Sock News in London Ontario

Tonight a gang of London knitters on Raverly had a meet up. It was great to meet so many talented local knitters.

Aren't they a great lookin' bunch? And see all those socks?

Hi Knitty-Kat! Shes the one with the big smile looking straight at the camera. Doesn't she have beautifully curly hair? I wish my hair would do curls like that instead of my on-again, off-again curls. Kat has curls that let you know they mean business!

Nadine of Balkan Style brought her first ever sock.

It's a rockin' good sock. And here we have me blogging Elan, blogging the first sock.

You've got to check out what Elan knits. Holy Moses. She's got creative bones, this lady. Her knits are currently being displayed in the Landon Library. I have good intentions to get me down there this weekend to check it out. The funniest story, which I take as a great compliment, is that when I entered my fish mittens into the Western Fair last year a lot of Elan's friends thought it was her design.


In other sock news, I've finished up one pair of traveling socks. This pair go into the Christmas gift pile for my brother-in-law Richard.

I loved working with this Trekking XXL colorway at this time of year. The yarn glows with the autumnal palette. Then I started another pair.


These are from a vintage Paton's book. I haven't decided to whom they will go to, but they are definitely a man's Christmas present. Actually, I'm worried they might be too loose.

I'm in no danger of knitting through the sock yarn stash though. Look what I won in CC's blog contest. It's a beautifully shiny and soft merino/tencel blend. Thanks CC!

Halycon Aran

Halycon Aran was completely knit, but it languished in the sewing basket until I got the call that the Forest City Knitting club was having it's monthly meeting, at which point I whipped it together in short order!

Pattern: Halycon Aran
Yarn: Blackwater Abbey, color Silver
Needles: Addi Turbos 5mm
Mods: I shortened the sleeves. The 52 inch size is intended for a man and I don't have a man's monkey arms. Also, I knit the neck in a manner that made sense to me. I picked up as many stitches as made sense. Then I decreased them away at a rate of approximately 25%, all the while trying to maintain the pattern from the body. I wanted the cables to flow into the ribbing. I'm quite pleased with the result.


I'm perfectly satisfied with this sweater, though I don't think it's a flattering look for me. The sleeves are just the right length, and the body is too. It will keep me nice and warm when I play with Dexter this winter.


I have some yarn leftover. I think Dexter needs a matching dog sweater. Maybe after the Christmas knitting is done.....

Comfort Knitting

I'm a little sad today. I've been reminiscing about my family this weekend because my father's mother passed away on Thursday. My Memeh (a childish French name for grandmother, I spelt it how it sounds) was a lively lady in her 94th year. As the matriarch of a large family, I didn't have a very close relationship with her. Still, I've been remembering her, and the moments she impacted my life. She was gentle, liked to laugh, and she believed in me at a time when I didn't believe in myself, which meant a lot to me.

I think this is part of the reason I fell so hard for a knitting project this weekend. I started a Selbuvotter mitten for my mother on Friday night and finished by the end of the day Saturday. Today, I started my father's glove.

I tweaked my mother's mitten by changing the cuff pattern and I made up the thumb pattern too. The Shelridge Farms Soft Touch fingering weight is perfect for these mittens. It's soft, smooth and just the right weight. I'm really enjoying working with it.

I decided to start my dad's glove from the leftovers of my mother's to see if four skeins of fingering weight would be enough for both. I'm enjoying how these mittens are similar yet different. They feel like ying and yang.

Somehow, knitting these gifts for my parents just feels right and comforting.

What Not to Knit When it's Hot

London's weather broke temperature records this weekend. It was lovely to be enjoying summer weather in October, but it certainly put a kibosh on my plans to finish up the Halycon Aran. I had no desire to sit with a pile of wool on my lap. Right now it looks more like a pile of laundry than anything else.


So I worked on a sock. Then I decided to start my next big project, the Urban Aran for Jim ala Brooklyntweed, because nothin' says lovin' like knitting chunky wool in high summer weather.


The yarn is Rowanspun Chunky, color Cardamom, and it has a fuzzy texture to it somehow.


