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".

Crazy about Crochet

When Kev was in Montreal earlier this month, he brought me back a new book. 101 One Skein Crochet Wonders by Judith Durant. I haven't been crocheting in a long while. And for some reason, my knitting mojo has reached an all time low. So this was just the thing I needed. There are so many really cute things in this book and I'm sure its one I'll turn to time and again when the mood to crochet strikes me. One thing I noticed about this book is that it seems to make use of yarns like Noro that utitlize long repeats of colour. Those are some of my favorite yarns, and I have a lot of them in my stash - single skeins that I'm not sure what to do with.

I couldn't resist crocheting up this cute bunny. He seemed to progress so quickly. I couldn't stop crocheting the little pieces. They came together so nicely. And notice how the colours line up so perfectly on the different parts. This was a happy accident! They yarn is acrylic - Bernat Mosaic. Not a yarn, I'd normally chose but for a toy, I think it works perfectly.










And in other news I finally finished the Leaflet sweater that I started back in November. I like it a lot and I'm not sure why it went into the 'hibernation' pile.





And I'm still plugging away on these Hope Springs Eternal Socks. I'm enjoying the pattern and the yarn. These will be finished soon! I just love how the colours are pooling and swirling around the leg of the socks!

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!

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!

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!