Bursting at the Seams!

It's been a very busy couple of weeks. Kev and I drove to Sherbrooke for Amy's convocation. It's hard to believe that she is finished her degree. Her time in Quebec has been wonderful. I'm going to miss going to Lennoxville/Sherbrooke. I can only imagine how she must be feeling. Here is a photo of the two of us on convocation day. It was such a great day. The weather was great, even the honorary doctorate speakers were awesome. We had such a great time. I am so proud of my daughter - I'm just about bursting at the seams! I had hoped to wear my orchid thief shawlette to the convocation. It would have matched my dress perfectly. But alas, I couldn't pull it together. I had plenty of time to finish it - but knitting lace while driving on a dirt road - not ideal lace knitting conditions! I did finish it when I got home and I couldn't be more pleased. Well, maybe I'd be more pleased if I actually had enough yarn to finish the bind off - but, oh well! I had to bind off in the fingering weight version of the Tanis Fiberarts yarn. I think this is my first full sized, lace weight shawl. It sits so nicely on my shoulders. Here it is on my kitchen table. Its quite large. And of course no vacation would be complete without souvenir yarn. I managed to fit in a quick visit to Lettuce Knit in Toronto where I bought (amongst other things) this gorgeous Tanis Fiber Arts yarn. I just love her colours so much! And I visited a spinning supply shop called the Fiber Garden in Jordan Station which isn't too far from Niagara Falls. I bought some lovely batts (er...amongst other things) while I was there. I can't wait to spin this stuff up!!

I Can't Believe.....

I can't believe that I haven't blogged yet this month. Its been an incredibly busy, productive month. I went to visit Amy!!! She had her final graduation recital and she rocked it! She was beautiful and amazing and everything that a I knew she would be. I was beyond proud! My daughter is so talented, I have no words. We had a really great time - lots of great food and some great shopping in Sherbrooke and Montreal. Of course I went to a yarn shop. I went to Mouline this time around. I bought a sweater's worth of Madenline Tosh chunky! I can't wait to try it out. I'm debating on which sweater it will actually become, but time will tell. Here are a few photos of some of the things that I've made recently....mostly knit while travelling. First up....a hat made from 100% yak fiber. The pattern is Anne Hanson's of Knitspot. I'm a member of her Bare Naked club and I love it so much. Yarn in its natural colour. This yak is divine. So soft!

And then I made a sock ... and a half. The pattern is Cat Bordhi's and its from the book 'The Knitter's Book of Socks'. This sock is knit toe up and has a really interesting arch expansion construction. And its extremely comfortable to wear. Here's hoping that I don't come down with second sock syndrome and can manage to knit the second one...well, there is more travelling in my future so I'm sure that it'll get done...eventually. Lol. The yarn is from esty seller lollypop yarns...and I love the self striping. I love this sellers stuff, but getting some of her yarn has proven near on impossible. I have to stalk her website like a crazed lunatic and even then you end up getting cart jacked. I've almost knit up the two balls I have and well, I neeeeeed more... I think I have a problem. Yes, I do...this girls shop and Loop. I'm not even linking the shops here just in case I have a reader that might be interested...lol...selfish much?

And finally, the best thing that I've ever made....the project that I'm most proud of....my magnus opus if you will.

Isn't she beautiful??? I just love her so much!

Another Spinning Post!

I've been bitten by the spinning bug lately. Its all I want to do. Usually when these sort of whims hit me, I just go with it.

I just purchased some teeswater fiber off of etsy seller beesybee fibers Teeswater sheep are the guys that look like they have dreadlocks. The prepared top had a very long staple length and it was very interesting to spin.

I did predraft quite a bit. Just look at how fluffy it became with a little predrafting.

It was almost like I imagine spinning human hair would be like. The fibers were so long and silky. My goal was to spin this into a heavy worsted weight to make some mittens.

Once again, its a two ply and the weight is just what I aimed for. I am happy with it, but I'm not sure that the resulting mittens won't be itchy. This yarn has quite a bit of halo going on, and I'm pretty sure that the micron count for this fiber is quite a bit higher than merino. Maybe I'll knit the cuffs up in a different fiber. God knows I have plenty of it.

And, I'm going to Halifax tomorrow!! So excited! I'm going to see Amy perform in the Phoenix Rising show. I haven't seen Amy since August, so I'm really, really looking forward to spending some time with her. I'm also hoping to get to Loop Cafe! I hope they have something interesting for sale!

On Hiatus

I hope I've spelled hiatus right. Well, it seems that I'm on a knitting hiatus. I've come down with some sort of inflammation in my elbow. Its what I imagine tennis elbow to feel like - except I don't play tennis. And weirdly, its in my left elbow. I'm thinking its due to knitting, but I'm a little perplexed about the whole deal since I mostly use my right arm when knitting and I sort of just prop my left arm on a cushion or arm of the sofa and use it to more or less balance my knitting.