I must say it is very soft which is great because my construction worker, former cadet instructor, tough guy, husband doesn't like his sweaters to be itchy.

I guess he's just a big softy.

Feasting!

Happy Thanksgiving! Saturday I cooked a turkey with all the fixins. Sunday my family helped me eat the feast. Today is Thanksgiving Day and I'm resting.

I feel very thankful for the abundance in my life, of family, friends, food and fiber. I should have taken a picture of what we ate yesterday, it was fabulous. Everyone was very grateful that I'd cooked the turkey the day before since the temperature in London was so high. But, instead of food I have pictures of fiber to share with you. Yes, finally, the stash aquisition pictures from FibreFest North.

First up, when we arrived on Friday night, Ted had swag bags for all of us that included his homemade chutney (very tasty Ted, had it with some fried ham the other night), some chocolates, a Philosopher's Wool video and my favourite thing, this skein of laceweight from Sheldridge Farms:

I don't even see it on their website, so it must be a new yarn. It's soft and lovely and I think I'll make a pretty little lace scarf from it.

Then at the Lindenhof Wool Mill, I had to bring home a souvenir from their store.

This is Romney sport in a natural brown and natural white. It's pretty soft and seems very durable. I think it will make a great hat. The blue bit at the bottom are boot liners made from felted wool. I was thinking they'd be good for Jim, since he works outside all winter long, but I may steal them from him for my boots.

Sunday morning was market day, and after getting a feel for their lace weight, you know I just had to go back to the Shelridge Farms booth.

This is an 8-ply superwash that I think will make awesome Selbuvotter mittens. I wanted to try traditional ones at least once, but I don't seem to have suitable yarns in the stash.

All morning I'd been walking around mumbling "I don't need more laceweight." Over and over. I had too because there were just so many beautiful yarns. But then I found this neat looking pattern from Alpaca with a Twist, called the Filigree Shawl. The picture on their website doesn't do it justice. It has this very intriguing construction technique that I will either find an interesting challenge or will drive me batty. So of course, I succumbed to the call of the laceweight.

This is Baruffa Cashwool. It's what I compared Ted's laceweight too. It's gorgeous, but I will be knitting these two skeins forever I think. Laceweight lingers in the stash.

After the sale, Ted drew for door prizes. It was crazy how we all hummed and hawed over our freebies after shopping ourselves silly. On my turn I was torn between more laceweight, the new Ethnic Knitting Discovery, or this:

It's 11 skiens of Philosopher's wool, in just my colors. There's something about this yarn that gives me a feeling of freedom to be entirely creative with it. I'm dreaming up a jacket where I can to just anything I want with these colors.

After everyone had a prize, there was still some things left on the table, so Ted had a second drawing and I got this:

I may just try two socks on one circular with this bad boy.

Isn't that an amazing haul? To top it off, Ted brought in his old magazines because he wanted to get rid of them. Friday night I picked a half dozen of the ones I liked best, and then told Ted I'd take what ever was left on Sunday morning. Well I've come home with about 20 magazines total and I've been having so much fun going through them bit by bit. I've found articles to read, patterns I'd like to try and a whole lot of nostalgia for those eighties styles.

This amazing abundance is another reason why I said Fiber Fest North felt like Christmas to me.

Grab a hat, the cold is coming!

Though you wouldn't know it from the weather we've been having around here lately. It's going to be as warm as summer this weekend. Still, I have this urge to knit for the cold and so I've finished a hat.

Shedir from Knitty
Yarn: Alchemy Lone Star color way Good Earth
Needles ?
Modifications: extensive! I started off with a tubular cast on. I used seven repeats instead of eight going around, and then only two repeats of the main part of the pattern. Then I increased the speed of the crown increases by taking out the rows of plain knitting. As you can see, it fits, and I had even had enough yarn. All's well that ends well.

Give us a kiss big boy.

Spinning Yarn

Fiber Fest North was a great opportunity for me to learn about spinning first hand. Saturday morning I watched Ted give Mona some introductory lessons in the art. I was amazed to watch him take a lock of merino from a bag of fleece and turn it into finest laceweight right before my eyes.

