Lana

Lana is off the needles!
The sun has not been around much lately and today was no exception.
But it did show it's face for about 15 minutes and out the door I went with camera in hand and hubby following behind.
I wondered if we would have any pictures at all with the winds blowing as they were.

But the winds did calm down for a few minutes.

The shawl drapes really nicely because it's knitted from side to side on the bias.

The lace border is knitted with the body of the shawl on one side and is knitted-on on the other side.
I thought this was such a wonderful way to add the border.
The two other shawls in this series are designed the same way.

I love large asymmetrical shawls.
I like tying knots in my shawls and wearing them off to the side.

The yarn I used is from our own herd. It's an alpaca/mohair blend.
Soooooooo soft!
It's light as a feather too and I think I'll be wearing it all year long.

I've been felting shawls this weekend and I have lots to show you...
 

Socks

Sometimes life is like a raging river and all you can do is hang on
knowing and trusting that calm waters are ahead.
Thank goodness for knitting to help me get thru!
Just mindless knitting to keep my hands busy.

But before I show you those projects I must tell you about this one first.
Last week, my grand daughter told me all about losing the spring hat I had made her last year when she went to the store with her mother.
She was quite sad about it and asked if I could make her another.
To the stash I went to look for some coton yarn. Turns out I still had some of the yarn I had used last year and I decided to use it to make her a different hat.
I like to crochet spring and summer hats instead of knitting them. They just seems to be lighter.

Her only request was that the hat have a flower on it. The brim can be down or rolled up. It's quite cute on her. Details here.

Now for the mindless knitting.

It all started with a pair of Burning stripes socks.
I had two balls of Zauberball waiting to be made into a pair of these socks.
But I ended up knitting more than one pair.
You see, the first two socks did not match very well. One was very dark while the other one was quite light. I don't have a problem with fraternal twin socks as long as they look like fraternal twins.
Hubby and I agreed that the first two socks were more like step-brothers ;-)
Since I had lots of yarn leftover, I decided to knit another pair. Turns out that sock 1 and 3 are perfect together and that sock 2 and 4 are perfect together. I'm much happier now! And I have two pair of socks that I love.

I know I will make this pattern again with regular sock yarn.

This lead to more sock knitting.
Just plain socks with self striping yarn.

Then on to another pair.
The heel I use is Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel. It fits very well and I use it often now. You can find her tutorial on youtube.

When this pair is completed, I think I'm done with sock knitting for a while.
I need something else now.
Maybe a shawl or another cardigan, a light one for summer.

But before that, I'm off for a very special week.
I'm taking a week long felting course at the Haliburton school of the Arts.
Leaving on Sunday with a friend.

Red

Red is a favorite colour of mine.
So when it was time to choose a colour for this next cardigan, I dyed my yarn in a bright red...called Vampire blood.

This is a worsted weight 100% merino yarn.
The same yarn used in my Thrummed mitten kits.
 

(Bjorne is such a sweet and gently boy. He's a great dog to walk with.)

The Lush cardigan is a test knit for tincanknits. A new design, part of their upcoming Spring 2013 collection Handmade in the UK.

 

 After knitting a lace panel, stitches are picked up on one edge for the body and sleeves while stitches are picked up on the opposite edge for the collar.

I do love a no-seam knit.

Spring is getting closer and I'll be happy to have this comfortable cardigan in my closet.

Fresh start

Now that the children are all grown up, we are reorganizing the house to better suit our own needs.**

This has pushed us to do more painting and we now have a freshly painted bedroom.

I will need to keep a single bed in this room for some of our visiting guests but I would also like to use the room as a store for my yarns, fibre and garments.
Yup, a Lonely Oak/Zenitude store opening soon eventually!

But back to the freshly painted room.

A daybed would be ideal, but I'm cheap and won't spend $500 for a new one. So the search is on for something suitable in the right price range.

I'm also looking for some shelving, maybe a entertainment unit would do, to store the inventory. 

I already have a wonderful table that will be great as a desk.



I'll let you know how we are progressing over the next few weeks months.

 

There is still some knitting going on.

The Strathcona scarf is  coming along.

I've modified the pattern a bit because I don't have a whole lot of yardage with this alpaca yarn.

The yarn is also a sport weight.

** About reorganizing the house to better suit OUR needs...that should probably be MY needs. Seems that I'm claiming most of the house for myself. The lower level is not a man cave in our house but it's my studio, dye room, tv room, storage room... And now this bedroom will also be all MINE!
But, hubby has the sheds and the garage to call his own...seems fair to me! :o)

Bits of this, bits of that

Today's post is about little bits of this and that.

I recently purchased the Island e-book. A collection of patterns designed by Jane Richmond.

The patterns are inspired by life on Vancouver Island.

