The Holidays

I've been a pharmacist since 1995. I've been working retail ever since I graduated except for two brief years in the late 90s when I tried hospital pharmacy. Each year I have worked Christmas. Except this year. This year my daughter was coming home for a very short time. So this year I decided to take it off. It's not something I'll likely get to do again for a very long time. But this year all necessary components lined up favorably to make it possible for me to take an entire week off. 

It's been a very different Christmas season for me. Very little stress. Very little last minute preparation. And as I go into this weekend with Kevin preparing to go on a partridge hunt I am realizing how relaxing this time has been. I am truly blessed.

I was also very lucky in the yarn department as Santa was very generous with me. 

Those gorgeous Ombres are Freia Handpaints. One is fingering weight yarn and the other is lace weight yarn. And that's some Sweet Georgia silk mohair blend on the bottom. 

And this is a very beautiful white bronze shawl pin that Amy picked up for Kevin to gift to me from Espace Tricot in Montreal. I love it. I hope everyone out there in blog land had a wonderful holiday as well. 

Colour Craving

I love mystery KALs. I just love the camaraderie of knit alongs in general, but when you add an element of mystery to the whole thing....well, it just makes me swoon...lol. Its like we are all on this wild ride together and no one knows if its going to end well or not, but we just put our faith in the designer and hope that we have chosen our yarns and colours well. This most recent KAL was no exception - with Stephen West being the designer. The pattern is called Color Craving. There are over 2000 projects of this design started on Ravelry by different knitters!! He had us pick three different colours in fingering weight yarn. Luckily for me I had just gotten back from Montreal and had done a little yarn shopping. I had the lady at Mouline pick out three yarns for me that would look good in a Colour Affection shawl. Actually I had two picked out and couldn't figure out the third. I was surprised by the third colour but she assured me that it would work. I am so glad that I listened to her. There is no way that I would have picked these three colours on my own. The yarn is by a new to me dyer named Julie Asselin. She is from Quebec and her yarns are amazing!! She has an etsy shop but I'm not sure how often she updates. Mouline had a load of her yarns. I'll be sure to buy more the next time I'm there.

See that greenish, yellowish colour? Its called cold pressed. The yarn store lady picked that one - not a colour I would have picked but I love it! Sometimes you have to take chances.

This is how it turned out! First off it is huge!! I'm talking about six feet in lengths. And the shape? Not your typical shawl thats for sure. I love it! I love how graphic it is. I love the unusual shape that gives you many options for styling. And I love those huge yarn over holes running down the center. I've seen some people on Ravelry wearing it with the narrow end threaded through some of these holes. Awesome!!

Here I am wearing the shawl, but its very hard to be both model and photographer when using an iphone.

I'm not sure what happened.

The summer has really gotten away from me. Now, I can start to make all kinds of excuses - like, we are in the middle of building a house. This is true and it has no doubt kept me busy, but I've still been crafting.

I can also say that I went on vacation. Also true, but I still crafted. And I shopped!!! Yes, I went to just about every decent yarn shop in Montreal that was close to the metro. And I went there on my own! This may not mean much to some, but it does to me - a middle aged woman from a very rural part of Canada. You get it - I'm not a big city kinda gal. Its amazing what the proper motivator would have you do. And this photo? Its only from one store.

I could also say that I've been very busy at work. I've had one pharmacy student this summer, I hired two other students and one of them got into pharmacy school and the second is studying to be a dietician. But still, I crafted. In fact I made my students hats. This one, I'm particularly fond of (the hat and the student). Its made from the yarn that I made out of the punis in the last blog post (shamefully back in July). The hat was made in a mystery KAL put off by one of my favorite designers - Lee Meridith. It was a great KAL and I fully intended to blog about how unique it was and how much fun I had, but then things got away from me. Like I said, I'm not sure what happened.

I could even make the outrageous claim that I've been busy since my step daughter was pregnant and expecting a baby. Well, look what we got!!!!

