Mystery Solved

So here is the finished shawl from the last blog post. This was such an engaging knit. If any of you out there haven't done a mystery KAL yet, I strongly encourage you to do it. There is a certain leap of faith involved - and I would only do it with a designer that I really really like. To date I've done four mystery KALs - two with Lee Meridith and two with Stephen West. All shawls now that I think of it. And I've been very happy with all four designs.

In other knitting news - I've started a sweater. The pattern is Leaflet from knitty. A top down raglan in an aran weight yarn - Madeline Tosh chunky. I'm enjoying the knit, but I fear that I've committed a grave error. I know that you are supposed to alternate skeins when knitting with this type of yarn, but for some reason I didn't. I only had one skein balled up and I just wanted to get at it. Now that I'm on the second ball, I think I can see a difference. Actually, I'm halfway through the second ball and I'm certain I can see a difference. So now I'm alternating skeins. Lets see if it works. Keep your fingers crossed for me.





Next up is a slouchy hat pattern from the new Noro magazine. It is knit with two alternating skeins of Noro. I love it!! I'm thinking I may knit this pattern a lot. I have quite a bit of different colours of Noro kicking around and Christmas is coming up. I know several people on my list who would love this stripey slouchy hat.

And finally I would like to show off some yarn. These first three skeins are the colours that I'm contemplating knitting Stephen West's new design - Geysir Stretch. I love Stephen's designs and this this one is no exception. Its in worsted weight yarn and so it will be quick quick quick!!! And I'm going to knit it in Mmmmmmalibrigo!!! Lovely stuff.

And these two lovelies are all the way from Iceland. Authentic Icelandic Lopi yarn. Amy's friend Liz just got back from an internship in Iceland and Amy gave her some money to buy me some Icelandic yarn. Sweet daughter I have there, don't I?

Honey Cowl

I have a finished object to show off this week. Its in handspun and I'm in love with it. Its from a Loop batt called Kaleidoscope Eyes. I just check out my Etsy purchase history and I realized that I've only been spinning Loop batts since November 2011! I guess I have an anniversary coming up. Haha. It seems that its been in my life for a lot longer than that.

This picture is taken from her etsy store. If you haven't spun one of her batts before, I strongly recommend giving them a try. Her shop sells out quickly after an update so make sure that you sign up to be notified of any updates

Here is Amy wearing the finished cowl. I'm very happy with it and so is she. I predict this will get lots of wear during the winter season.

In other knitting news, I've been busy working on a mystery knit along. This one is sponsored by Lee Merideth. I've written about her before and how much I like her patterns. This one is no different. It is so unique and such an interesting knit. I know its a shawl, but thats about it. I'm not sure which direction it will go in.

One more interesting thing that I wanted to bring up. Have you ever seen a pattern in the wild - not necessarily hand knit - with an interesting stitch pattern and want to duplicate it? Well, its happened to me on a few occasions. This stitch pattern was on a shrug worn by one of my coworkers, and I couldn't stop looking at it. I had to take a pic to see if I could figure it out later. I'm not sure if I can do it, but I really want to try. It is such a pretty stitch, isn't it?

Knitting and Stress

Needless to say, the past month or so has been very stressful. Dealing with contractors and insurance adjusters hasn't been fun. I found myself very stressed - too stressed to knit even. I know, shocker. So, I've been thinking was I not knitting because I was stressed or was I stressed because I wasn't knitting?

I'm starting to think the answer is the latter, because I've forced myself to make a conscious effort to knit a little every day and I no long feel quite as stressed. I'm able to cope a little better.

As a result, I have some amazing FOs to show off.

First up, is this great little shawl. Its from the Knitspot Bare Naked Club. I loved knitting this shawl so much. It was knit with Brooklyn Tweeds Loft yarn in all natural colours. I predict I'll knit more of this pattern. I've always been a big fan of feather and fan lace.

And this beauty is my first forray into beaded knitting. Its called "My Hope" and it was designed by Laura Linneman of the Knitgirllls podcast to be used as a fundraiser for the Make a Wish Foundation. I enjoyed knitting this as well, but I totally messed up the beaded bind off. My fault for not reading the pattern correctly at all. I've put off weaving in ends because I've noticed several mistakes and I'm debating try to fudge/fix them or take it out and do it again. We'll see how it goes. But isn't it gorgeous? The yarn is Tanis Fibrearts blue label and OMG - Look at that purple. It nearly glows!

And my final FO is another Minty (Knitty pattern). This is the third minty that I've knit. It remains my daughter's favorite hat pattern. I started knitting this with her in mind, but it turns out that she isn't a fan of the variegated yarn. Oh well, I loved it. And I think it will likely be a gift for someone. The yarn is very unique. I've lost the tag (it came off in the washing of the stash that I could save because of the fire) but I know it came from a stall at the Farmer's market in Halifax. It came from Lismore Sheep Farm Wool Shop and it was a part of their "Easy Scarf Kit". Nat gave me this for Christmas last year. I'm not an easy scarf knitter, but I loved this yarn so much!

To make up for the disappointment that Amy felt with not having the hat that she wanted (ie solid) I started knitting Amy a Honey Cowl. She really liked this handspun (even though its not solid. Whats up with that Amy?) Its one of my Loop Batts. And boy, am I ever enjoying knitting this one. I think I'll be knitting more Honey Cowls this season. Maybe for Christmas gifts. I can see all my girls wearing these.