The handspun yarn is brown, and the blue yarn is commercially spun laceweight. Ted's got magic fingers (get yer mind out of the gutter over there!)

Touring the Lindenhof Wool Mill on Saturday afternoon was a real treat. This is Angelika who explained the whole process to us in great detail.

Her website has a great breakdown of the process, including how to skirt a fleece and why. Angelika has only run this mill for 3 years, but she gives tours like a pro. She answered questions readily, and ignored the camera flash gracefully. Every time some new fiber passed by, I had to chuckle at all the hands that would sneak out to touch it.

I even took a video for you of the carding machine.

And here's another of the drawing machine in which three rovings are pulled together into one to even out the lumps and to align the fibers.

And here's the finished yarn, swatched, blocked and making Ted very happy.

More pictures of the tour are available on Flickr here. I've learned that while the tools may change, from spindle, to wheel, to potentially dangerous machinery, the process remains the same. It all starts with a fleece and the end product relies on the art of the spinner. I have a new respect for my yarn.

The Best Christmas Ever

FibreFest North was a wonderful event and I had a fabulous time. Doesn't this look like the kind of Christmas dinner you've always wished for:

There were friends, with fun and laughter, there was food, rather more than was good for me because it was all so delicious, and there was yarn and fiber by the bushel-full. Yes, some of it came home with me.

But just like a good Christmas, I find I've got a huge mess to deal with to put my life back in order. Laundry, groceries, kids that need attention and a dog who really wants some exercise. On top of that, I'm a week behind in my blog reading and I just want to play with my new things. But stay tuned, I've got lots of good things to share with you, once I find the time!

Working for the Weekend

Horray! It's Friday and this weekend is FiberFest North. I'm looking forward to a weekend of fun and fiber with no kids, dog, cleaning or chores. Jim is coming along which is really nice. The location is Wiarton which is 3.5 hours from London. The fall color is just beginning to show so I expect a really beautiful drive, in excellent company.

No weekend post then, but I expect that I'll have something interesting to show for it next week. Toot-a-loo!

The Story of a Swap

Set right down there with your cup o' joe and kick back for a spell, I've a mite of a story to share.

I was hangin' out on Ravelry the other day ('cuse me for dropin' names) an' a friend of mine mentioned that she knew of a gal who was lookin' for a skein of Noro Silk Garden. Now my friend knew I've been pickin' up odd balls and sods of Noro here and there, so she brought this to my attention, hopin' I could help.

It seems that a nice knitterly lady named Elizabeth had knit herself a sweater but she couldn't finish the dang thing on account of how she ran out of yarn. Alls she needed was one more ball to finish. Now I know you can sympathize with her predicament as could I. So's I wrote Elizabeth about things such as color numbers and dye lots and such like and it turns out that I had exactly the skein she needed.

Well of course I said I'd send it to her, and she wanted to know what I'd like in return. "Send me sock yarn." says I. So she did.


Now ain't that just the prettiest danged sock yarn you ever did see? I've never heard of this yarn. It's called MadelineTosh Highland Sock, in the color Ocean. Oh yes, and Elizabeth received her skein of Noro Silk Garden today too. I just loves me a happy ending!

A Busy Weekend

All my weekends are busy these days. Dexter must still be walked, even though I'd rather sleep in. Alternate Saturdays mornings Jim and I have a counseling appointment, and Saturday afternoons are for dog obedience training. Sunday mornings we do a big family breakfast. Then there's groceries, laundry, housecleaning, and whatever else we can squeeze in.

For example, this weekend I cut Alex's hair for the first time.

There are some definite problems with this cut, but it was my first time with the clippers. He's such a handsome kid, I don't think anyone will notice much and I know that the next cut will be even better.

I also had to make an extra trip to Walmart to do a return and to pick up a few things. The line ups were crazy, considering how beautiful the weather is. I was about to be bummed out by the huge line when I remembered I had my knitting with me.

I'm never too busy for a little knitting.