Yes, a beautiful little boy. For those who are keeping track, this is number 4! His name is Reagan and we couldn't be more delighted with him. In fact, I've been crafting for him too.

So all in all, its been a busy summer with lots of things happening in our lives. But through it all, I've been knitting, crocheting and spinning. I think that its such an integral part of who I am that no matter how busy things get, I will continue to make things. Now, will I continue to document them?? That is the question.

Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I'm not talking about Christmas - though that is a pretty great time, but not if you work in retail, like I do. I'm talking about Tour de Fleece. Those in the fiber world know what I'm talking about, but for my few friends and family that may read this blog Tour de Fleece is a spinning event that occurs simultaneously with the Tour de France. We spin, they ride. I love it! I've been participating for ...oh, I don't know how many years now, but I've got to go look it up.

Ok, that was an interesting little sidetrack....2008 was the first year I participated in the Tour - so this is my 6th year. I'm assuming I participated in every year. I can't remember taking a break from it, so it must be my sixth year. Wow! I guess I can't claim to be a beginning spinner any longer then.

This is my first finished yarn of the tour. Its from etsy seller Unwindyarn company. Its a BFL/silk blend called Terra Nova and I loved spinning it. The resulting yarn is so soft and bouncy.

Next up I spun a gradient. I love knitting with gradients and it turns out, I love spinning them as well. This fiber came from etsy seller Turtlepurl Yarns and Notions. This roving came as two seperate gradient braids so that you can spin up two separate skeins that will match for knitting a pair of socks or mitts. You could also spin each braid separately and ply the resulting singles together so that you would end up with a very very long gradient. I opted to do the former as I forsee knitting mittens with these. This was also a BFL/silk blend. I think this blend is fast becoming my favorite fiber combo.

My next spin was some punis!!! These are from etsy seller Gourmet Stash

I really enjoyed spinning these. The resulting yarn is so light and airy. And bright! I already have some plans for this yarn. I'm participating in Leethal's mystery KAL. I'll be blogging more about that at a later date, I'm sure.

And finally, a shot of what I've been spinning on the spindle. I do really enjoy spindle spinning. This was spun while watching the three little boys last weekend. Not too bad considering how busy those boys are.

Bad Oyster

I've fallen in love with my knitting again! This makes me so happy. It happens several times a year it seems - I fall in and out of love with my knitting. Sometimes it seems to depend upon the time of year, some times it seems to depend upon if I have any obligatory knitting and sometimes it just seems to be a combination of the right pattern, the right yarn at the right time.

The first thing to kind of get me out of my knitting rut was the publication of a pattern called Moonkoosas. This clever little pattern comes courtesy of Tiny Owl Knits. Tiny Owl Knits is the brains behind the infamous Beekeepers Quilt. This pattern is whats known as a viral knit - meaning everyone and their dog have knit it, are knitting it, or plan on knitting it soon. Count me in the latter group. A full blanket in fingering weight yarn. That would put a knitter into a rut, not help dig one out. But the Moonkoosas are a different story. Knit in bulky yarn and felted down to size, they are a quick knit with a gorgeous unique end product. Now, I just need to knit the second one.
Here they are before felting

And after felting.

I love how the stitch definition just blurs with felting. I may do some needle felting on these too. That is - when I finish the second one.
Why didn't I finish the second one you may ask? (You may also ask why I didn't even start the second one - that might make more sense....lol)Well, Kevin and I took a little trip to St. John's. We had to do 'house stuff'. That is we had to pick out fixtures and lighting and door knobs and god knows what else. Its all a blur to be honest. I didn't get a chance to even go yarn shopping. I know, horrors. But I did get a chance to knit! Bulky furry boots don't really constitute travel knitting in my book, so I picked out a cute promising little pattern in a very cute yarn. And OH MY GOD! The yarn gods must have been smiling on me that day because it was the perfect match of yarn to pattern and it was the perfect travel knitting. By the time I came home I had a gorgeous little shawlette.