So, to sum up....lots of knitting going on....less stress. I can't say no stress because that would be nearly impossible - but certainly less. The moral of the story is to knit more, knit often, take lots of knitting stress breaks. Its good for your health.

Its not so bad

I cannot figure out why this post is placed in 2015. This post was originally written on November 2012. 

Anyone that knows me, knows that I am an optimist. Yes, the glass is always half full and yes things could have been worse. I've put off writing this post until I was in such a frame of mind whereby I didn't sound sorry for myself.
You see, we had a house fire! A bad one. It seems my beautiful house is condemned. We are now living in an apartment over the pharmacy where I work. Things could be worse....I could be totally homeless!
My tenants too, are without a home and I feel so bad for them. They didn't have insurance. See, things could definitely be worse.
The fire started in the day - when no one was home - not even my little dog Spencer! If it had been in the night time, if Amy had been home (it started outside her bedroom door!) I shudder to contemplate how worse things would have been then.
The first firefighter on the scene was our son in law, Blair. Because he knew the layout of the house, he was able to get the fire out quick enough so that the house didn't burn to the ground. I am now able to sort through the belongings and list the contents of our home for the insurance. The adjuster tells me this is much harder to do from memory. Again, something to be grateful for.
I'm handwashing some of my more precious skeins by hand to try to get the soot and smell of smoke off of them. I've bought more Soak this past week than I have in my entire knitting career! Others, I'm replacing as I need them. Because, they are replaceable!! The things that we lost in the fire are only material things. And this fire has made me realize (I kind of knew this anyway) what a wonderful community we live in and what wonderful friends and family we have.
This weekend, we are moving out of the drugstore apartment and into a mini home - complete with craft room! I'll try to post some pictures when we get more settled. Until then, I'll have to show off pictures of my recently completed Gemini!

Knit with Classic Elite yarn Classic Silk that I purchase years ago from Webs. This yarn has been languishing in my stash forever. This little sweater was a quick easy knit. Great first sweater, if you've never knit a sweater before. If I were to knit this again, I would start the neckline with 4 rows of garter stitch first because as written the neckline has a tendency to roll. I avoided this, by crocheting a single crochet edge entirely around the neckline. It works, but I think the garter stitch would work better. I've already worn this sweater a couple of times and I must admit to liking it a lot. Kind of surprising given the colour of the sweater. Its definitely not something I would normally chose. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I bought it years ago.

Mystery Revealed.

So, for the second consecutive year, I've taken part in Stephen West's mystery knitalong. Like last year's KAL this year was also a shawl. Unlike last years KAL, each clue this time was very unique. Don't get me wrong, I love last year's shawl and its one of my favorites to wear. But each clue was more or less a variation upon the last. This shawl had some very different clues that utilized a lot of different techniques. The result is stunning!!! And even though pink is not something I would not normally chose, I think I will wear this lots too.

The yarn is from esty seller Kelpie Fibers I'm warning you - don't go over there unless you want to buy yarn. It will be seriously hard to resist. I have bought her fiber before, but its the first time buying her yarn and OMG!!! I am so crazy about her yarn. I'm thinking of getting a sweaters worth of the Falkland sock. It practically glowed - the colour was that spectacular. And it is so flipping soft. Again, highly, highly recommend this shop's yarn!!



Thanks to my gorgeous daughter Amy for tolerating me and being my model for this. Turns out the best photo is the one she took of herself. LOL. I'm debating a photography course over on Crafty....hmmmm.....might come in handy. We'll see.

When Knitting Attacks!!

One of my favorite audio podcasts is called the Knitmore Girls. They have great knitting and spinning content. You should give them a listen. They have a segment called "When Knitting Attacks" in which they discuss ways that their knitting has foiled them in the previous week. I couldn't help but think of that segment when I realized what I had done with my latest knitting project. Take a look.......

Yes....that is two right handed mittens. Boy did I ever feel dumb. These are my Ravellenic games mittens. (If you don't know what the Ravellenics are...check it out here)



Thank goodness these are afterthought thumbs so it was a relatively easy fix. I simply hacked off the thumb, kitchenered the hole, and snipped the yarn on the opposite side to get a left handed mitten. Pretty nice, no? Knit with handspun that I finished during the Tour de Fleece. I love them, but suspect they will be gifted to my sister Cindy who expressed an interest in them when I visited home this past weekend. We'll see.

Successful Tour!

Today marks the end of the Tour de Fleece. I finished a 2 ply fractal spin today. I'm very happy with it. Its called Bifrost - a polwarth wool by etsy seller Kelpie Fibers. I love how happy this yarn is. I'm not sure what I'll make out of it, but I'm leaning towards mittens.

And here is a group photo of all the yarns spun during the tour. I'm very happy with the lot of them. I didn't spin as much as I would have liked but things like work kept getting in the way. But work I must, if I want to buy fiber to spin that is.

I didn't really set any concrete goals for myself - other than play with the art yarns a bit. I did manage to spin 3 different art yarns. The first one is the beehives that I already blogged about. I also did a whole Loop! bullseye bump as a super coil.

My bobbin wasn't large enough to hold the whole skein so I thread plied the leftovers. I like that one too!

Overall, I'm happy with my yarns. Look for them in upcoming posts as all of them are screaming to be knit or woven right away!