Kev and I just got back from a 5 day trip to Montreal/Sherbrooke, Quebec. My friend thinks my elbow problem may be due to shopping, as I sometimes grasp things in the crook of my arm when I'm picking things up. Entirely possible. Shopper's elbow. There you go.

So, right now, I'm on my 5th day of self imposed knitting hiatus - just to see if it helps with the pain. So far, not a lot better. I am wearing a brace and rubbing anti inflammatory cream on it. This seems to help some, but as soon as I take the brace off, it (ie pain) comes back.

This hiatus has done wonders for my knitting fantasy life - as I'm prowling Ravelry all the time now. I've bought SO.MANY knitting magazines and two new knitting books. I've also bought a lot of yarn. I believe that I'm somehow trying to 'scratch an itch' or something. I can't get my fiber fix by actually doing, so I've got to get it this way. This is entirely self defeating, of course, since I've already speculated that shopping is making it worse. Oh well, live and learn I guess. No more shopping....wait, I can online shop still. Woo hoo.

On this trip to Montreal I was thrilled to discover a new yarn shop had opened up. Its called Espace Tricot. They have only been open since July and they seem to be doing well. They are trying to stock yarn brands that the other stores in Montreal don't have. I looked them up online before going and I was so happy to see that they carried Koigu!! I bought two skeins. I have no idea what to make with this, but it was just too pretty to resist.

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Here is the rest of my haul from this store. Take notice of the Steven West book Westknits Two! I had been debating buying this book online and downloading a copy, but seeing it in the flesh, just about sent me over the edge. Like I said, my knitting fantasy life has now taken on a life of its own. I swear I want to knit every single pattern in this book. As soon as my arm is better, I'm casting on for all of them...at once. Really, I am.

I also got some Addi Lace needles, that I've been wanting to try, and some Hiya hiya DPNs, a super cute wooden button, some charms and some free Soak samples.

And finally, here is a photo of the reason for our travels. My beautiful daughter. She was performing in a recital. She was amazing. It was the first time hearing her sing classical, and (as her friend Shaun pointed out) it was also the first time I ever heard her sing as a soprano. All throughout school Amy sang alto. When she went to high school she even sang tenor with the boys. When she gets to Bishop's university, her voice coach tells her that she is actually a soprano. Crazy or what? Isn't she stunning??

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When good gauges go bad

Lame title, I know. Especially considering I refuse to do gauge swatches on hats. Sweaters, yes. But not hats. Even the great Elizabeth Zimmerman used hats as swatches.

So, really, its my own fault that the first hat that I knitted turned out gigantic. It was meant for Morgan - as a Valentine gift. The cute little hearts were too sweet to resist. He was in need of a new hat since the ganomy I had knit for him had gotten way too small. Now that I think of it, I did knit him a handspun earflap hat a little while back, so I'm not sure why his mother asked for a new hat. Oh well, who am I to resist knitting hats for gorgeous little boys. Not me. Resistance is futile.

In any case, I now have two heart earflap hats. The first hat was knit in size 18 months to 4 years. Perfect for our 2 1/2 year old Morgan, right? Except, it turns out that the finished hat ended up too big for me! Likely great for my large headed offspring, Amy. There is no such thing as too many hats, she tells me. So, I'm lucky in that regard. When my hats have gauge issues, they are sure to fit someone in the family right?

The second hat, I ended up going down a needle size and knit the newborn size. It'll be a perfect fit for Morgan. I should have paid attention to the comments that other knitters had said about this pattern on Ravelry. A lot of others had said that this pattern ran kind of big. Who knew it would be that big though!!

Oh, details about the hat. The pattern is from the book "Weekend Knitting" and its called "Almost Famous Luggy Bonnet". I knit both versions in Knitpicks telemark yarn, except for the yellow hearts, they were done in knitpicks stroll tonal held double.

Not quite there yet

But, I'm not entirely disappointed with my showing at the Knitting Olympics either. Sure, I didn't finish. But, I came pretty close. The body of the vest is done. I've only to knit the neck and the sleeve ribbing. And duplicate stitch in the green stitches on the back. And weave in the ends. Not too bad really for 17 days.

I know in my heart that this was a challenge I could have completed. I'll admit to distraction. Damn you drop spindle. Why is it that when I'm doing the Tour de Fleece, I'm distracted by my knitting and when I'm doing the Knitting Olympics I'm distracted by my spinning. I'm thinking it must be some sort of personality fault of mine.

I'll also admit to being distracted by the real Olympics. I was riveted! From the opening ceremonies and that first gold medal by Alex Biladeau to Sidney Crosby's goal, I was captivated. I am so proud of my country and never knew I was so patriotic. I even went out and bought some 'Go Canada' gear to help cheer on the hockey teams. Here is Max demonstrating!



I plan on finishing up the rest of the vest soon, and then who knows. No real plans. Exciting isn't it? I still have those gift certificates to spend at Distinctive Knitting...about 340$ worth!! I love my family and friends...and boss! Even more exciting is that I was talking to Mrs March (owner of my LYS, Distinctive Knitting) and she is going to start carrying Fleece Artist! OMG...and I am not an OMG type of girl. But...OMG!