 

I will probably make four of the five patterns included in this book.

 

Arbutus is the first pattern I started with.

It's a cowl with three tiers in the front.

They stack up onto each other making the cowl less cumbersome but still very warm. It gives the look of a wrapped cowl without all the fuss.

 

The yarn I used is yarn that I spun from Alicia's alpaca fibre. Dyed Poppy Red, it feels light and thick and just so soft.

 

 

I've also casted on the Strathcona scarf from the same book. More on that when I can take pictures in a good light. 

 

Remember my Blue Antler cardigan?  When I saw that the designer team of the Antler cardigan had a test knit going on for a new pattern, I voluntered right away.

Here is the beginning of Lush.

I have enough projects on the go and must not be tempted to cast on for anything else!!!

 

Lately, Mia, the cat  has decided to use a half wall as a perch. She can look out the front door from there and out the window as well...perfect observation point!

 

 

But she does sleep on her watch! Not much happening around here I guess.

 







 

Tomorrow, I'll be at the Callander Community Center with yarn and fibre in tow from 10-5.

Come and say hi if you are in the area!!

Blue Antler

The Antler cardigan is all done. Even the buttons are sewn on! And all the ends woven in.

 

I had bought the Fleece artist BFL Aran yarn at my LYS last year as a kit to knit the Imogen cardigan. But I decided to use it for the Antler cardi instead.

I'm so glad I did.

It was a nice treat to knit in such a thick yarn. It seemed like a fast project even though there were many hours of stockinette stitch involved.

Once I got to the yoke and the cables started to appear, I gave it as much time as I could.

I know I'll get a lot of wear out of this cardi. It will be great for spring and fall and a few of our cooler summer evenings. 

Project information here.

The deep deep freeze

Everybody is talking about it.

It's all we hear on the radio and the weather channel.

We have just about had enough of it. 

The only good thing about it is that the sun has been shining brightly for several days.

It's darn cold out there and it's been this way for several days now!

Last night was another night of frigid temps

-34C

See the small number in the bottom right hand corner. That's the lowest it went to last night.

 

Add a bit of wind to this and you end up with -40C!

Did you know that -40C is -40F?

 

But we cannot say that we are cold in our house.

Thanks to this in our kitchen.

 

The fire in the cookstove is going all the time.

The wood from the wood shed is making it's way to the house at a fast pace.

A little too much at times!

If you check the above themometer again, the small number on the bottom left hand corner says +27C! That was the high in our house yesterday! Well, if not the whole house, in the kitchen at least. At one point, I realized it was -27 outside and +27 inside. After a few hours working outside, hubby came in frozen and loaded the stove up and we ended up with a tropical heat wave.

When it gets this cold, I think of those people that are shivering outside or in poorly insulated homes. I think of the children that do not have warm clothes to face the cold every day.

I'm very grateful for our warm home.

 

I've been busy with some house cleaning.

I've also been prepping a guest bedroom for a fresh coat of paint.

And there has been some knitting going on as well.

Antler is coming along. I joined the sleeves to the body and have started on the yoke. I was so eager to get to that part. After miles and miles kilometers and kilometers of stockinette knitting, I was looking forward to the cables.

Once that's done, all that will be left is the button band and sewing on a few buttons.

I'm really excited about this cardigan.

 

I walked into a Roots store last week to purchased a .50¢ shopping bag!

The salesperson would probably have liked me to have a look around the store before purchasing an empty shopping bag. But all I wanted was this bag.

 

 

It's become another one of my knitting project bags.

Cool, eh?

 

With Antler almost completed, I'm already planning the next project.

That's it for now.

Stay warm!

Milo 2

Having knitted the cute little Milo vest for Loïc in a size 12 mths, I looked forward to knitting another one in a size 5 for Olivia.

It's a great tv knitting project because of all the stockinette stitch involved.

I've knitted this one longer so it fits more like a tunic. 

And I chose a different cable than the first one I knitted. But I guess I was distracted (by the tv) and did not follow the directions for the Aran cable very well. I came up with something very different. I noticed my error at the very end and decided that I did not mind this version.

Since every little girl likes sparkly things, I added a row of beads on the cast-off. 

Olivia was very happy with the beads.

And now that this is done, I'll have more time for my Alcyone and my Antler cardigan.

After knitting the little Lovebug booties last week,

I decided to cast on for a little baby knit that I've had my eye on for a very long time.

Milo is a sleeveless top made from the top down with no seaming whatsoever!

My kind of knit.

 I've been knitting on Milo on and off during the many days of Christmas fun.

 

I have about 2 inches to knit BUT do you see that little ball of yarn on the left hand side? That's what is left of my skein and I am going to run out anytime now. I'll make a trip to the LYS tomorrow to see if they have another one. Guess I should have made the booties after the vest.

