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.

Knitting and Spinning

I've mentioned on more than one occasion that I struggle with finding the right pattern for my handspun. There is an exception however. Its Loop batts. No sooner does one come off the wheel than I have cast on a new pattern using it. Case in point - see this gorgeous handpsun?



Its Loop batts Raindrop colourway one plain and one sparkle plied together. It is gorgeous. And of course I cast on right away and knit Glacier Sweep by....wait for it.....Stephen West! Its a bummer that I don't have enough to finish all 5 sections, but I think I will buy some commercial yarn in a worsted/aran weight yarn in black to finish it off. I'm very happy with it, but want it done - like now. Why is that?



I just finished spinning this very pretty two ply and I love it. But I bet it'll be forever before I end up knitting with it. Its Fractal Roving from etsy seller Hilltop Fibers - and she's Canadian!




I'll leave you with a cute kiddie photo seeing as its Easter weekend. Happy Egg hunting to you all!

The Love Affair Continues

With Westknits designs that is. I mentioned in the last post about the new KAL that Stephen West has on the go. Its all I want to knit. There is even a pair of legwarmers!!! I can't believe that I want and likely will knit legwarmers.

I finished the first pattern in the knitalong installment. Its called Geysir Stretch.

I've been doing a little spinning this week too. Not as much as I would have liked. Since the house fire, I cannot find my niddy noddies and I've been wanting to get some yarn off the bobbins so that I can spin new stuff. I improvised a little and wound it right onto my umbrella swift. That was a little awkward, but it worked out okay. Here is a little skein of mixed BFL. The fiber was purchased from etsy seller Spun Right Round

A word of warning if you go over there. Her stuff is GORGEOUS!!! Be careful.

And I have to share a little drawing that my little man Max did for me. I think he is quite talented. This is me. I'm not sure why I have a bubble on my head. Maybe I'm a deep sea diver or something. Lol. Too cute isn't it?

And even though I've been going on and on about Stephen West, I just have to remind everyone who the real men in my life are. Here is a photo of Max and Morgan watching Kevin at last weekends hockey tournament.

Here is Kev with our little grand babies - Cooper and Morgan - after the hockey tournament. There is room in my heart for all of these men - including Stephen West.

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?

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.

Spectra

Here it is...another Stephen West design. Obsessed much? Well yes, I believe I am. Lol. Make no wonder, just look at this stuff that he comes up with. Unbelievably simple, yet so effective.

Its knit in Berocco's Ultra Alpaca Fine and Noro Silk Garden sock yarn. I really enjoyed knitting this. I knit quite a bit while travelling to Toronto earlier this summer and vowed I'd knit until the yarn ran out - so its quite long.

I decided to lay it out on the piano so you could see the length of it. I highly recommend this pattern. It curves around the neck in such a nice way. There are endless possibilities in how to wear it.

Mystery solved

I just finished up Clue 4 of the West knits mystery knit a long. I'm super happy with the result and am wearing it now as I type. Fall comes quickly to the big land. I'll be wearing it outside soon enough.

It is quite large - about 190cm in wingspan and 60cm deep. I love the colours too. Next up, my Knitspot club knitting.

In other news, I did squeak in knitting a bit of handspun - as was my knitting resolutions this year. This pattern is a freebie called Lychee mittens. A simple knitted mitten pattern with a few stripes thrown in for good measure. I knit a pair for each of my students this year. I think the handspun makes them even more special

I've finally lost my mind!

Let me warn you all first that if any readers are participating in Westknits mystery knitalong ...there are spoilers in this blog post!!!

Okay, now that formality is out of the way, let me go on to tell you why I feel that I've finally lost it. Kev and I just got back from a trip to Toronto!! We had such a great time. We went to two Blue Jays games. Saw the musical "Billy Elliot". Went to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and had our pictures taken with the Stanley Cup!! We ate at some great restaurants and did a little shopping! And I even got to go yarn shopping!! Surprised? No, I didn't think so. Here is what I bought.

Yeah, thats a lot of yarn!! It cost surprisingly less than I had thought it would. There are some yarns there that are totally new to me - yarns that I've never tried before, but have always wanted to try out. And there are some old favorites. There is even a sweaters worth of Cascade 220 in the greatest green colourway ever - destined to become some unknown cabled hoodie. I'll figure out the pattern at some time in the future. Knowing me, it'll be like 2 years into the future, but the way I look at it, I'm saving up all this knitting for my retirement.

