running out of wool, but it still works. I gave it a steam block, and love how it looks as a scarf.

It's a good thing I stopped when I did - this is how much wool I had left over. The final bind off was a little touchy towards the end!

The Garden View is a nice, simple scarf for the Christmas gift box.

I used some Elann merino I had lying around, in a deep olive green, and it really blocked out nicely - the yarn overs opened out, and really showed off the leafy shapes.

While it is technically a "shawlette" as shown above, I think it will get worn more like this - wrapped around the neck to keep out the cold.

And another scarf finished (shown previously, but just recently blocked), and how I believe it will be worn - wrapped around and around to keep the neck cozy.

I'm still working on my Kitchener posts - both my prize haul and what I bought!

yummy gift yarn!

Carol won some yarn from me a while back, and while she requested the Fame Trend, I sent the Palette instead. So to make up for it, I had anothe skein of Fame Trend in blacks and greys that I sent to her. I return, she send this to me

Seriously? A wool cashmere nylon blend that squooshes up so nicely - I love it!
I've never used MamaBlue wool, so I"m really lookiing forward to this - I forsee a little shawlette or something - maybe socks...

Thanks, Carol!

who's going to Kitchener this weekend?

Sorry for the lack of posts - it's not for lack of material, just lack of time. I have scarves and socks and gift wool (mmmmm, yummy, yummy gift wool....) to show you, but no time to upload pictures.

But the important thing is this weekend is the Kitchener Waterloo Knitter's Fair! Knitters take over Bingemans in Kitchener! We revel is wool fumes, and patterns and knitterly stuff!

As usual, I'll be arriving by bus - our Guild charters a bus for the trip there and back - lots of time to knit and chat and compare purchases on the way home! I'll be meeting LuckyCanuck Susan (and hopefully seeing some wedding pics! She has promised me some to share with everyone), and we will be wandering around as we always do. As always, I will have my bright yellow I KNIT messenger bag. And flip flops on my feet, of course. If you see me, stop me! let's chat!

Happy and Sad

Today marks the figurative end of summer - Sad.
But it's the start of a long weekend! - Happy!
But we're attending my Aunt/Godmother's funeral. - Sad
She's really in a better place though, even it's tough on my Mom and the family. - qualified Happy.
Son finally has a chance to wear the dress pants we bought before he outgrows them - Happy.
School starts next week - Happy! - my son actually likes school and is looking forward to getting caught up with friends and getting back into the swing of things
Less weekends at the cottage - Sad
Better weather for wearing handknits - Happy!
Now that we'll be home more weekends, let the home renovations begin - Happy/Sad
August used to mean the Yarn Harlot's visit - this year it's September! - Really Happy!

found and finished

Once I finished my Vitamin D cardigan, I needed some small projects to fill in time. I didn't feel like picking up my EZ Green (really white) cardigan, so I dug around my UFO pile and came up with a couple of scarves. Neither of them had much left to do, and both would be great additions to the Christmas "potential gift" box.

 This rainbow hued one is a simple K2tog, YO pattern, using FAME TREND sock yarn. It's a single spun yarn, and feels a little scratchy while knitting, but softens up wonderfully with a soak and stretch.

This pale pink one is a pattern I found somewhere on the Internet, and promptly lost, but I had memorized it before losing it. IT uses two different needle sizes, and is basically made by doubling stitches for a stretch, then halving the number of stitches for the smaller garter bands. Very pretty, and an effective pattern.
It's two balls of Drops baby alpaca, and is ridiculously soft. This might be destined for my Mom and her love of all things pink.

While finishing up 2 UFO's feels great, it doesn't even dent the pile in the basket. Sigh. Whatever. I'll get around to them.

But first, there is something else grabbing my attention. Citron. I saw a finished one on Rue's blog, and Rue had just happened to send me a wonderful skein of Woolen Rabbit Essence... so stay tuned...
(By the way, click over to Rue's blog, if only for the cutest baby pictures! Tadpole is already showing a love of yarn and hand knits...))

playoff knitting

This weekend was spent watching baseball. Peewee baseball, ages 12 and 13. Specifically my son's team. While they won the regular season, the playoffs are basically a separate season, starting from scratch. Round robin format, semis and finals.
I started a new sock for the playoffs (not intentionally, it just happened that way), and here's what I ended up with at the end of it all:

But here's the really important thing from the end of it all:

Hard to see? Let me help you...

Proud parent? You betcha! Especially in the final game, when the Boy's hit brought in the 2 runs that clinched it for us.
Proud of the whole team. This was a great bunch of kids and parents, that really played and celebrated as a team. They made it a great season, and I couldn't be happier for them.
I've been told by the parents and coaches now that next season, I have to continue knitting socks. I'm not allowed to just sit and watch...

actual Miss Manners letter

Below is a letter and answer that actually appeared on the Miss Manners website. I love her comment about us being armed...
Note that I am one of those people who will knit in movies or at concerts or the like. I use soft wood needles, so they don't click, and always a simple stockinette in the round (sweater body or sock) - no pattern, no turning of the work, nothing that will distract others with unnecessary movement. I don't attend church or any organized religious gathering, so that doesn't apply to me, but I'm thinking that if I did, I would probably knit. I'd have issues worshipping a deity that didn't approve of knitting and multitasking...