Couldn't Resist

Ravelry has put up T-shirts for sale. It's for members only and the beta T-shirts are going to be exclusive. As a kid, I never had the latest fashions or coolest toys. But now I'm a grown up, I can get what I want. I ordered a shirt and three buttons too.

Baaaa!

Manufacturing a Time Crunch

I've got a talent for putting a time crunch on what should be a laid-back hobby. Jim and I will be going to FiberFest North at the end of September, and I've decided I should have the pieces of the Halcyon Aran done by then. While I think I'm pretty good at finishing my garments, I'm sure there's lots more I can learn, and I think this will be just the group to help me out.

So I've got one more repeat to go on the back and then it's cast off and start the front. But suddenly I feel a whine coming on. The wool is rough, the cables hurt my hands. Wah! I want soft wool, with pretty colors. So I said, "Poor baby, of course you do." and I cast on a hat. Pbbbblllt! It's my hobby and I'll knit what I want to. But I predict that the hat will quickly be abandoned when I'm feeling more rested.

There was a promise of another shawl.

This was mostly knit last summer as my vacation project, and I've managed to finish it up somehow. Here's the blocking shot:

Yarn: Knit Picks Shimmer, in color Morning Mist 1.7 skiens
Needles: 3mm
Pattern: Super Spiral Shawl from Gathering of Lace

It's a light and pretty scarf on me, though it might be a shawl on a smaller woman. I really like the way the variegated yarn swirls around. It gives the piece a lot of energy. I think this was a good marriage of yarn and pattern. But honestly, it was a lot of effort for very little end product.

Maybe it wants to be a Christmas present.

Catch Up

I had a really busy week, and I missed my mid-week post. After all the posting at the end of the Frost Flowers and Leaves project, I just didn't have the urge. I even fell behind in my reading, but I'm caught up now.

I'm really glad I knit the Frost Flowers and Leaves shawl. I'm really glad you all liked it and I thank you for the kind comments. Now that September is here I'm feeling the call of practical knitting. It's time to knuckle down to sweaters, hats and mittens for the cold weather that's coming.

I've gotten off to a good start with the Halcyon Aran. Thanks to starting with the sleeves, my enthusiasm for this project is high. Higher than the stamina in my hands though. I find the cables tiring to knit for long periods.


Once the first repeat of the pattern is established, I read my knitting to find out what I need to do next. I find this speeds things up and helps me catch mistakes as I go. This pattern is pretty easy to read and I've made few mistakes. It's no Starmore Jo!

Now here's some other tid-bits for you.

Last summer's vacation knitting is a little whirlpool shawl that is half-way cast off now. Don't be surprised if I have another shawl to show you soon!

Did you read the Knitty article about Stitch & Pitch? If you scroll down to the bottom you'll see my two friends, Kat and Lynn! What a thrill!

If you missed the Mystery Stole mania, there's a new mystery project in town, Maia's Mystery Socks. I really wanted to make these. The pattern looks very intriguing. I tried it twice. The first was too small, the second was too large, and I don't have the yarn in the stash that is just right. It's too bad. They're looking very pretty.

Dexter is over his cold and is healthy and happy. I wanted to show you how great he looks. I'm very proud of him.

He who has the ball, has the power.

Pretentious Modesty

Finishing a big project like this is very exciting, and yet I'm over come with feelings of modesty.

This is the second time I have knit this pattern. The first I did in a pale green wool blend that did not block out properly. I knit it one winter, when I was depressed, and I stopped two repeats short of the entire thing. I wear that shawl, I'm complimented on it and I enjoy it, but I also regret it. I needed to re-knit it with gusto. So I chose vivid red, and I knit it big!


This work was accomplished one stitch at a time. There's nothing special about it. It's just an accumulation of my time. Hours spent watching television with my husband, or sitting on the patio in the shade while occasionally throwing the ball for the dog.

Yet, with out me, this would not be. There was 580 grams of beautiful red Shetland wool. There was a lovely and well designed pattern. But I was the catalyst that brought these two together. I am a creator.

That'll Do

I'm not a perfectionist. I just don't have the stamina to deal with the stress that comes from striving for perfection. If you are, I admire you and respect the results you can achieve. But for myself, I stick with the good enough standard.