The pattern is called Bad Oyster - the name alone is enough to make you want to knit it. Why bad oyster? Well, a bad oyster doesn't produce a pearl. Get it?? There are no purls in this pattern at all. And the fringe is sort of built in. I don't want to give any of the pattern away. But I do encourage you all to check it out and buy it and knit it - Today!!

The yarn is Socks that Rock Medium weight in the colourway Twitterpated. I love that name. I loved the pooling!! Some people hate pooling but the pooling made it more interesting to knit in my opinion. I kept wanting the colours to line up and pool. And yeah, I've already cast on a second one. In the colourway "Pinky Swear" same yarn base. Its my "purse knitting".

Randomness

Well hello blog. Its been a while. I'm sticking to my story and blaming it on Instagram. I still knit, I still craft, I still take pictures of it all and I still want to share it with the online community. Like I've said before, it seems Instagram is filling that need. I don't even put my projects up on Ravelry with any regularity any more. Shhhhhhhh! I know, CRAZY!!

My whole desire to blog came about years ago as a way of documenting swap packages that I had made and received on Craftster. I can't tell you the last time I went on Craftster. I can't tell you the last time I was involved in a swap. Then the blogging more or less became a desire to document my crafting - a journal if you will. I keep telling the girls that when I'm gone (a long time from now hopefully) and the things that I've made for them are used up and worn out then at least they will always have this record to look back on. My digital footprint left for all my ancestors to see what an enterprising person their great great granny was. I still feel that way, and I still resolve to keep blogging even if I only have 9 followers.

So in that vein, here is what I've been up to the past month.

I knit a headband. The pattern is from Mel Clark's book Knitting Everyday Finery and I love it! This promises to be my most utilized knitwear to date. I wear it a lot because my hair is in a mess a lot. Its alpaca and silk and so far not too hot (mind you, we had snow yesterday, so everything is relative)



I blocked some finished projects. The stripey socks you'll recognize. The others are a cute little baby vest destined for some baby girl. The pattern is Milo and so versatile. Totally worth the few bucks that it cost. I love the little heart cable and I'll definitely be making this little pattern again. The orange beret is called "Meret". I did this as a KAL with some of the ladies on Instagram. Its made from my handspun. Its rather large on me but would likely fit my larger headed offspring no problem. I will likely gift this to her at some point.



I bought yarn! And OHMYGOD!!! Its all Socks that Rock. It is so beautiful!! All I want to do it look at it. Now thats wrong I know. I feel like buying a shadow box and framing them. I'm not sure what I'll make but right now I'm just enjoying the gorgeous colours. I think I may have fell down a rabbit hole when I joined that socks that rock club. I don't really want to knit with any other yarn. This could become dangerous.



I fixed a miss crossed cable on my Hope Springs Eternal socks from my Socks that Rock Club. I thought I could live with it, but 10 rows later it was still bugging me. I dropped those 6 or so stitches back and fixed it all - no problem. Pretty pleased with myself there.



And I finished spinning this beautiful yarn. This was spun from Rolags that I purchased from Blue Mountain Handcrafts on etsy. My first time spinning rolags and I really liked it.



Well thats my randomness for today. Hope all is well in your crafting world!

Apparently Its Spring

I'm having a hard time believing it myself. When I look outside and see that the yard is still covered in snow and I see snow in the forecast, I have a hard time believing that the calendar is correct.

I do realize that I live Labrador and that I shouldn't be surprised by the weather, but each year, I'm a little surprised by how long it lasts. People are still going out on skidoo!!

But there are reminders of spring or at least some signs of it. For example, my latest shipment from the Socks that Rock yarn club!



Isn't it pretty? Its called 'Hope Springs Eternal' and to be honest these spring colours are just what the doctor ordered. They will be socks of course, and most likely the socks that came with the club. They are very pretty and feature a picot cuff which charms me to no end.

I've also been doing some more baby knitting. Again, for a girl! This pattern is called "Milo" and is a clever little vest that allows you to use different cable details on the front. I've chosen hearts. Pretty sweet!