DEAR MISS MANNERS:


Over the years I have noticed people knitting in public and have had no particular problem with it. However, I am a bit put off by those who knit in church or at an event such as a recital or concert.


Is it acceptable to knit at a church, synagogue or other religious service? And what about a concert or recital? I recently attended a piano and violin recital in a small venue where someone was knitting in the third row. Surely it was evident to the performers. And if such knitting is not appropriate, how should the knitters be approached, or prevented?


GENTLE READER: Please do not -- repeat, not -- make a hostile approach to knitters. Have you not noticed that they are armed with long, pointy sticks?

Of all the multitaskers who could annoy you, Miss Manners would not have guessed that knitters would top the list. There is a centuries-long history of ladies quietly doing needlework while remaining alert to what was going on around them.

But perhaps your complaint is that they are not quiet. If the clicking of needles is what bothers you, you could appeal to the authorities at church or concert hall that as they ban texting, it is only fair to ban activities that create similar noise. And if they don’t already ban texting, you might start by asking that they do before going after those comparatively unobtrusive knitters.

more cottage knitting

I decided while at the cottage that I needed to knit lace. Not a lot of lace, just a little wisp of something. I had this wonderful Knit Picks Baby Alpaca that had been sitting in my stash forever, and it really wanted to be knit up.

So I did.

The second shot above gives a pretty good indication of the colour of this "Autumn" colourway. What it doesn't show is the absolute softness and deliciousness of the fibre...

I started this on our vacation, and finished it up when we got home. I soaked it, blocked it, and man o man, does it ever open up and become almost ethereal when blocked!

The pattern is the Holden Shawlette, and while nice, the miles of stockinette will bore you to tears if it was any bigger. The pictures on the pattern didn't really show the edging too well, but I like the fact that the lace bit is not really overly lacy and fussy. This is a nice, light, warm shawlette, and will make a great gift for someone on my list.
I opted to not do the picot bind off - this yarn was so light and the bind off so fiddly (although very pretty!). I went with a crochet loop bind off, and I"m happy with how it turned out.

update on Susan's wedding prep...

It's only a few days away, and things are pready for the wedding. She's got her dress, she's got the jewellry (which I'm proud to day I had a part in making!), and now she has the crowning glory! I can't believe she kept this from me, but she knit this totally without telling me, in case she didn't get it done! (Like I would have judged her! Well... maybe I would have a bit...) Gaze on this in awe, as I did, then read her own words describing it...

(The below is the exact email Susan sent me with the pictures - reproduced here with her permission).

Behold, the Jared Flood Bridgewater shawl. Surprised?

It’s knit in the white alpaca/silk laceweight I bought back in the spring, thinking I was going to knit that very beautiful shawl. But then we got engaged in March and the wedding date was earlier than I thought it would be – hence, limited shawl knitting time. I started this around early April and didn’t want to let anyone know I was working on it for the wedding, until I knew it was done and it came out right – just in case I ran out of time. This was an easy pattern, but it was still huge in size and time-consuming. I worked on it a lot, most nights, and all that interspersed with the moving and other chores, so I didn’t work on it as steadfastly as I wanted to (should’ve been done earlier!).


I ordered some grey acid dye from KP. Before it was time to dye the shawl, I crocheted a few fast swatches with the yarn. I prepped the dye water accordingly, but added a tiny bit of the grey dye only, not the whole bottle. I wanted this shawl a light grey to match my dress, so I had to be careful. In went the first swatch. The colour was perfect, so I was able to continue, took a deep breath and plunged the whole thing in. I figured if the dye this way didn’t work, I would just go full on and dye it a charcoal grey and I’d still have my lovely shawl to wear – just not at the wedding though, and I have a gorgeous cashmere cardi to wear as back up. But it all worked out beautifully. Blocked like a dream today, all nice and square with my blocking rods kit and here it is, ready to roll out at my wedding. I finished this sucker last night at midnight.


Photographer is going to be instructed to zero in on it, a LOT. (I’ll put it on after the ceremony, for party time). So more professional photos to come for the blog. Hope I don’t snag my bracelets on it! I sacrificed a lot of clay and paper and beading craft time and book reading for almost 5 months. Every time I wanted to do something different I had to remind myself that this could not wait. I’m not gonna knit again for a good while.


I need a break!!


(Back to me now...)
Susan has promised me pictures of the wedding, once she gets them back from her photographer. I would love to see the photographer's face when she insists on closeups of a shawl and a bracelet, and the cake toppers!

"Forget the family shots! Make sure you get the lace edging!"