 

Tin Can Knits is giving out one free pattern of your choice from their pattern collection. You must choose yours by Jan 1st. The coupon code is available here. Let me know which one you got!

I chose Antler Cardigan. The size range in this pattern goes from 0-6 mths all the way to 4XL!!  And I have the perfect yarn to knit myself this cardigan.

 

This yarn was purchased as a kit to knit the Imogen cardigan. But I will use it to knit the Antler cardigan instead. It's a great colour that changes from grey to a dark blue depending on the light. Since I'll be putting the little vest aside till tomorrow (or until I find another skein of yarn), I guess I have no choice but to cast on the Antler tonight!

 

After 5 wonderful days of family gatherings and celebrating, it feels like luxury to sit down and knit!!

 

Grey Cup weekend

I'll state it right away, I'm not a football fan!

BUT

hubby's cousins have been planning a reunion for a long time and they're all going to the Grey Cup, a boy's weekend.

This year, the game is in Toronto. 

So this means a weekend with the house all to myself, my own schedule, the remote control and the meal planning all left up to me!

So I do declare to love the Grey Cup weekend!

 

On the knitting list, I'm working on a scarf.

 

Well, seems that I've gone over the limit for photos with Blogger...I need to look into this before I can blog again. I'm not too interested in paying a monthly fee.
Be back when I find a solution!

 

 

 

Winter Bliss!

You must think What does she mean...Winter Bliss?? at this time of the year.

Let me explain.

It's no secret, that my favorite time of the year is the winter...the great northern winter with lots and lots of snow and just cold enough to put on all those cozy knits I work on all year.

Well, this time I say Winter Bliss for a different reason. I've ventured out to new pastures!
 

Finding myself with loads of bulky hand spun yarns this summer, I knew I had better start knitting this stuff before I ran out of bins to store it. Not finding a cowl pattern that I liked, I experimented with a simple design of a very comfortable and cozy cowl for the bulky handspun yarn I kept spinning.

With a bit of encouragement, I've decided to publish this pattern on Ravelry under the name of
Winter Bliss Cowl!

Now you know!

 

Curious to see what it looks like?

It's knitted sideways and has a back seam. Then folded over, it offers great protection from the winter wind and cold. The back of the cowl is narrow in order to reduce unnecessary bulk.

 

 

I had the pattern tested on Ravelry by some great knitters and they offered wonderful ideas and suggestions to make the pattern more accessible to the beginner knitter and a better knit for all.

Lot's of Winter Bliss cowl projects are already posted here.

One knitter even showed us how to wear this cowl as a hat. See here.
I thought this was such a cool idea!

If it's cold enough in your neck of the woods, you might want to make one for yourself sooner than later!
The cowl can be knitted in approx. 3 hours. Making one in an evening is possible.
You could even cross out a few names on your Christmas list.

 

And I leave you with a picture of Alicia, the most photogenic alpaca we have. She just loves the camera!

 



Shawl FO

I sometimes lurk in the Free Pattern Testers group on Ravelry to see what's being offered. The idea to knit a beautiful pattern before it becomes public is very enticing. I like the challenge of knitting and finding any errors or typos (usually very minor) that might have found their way into the written pattern or the charts.

 

About a  month ago I came across a pattern for a shawl that had some beads in it. I just loved the look of that shawl. I thought that this would be a good time to try this new-to-me beading technique.
 

Ignorance is bliss they say...well ya...it is.
 

It would take me an hour and a half to knit only one small repeat. This section is 24 rows of 42 stitches but it has 51 beads! I needed to knit 23 repeats in total. That's almost 1200 beads.

WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!

 

 

If it had not been for the dealine on this test knit (and my pride) I'm sure I would have put the shawl away till the urge to knit in more beads would have come again (and we know such urges never do surface again). So my plan was to knit at least one repeat per evening and some days I might start on a second one.

 

Once the band was done (32 hours of knitting), I picked up quite a few stitches, proceeded to do some short-row knitting and just two evenings later, the shawl that I thought would never see daylight was completed.
 

WHOA! Am I ever happy with myself! I just love my new shawl. It's for sure the nicest thing I've ever knitted.

 

The yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh lace in the Oxblood colourway. Once knitted up, I see more pinks and plums than before...wonderful colour.

Matches with my rock completely ;o)

This is the Large version of this shawl. It's not huge, measuring 16'' deep and 94'' along the bottom edge.

I would order beads online next time instead of getting them at the big box store...the beads are not all the same size and many ended up being thrown away but in the end it doesn't really show.

 There's this wonderful little double cable all along and it's just too cute!

The pattern is Everdeen by Jessica Myers.
You should knit one too!