I have one finished object to share with you all. Its a 'For Good' hat by Megan Williams of the Stockinette Zombies podcast. I love the hat, and I love the buttons - a very good match I think.





The buttons are from etsy seller "Woodenheartbuttons" out of London, Ontario. She wrote me the sweetest note telling me her family is from Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Small world!

Sweet Things

It seems to me that certain types of babies are born in batches. I don't know if its something in the water or what it is, but there is a phenomenon afoot. For the past 5 years it seems we have had an abundance of boy babies being born. Any coworker who had a baby - turned out to be a boy! Young friends - all boys. Family members - all boys. We have 3 grandbaby boys to prove it!! But lately, I've been noticing a shift. It started with Lisa (a coworker) in January. She had a little girl. I was so happy to knit for her!! Its been forever that I knit anything for a baby girl.

Next up was a young friend of Kev's. They too had a girl. Kev requested something special for this young couple so I set to work knitting. Now, this baby is also the great granddaughter of my local LYS owner! I had to knit something special!!

So I set to work. I picked out a special yarn. Its a club yarn no less - supposedly destined for a different project, but this is superwash (which is important for new moms) and the colour was outstandingly gorgeous (which is important for impressing your local lys owner) The yarn is by called Andrea May by Studio June on etsy. It was a club colourway from Ann Hanson's Fall into Full Colour Club. Ann's pattern for this shipment was lovely, but I could envision this baby sweater so clearly. It just spoke to me.

The pattern I chose is Cascade from the emagazine Petite Purls The reason I chose this pattern is in no small part due to Jasmine of the Knitmore Girls podcast fame. She has been knitting her daughter this little sweater and talking about it on her podcast. She has also been posting pics on Instagram I've been smitten.

Now, to push this little sweater into even more awesomeness, I sewed a grosgrain ribbon into the button band. The Knitmores have been big advocates of this. It makes the garment more special and it has the benefit of preventing the button band from stretching out and pulling out of shape.











It is a special little sweater and I couldn't be more pleased. If you are interested in sewing a grosgrain ribbon into your cardigans, I highly recommend checking out the Knitmore girls video tutorial! I am certain that you will learn something!

Next up - booties. My coworker Jody is having a baby....and yes, its a girl. There is something in the water, I tell ya!

I lied

As you can see from the date of the last post and the date of this post (an entire month later!) that my pledge to blog more and to take more pictures was in fact A BIG FAT LIE. What is it that they say about the road to ....somewhere being paved with good intentions. Yeah. Well, it seems that I'm heading down that road. But enough about that....lets get to the knitting. Because yes, I have been knitting.

Its baby time around these parts. I showed you the little hat that I'd knit for Lisa's baby Addison. Shame on me that it hasn't been gifted to her yet. Good thing that she's teeny tiny and it will fit her for a while. And to make matters worse, we live on the same street now. So, even though Lisa is on maternity leave and I don't see her as much, there is absolutely no excuse why this little hat and sweater set hasn't been given to her yet. Well, there is an excuse I guess. I haven't sewn on the buttons yet. Yikes!! I've had them for over a month now. Procrastinate much?

I was very excited that I joined Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club in January!! I think this must be one of the most well known knitting clubs around. I didn't sign back up for Ann Hanson's Bare Naked Knit Club this year. I enjoy her clubs. I've done two of the Fall into Full Color Clubs and one Bare Naked Knitspot, but when I evaluated what I had knit from each club, I decided not to sign up for the Bare Naked one. As interesting as it sounds, it has nothing to do with knitting bare naked, but the yarn was in fact bare naked. That is completely undyed and in its natural colour. The yarn was beautiful as were the patterns, but I was craving colour during this long long Labrador winter. Hence the switch to the Rockin' Sock Club.