I bought all of this yarn at a place called Romni. Let me tell you, this place is stocked. Overstocked in fact. A lot of my friends on Ravelry recommended this place to me, and I'm so so glad that I went, but... the day that we went was sooo humid and hot. And this store is so crowded and big and not air conditioned. It was really difficult to make my way around. So I basically made one sweep through, without really thinking about what I might like to make, and this is what I walked out with. I didn't even look at the books and magazines (of which there appeared to be plenty)

In other news, I was so excited to sign up for a Stephen West mystery Knit along. I've praised this man's genius on the blog before, so its no surprise that when this opportunity came up, I signed up right away. The first mystery knit along that I did was by Lee Meridith and I loved it! It was so much fun that I knew I would definitely enjoy Stephen West's KAL too.

So far, Mr West has not disappointed me! Here are my results to date.

Oh and did I mention that I ordered the yarn from 'A Good Yarn'? And did I mention that Jenny helped me pick out the colours? And did I mention that I couldn't decide on a colour so I bought enough yarn for two shawls? Is the title of the blog post starting to become clearer? No? Well, the cincher for me would have to be, when I got home from Toronto there was a package in the mail. A package from Knitspot!!

Apparently, I signed up (and paid for!) a six month club membership and totally forgot about it! I must be crazy, right?

This post is for you, Cathy!

Last night my friend Cathy reminded my that its been May 22nd since I did my last blog post. She's been wondering if I've given up blogging - or worse...knitting. Not so, I assured her. I've just been doing a lot of baby knitting and not really finishing off things. I like to show finished items here on my blog, though I'm sure I could show some 'in progress' shots every now and again.

So, without further adieu, here is what I've been up to since May 22.

Baby item #1. A little boy vest. Nat is due any day now. Not sure of the sex of the baby. This is quite masculine. I've knit a pink cardi too (more on that in a later post Cathy, sorry)

Here is some yarn that I just finished plying. Its been spun since...forever. They were two very mismatched singles just sitting on the bobbins. In preparation for next months 'Tour de Fleece' I wanted my bobbins clear. Also, I'm going on a SPINNING RETREAT'!!!!! I'm so excited about that. I cannot wait. Its the first weekend in July. Its taking place in a small community on the west coast of Newfoundland. The spots available for the retreat filled up really quickly. The instructor will also be teaching some yoga and natural dying in addition to the spinning. I'm very stoked to be going. I was going to drive, but have opted to fly instead. I'm not sure how I'm going to get my wheel out there.

And here the beginning of a new shawl I'm working on. Can you guess who the designer is? Yup...its Stephen West. Its called Transatlantic and I love it. I'm knitting this from yarn from a recent etsy purchase. I love it. The colours are so vibrant and saturated and bright...retina searing even. Lol.

And lastly, here is a picture of some yarn that I recently spun and plied. Again, an etsy purchase. I love the combination of yellow and grey together.

Knitting with Handspun

Knitting with handspun has always been a challenge for me. I've lamented this fact before. I'm not sure what it is. Either the project isn't worthy, or the intended recipient isn't worthy. Shameful, really. I've got to get over this. I'm starting to really build up a stash of handspun. I love spinning and the 'Tour de Fleece' is coming up. So that means I'll be producing more handspun.

I've trolled around on Ravelry. Other people seem to have no issues with knitting up their handspun. I've come across some really great finished objects there that have inspired me to cast on and knit already.

I've mentioned that I've been bitten by the Stephen West bug. His patterns are totally worthy of using handspun. And I have good friends moving to the Northwest Territories in July who are totally worthy of some handspun.

So, that being said, I knit up this little cowl called Drawbridge. Such a simple pattern. It can also double as a hat in a pinch. The colours of the yarn are nice and masculine. I'm sure my friend will like it.

Daybreak

So, I finished the Daybreak and I absolutely love it. As predicted, I immediately cast on for another Stephen West pattern. This time, I'll be knitting Daybreak - in handspun no less!! I'm super proud of myself for doing that. I've written before about my hesitancy to use handspun. I think I even listed that as a goal for 2011. I'm really trying to see the potential of this beautiful yarn - not to see it as a final project in itself.


Here is the blocked daybreak on my floor. So happy with the yarn and the pattern. I highly recommend both

The daybreak on my back porch.

Here is a photo of some locks from the 'big project'. The rest of the fleece is currently undergoing a 'cold soak' in a large rubbermaid container. I decided to hand wash a few locks just to see how they look. I handcombed the locks, and will likely spin these up to see how they turn out. Pretty aren't they?