In other news my beautiful daughter is home for her reading break. This makes me so happy. She brought back a ukelele. And she is playing it...quite well in fact. Max..not so much, but at least he is trying.


Kev just got back from a hockey tournament in Moncton. He always brings me back a gift whenever or whereever he travels. This time he brought me back a book called Knit Two by Kate Jacobs. Its a sequel to her first book called...Knit Night? or Friday Night Knitting Club? Despite me not remembering the name it did make an impression on me and I did like the book. Brain candy, I guess. A nice light read. Nothing too serious, and that is the way I like my books and movies sometimes.

Its House Cup time again

And I'm busy knitting up a storm. Well, a hat anyway. For "Herbology" homework this month, we were challenged to knit with something with at least 50% plant based fiber. I finished this hat (for Amy) out of 55%bamboo , 45% wool yarn. It was an interesting yarn to work with. Certainly much nicer than 100% bamboo of which I am most definitely not a fan.

The pattern is from Knit.1 magazine. Its a neat pattern and I really liked knitting the leaf motif. I may actually try to incorporate into a pair of mittens later on, but not out of the bamboo blend as it would be too cool to be practical for mittens

Montreal - Again!

Kevin and I are just back from dropping Amy off for her second year of university. I can hardly believe it! I still have nightmares - yes, nightmares - that I'm still in university. And now my beautiful girl is doing her second year.

This year she opted for an apartment -res life not being for her. So, she needed some help with getting her apartment set up. Here is a picture of her very college-like apartment. I think they will be happy there.
















We drove to Sherbrooke (12 hours to Baie Comeau - overnight there, then 7 hours to Sherbrooke) and spent several days there cleaning, buying furniture, assembling furniture and what not. A picture of Amy and Lucy at the Brick looking for furniture. I don't think the employees were too impressed with us.















Then we went to Montreal. Again. I can't believe that I've been to Montreal twice this year. And this time we drove. We gave Kev a GPS for his birthday and I really think its the best money that we've ever spent. Seriously, a life saver - well, most definitely a relationship saver as prior to this I was always given the task of map reading and lets just say that my map reading skills aren't up to par. Having a GPS is the only way to drive. I know there is no way that we would have been comfortable driving in Montreal without it. The city of Sherbrooke is only about the size of St. John's Newfoundland, so I'm sure that we could have managed that one, but still - amazingly easy.

So guess what I did when I was in Montreal. Yep, I went to Mouline. The owner guy actually remembered me from last time. I'm not sure what that says about us (or him), but it was very nice. I bought a few things. Mostly sock yarn again. I guess because I had just purchased Cookie A's new book 'Sock Innovations'.

















I've been steadily working away on the Vine Yoke Cardigan, and I suspect that I would have finished up to the back on the long drive home, but I misplaced the pattern. I do have the right front and sleeve finished. I'm really enjoying the pattern. I'm not so certain that my yarn choice was the right one as it is a loosly spun single that is already developing a halo. I hope it doesn't pill too much.
















And I finally finished my One Skein Stole from the Noro Kuryeon sock yarn. It turned out very pretty. I'm not sure how wearable this will be here. Perhaps it will become a gift.

I can do better toes now.

This post is a mish mash of things, but highlighted by this!



A perfect toe, I think. Its the fourth toe up sock, so I should be getting the hang of it now right. I really need to finish this sock before the end of the month. Its for the House Cup on Ravelry. Really, that's the only thing keeping me somewhat motivated and somewhat monogamous or at least its keeping me on track to a point.

I also finished this hat!



Sure, it doesn't look like much here, but it is gorgeous. Of course it belongs to Amy. It was a secret pre birthday gift. Actual birthday gift will happen when I visit at the end of the month. Whatch out yarn shops of Montreal! I will try to control myself somewhat as Kev is travelling with me. This pattern is by cocoknits and its called 'fleeced earflap hat'. It is a very unique hat which involved a sort of thrumming technique. I didn't quite get it right as the fleece was supposed to be invisible from the right side. You can see spots of it on my hat, but I didn't really mind too much as I'm sure Amy will be wearing it with the front bib and ear flaps up. (I hope).

And the final mish mashy part to this post is a follow up on that alpaca that I wasn't sure if I liked or not. So, I've spun all four ounces. I love the colours, but honestly it feels so scratchy. I can't imagine wearing this next to the skin at all. Usually I find commercially spun alpaca beyond soft, so I'm not sure if I've managed to take something that is usually soft and spin it into barbed wire, or if I bought a bump of alpaca that has a lot of guard hairs in it.



It is lovely to look at though. I will be attempting to navajo ply this. I've only done it once before. I can't even remember if I posted about it, as it was very unsuccessful. Or, it felt unsucessful as the singles kept breaking and I kept having to tie the loops together. I did rather enjoy the process though, hence I'll try again.