My first shipment arrived and it did not disappoint. The yarn is a medium weight sock yarn and it is so plump and round. I loved knitting with it. There was also a cute bumper sticker and some buttons proclaiming how proud I am to be a sock knitter. This yarn is very well known and well loved. I can't believe its taken me this long to knit with it. I forsee a big order in my future. I'm not sure if I can wait for club shipments. All my other sock yarn now feels.....I don't know ....almost flat in comparison to this. And the two patterns that came with the shipment were great too. I had a tough time deciding which one I would knit, but I had promised Morgan some socks. So here they are. The colour is called Portland Plaid and I am smitten. So is Morgan. After trying on the first sock he demanded that I finish the second one right away. He wanted to sleep with the one sock on and I had to fight him a bit to get him to take it off so I'm calling it a success.

Here they are. Gorgeous aren't they?

Blogging difficulties

I seem to have reached a point in my blogging life, where I have stalled out. I'm pretty certain that I know the reason for this. Instagram!

I've gotten in to Instagram big time. It seems to fill that need to document things that blogging was doing - but faster and with more instant feedback from viewers/readers. I'm sitting here realizing that I have several projects that I haven't blogged about and I'm noticing that I haven't even downloaded the photos to my computer. Its because I'm uploading to Ravelry directly from my iphone and I'm posting the photos to instagram as well. Its sort of like microblogging.

In any case, I do pledge to try to be better. To blog more often and to take more and better pictures. So, in that light I present to you my latest two finished projects. This tiny beret is from Hannah Fettig's book Mabel's Closet. I mentioned it in the previous blog post about the little cardigan - which, by the way is finished, I just haven't sewn on the buttons yet. Good thing the recipient is itty bitty and will be able to grow into it. I'll likely have gotten around to finishing it by the time she is big enough to wear it. I think this little striped beret will look very cute with it.

And here is a pair of mitts that I knit for Amy. The patters is from November Knits. I really like this book a lot. There are a lot of patterns in this book that I would like to knit. These mittens were challenging for me. I've never been very good a knitting mittens twisted stitches. Also, I'm pretty certain there is errata in the charts for the cable cross overs for the back of the mitten. I had to make up my own thing in order to get them to cross and look like they did in the photo. The sad thing is, I didn't figure it out until I was on the second mitten. Oh well. I think you would have to look very closely to see the mistake. Amy likes them and thats all that matters right?

A New Beginning

Its the New Year already. I swear time seems to speed up the older that I get. I had every intention of posting a list of fiber resolutions of sorts, but I just couldn't get around to it. I don't know what it is, but ever since the fire, I seem to have lost my knitting ambitions. I guess its because the majority of my stash is stored in the shed (still not washed) about 5 miles from where we are currently living. And the place that we are living is so small that its really hard to organize the stash. So, there will be no fiber resolutions for me. I honestly think it will take until I'm back in the new house for me to feel the same way about knitting and my stash.

Now, that didn't stop me from acquiring new yarn...no. See this stuff? Its Veronique Avery's yarn. I bought this in Montreal!!

Amy has moved there and is taking some phycology courses from Concordia. I'm really happy for her, because she was getting pretty miserable living in a small town after being a city girl for the duration of her first degree. But, I miss my girl!!

This darling little cardigan was my New Year's Eve cast on. Its for a coworkers baby who showed up a few weeks early

It needs buttons yet, but I plan on picking some up today. The pattern is from Hannah Fettig's newly released booklet called Mabel's Closet. This little book is so sweet and the patterns are completely charming. I've also knit a little striped beret from the booklet to go with the cardigan, but haven't taken any real photos yet.

I knit the cardigan out of Quince and Company's Chickadee. Its my first time using this yarn, and I must say, I really liked it. The yarn is reasonably priced, though by the time duty was charged, I'm not sure that it was that reasonable. I did like the yarn. It was very soft and almost doughy. I also have a sweaters worth for myself. I haven't knit myself a sweater in a lightweight yarn before, so we'll see how that pans out. Seeing as I still have an aran weight sweater languishing on the needles I won't be holding m breath. Lol.

Well, happy knitting and happy New Year!