For example, when it came to grafting both ends of the Frost Flowers and Leaves Shawl together, I started to fuss and futz with trying to get the yarn to follow the template I'd lain down for myself. What you do, is knit a bit of the lace pattern, I did it in blue cotton, then knit the row you will be trying to graft in an other contrasting color, in my case, some white acrylic. So when I went to graft, it should have been a simple matter of following the path of the white acrylic through the both the blue cotton and the actual shawl yarn.

It sounds so simple, but I found it to be confusing and frustrating. I decided that good enough was good enough for me. With a project this big, no one but a master knitter would be looking for the graft line to see if was done perfectly. So based on what I already knew about kitchener stitch, and with the help of my white life line of acrylic, I just fudged the grafting.

I think that'll do.

Of course you came for the blocking shots. I don't blame you, but I hope you won't be disappointed. I'm not very good at blocking lace. I'm satisfied, but I don't think I did nearly as nice a job as I've seen some people do. To make excuses, I'm not using the best tools. I threaded the whole shawl around with blue cotton before giving it a good soak in Euculan.

Then I pinned it out on the bed. It completely covers the top of my Queen sized bed. My kids and husband were totally impressed.

I think that'll do.
Yes, that'll do just fine.

The End is Nigh

Dish Rag Tag - IT!

It's Dish Rag Tag time and I'm it! Jo sent me the cracker box from Montreal containing thoughtful goodies.

It's doggie stickers and doggie note pads! The cloth she sent is a beautiful lace one in lavender. Jo must read my blog!


Of the cotton yarn she sent I was drawn to the striping yarn. I wanted to make the most of the color changes, so I knit starting at the corners and grafted my triangles in the middle to make this stylishly striped square.


I hope Shelly likes it, because TAG YOU'RE IT!

The box is going to the post office first thing in the morning, and I am going to bed. Good night!

Lavendar's Blue, Dilly-dilly

Feeling blue? This color is such a rich, warm blue, it's far from sad! Thanks Jo, for reminding me about my little carry bag. I've only used it once so far, but it's perfect for my current sock on the go. The colors even match up! I've probably knit too much on this simple Trekking XXL sock (color 110), but I'm fascinated by the color changes. I keep thinking, "Just a little bit more, I want to see what's next."

In the background of this picture is some lavender I harvested from our garden. I was far to late to gather the flowers, but these seed heads are still very potent. I put the sachets in my yarn cupboard.

Thanks for all the advice and concern over Dexter. He hasn't coughed since that one bout, so we're keeping him from too much exercise, checking to see if he's hot, and making sure the water dish is always full of fresh, clean water. I did a stupid thing and gave him grapes on Saturday, so that probably didn't help anything! Poor pooch, the worst problem he has is an ignorant owner. Anyway, he's certainly not listless.

Slow but Steady

I was hoping to finish up the Frost Flowers and Leaves Shawl this long weekend, but I don't stand a chance. I've added one more edge, and now I'm almost half-way done. Now we can begin to see the size of the thing.

Rather than drive myself nuts by going steady with just one knit, I let my knitting fingers wander onto other projects. I cast on a plain sock, since we must always have at least one on the needles. And I cast on my second sleeve for the Halcyon Aran. One ball of yarn took me all the way to 18 inches on the first sleeve and that's enough for now. I'll adjust the length to the proportion of the body, once I've knit that. I'm still excited to start the main part of this project.

In other news, Dexter seems to have a cold. Since he's my first dog, I have no experience with this. But he's got a runny nose, he sneezes, and yesterday, after a particularly vigorous play session he had a cough. Man, dog coughs are nasty sounding! The cough went a way after he rested.

I looked things up on the net, and I'm pretty sure it's kennel cough. He was vaccinated against Bordetella shortly after we got him, so this illness is a little puzzling. He's still eating like a horse and wants to play, so I'm not going to take him to the vet yet. We're watching him though.

The rest of this weekend will be filled with housecleaning, and shopping as the kids prepare to go back to school. I think they're really ready to go! Summer got boring for them. Can you remember those days?