What am I doing?

Well, besides whining about my sprained/twisted ankle and can't ski this morning?

My brother and sister-in-law finished THEIR WIP, a beautiful baby girl, on Monday. So this means that the baby sweater needs to be finished before we visit next month. Carrie and I decided to make a larger size so that Baby would be able to wear it a bit longer, and so that she would have ample time to finish the project. Somehow it ended up in my basket, but that's OK. This is a sweater made from Sirdar Snuggly DK, colour 0260, from an older Pingouin magazine.

The back, sides and one sleeve are complete. Half a sleeve and the hood, and we're good to go.

We visited Jason and Coris down in Virginia for Christmas. They have a lovely new home. They are lacking a beautiful afghan for their living room. The Yggdrasil Afghan from Interweave Knits seems to fit the bill. I'm using Patons Shetland Chunky in Soft Teal, which will accent their colour scheme beautifully.


Jason and Coris -- I know it doesn't look like much just yet, but wait! It'll improve dramatically! This is one ball of yarn to date.

We've had a couple of customers inquire at the shop about Patons new laceweight yarn. It is 80% acrylic, 10% mohair and 10% wool, and dyed using a technique called "space dying." Basically, this means that the colour repeats are very l-o-n-g. Since Barb has an allergy to mohair, I was drafted to try the test piece. Dutifully I picked up a skein and tried to find a project.

I will admit to a fair bit of prejudice about this yarn. It just doesn't feel as nice as lace-weight alpaca. Why would anyone knit with this instead of alpaca? Eh? And this prejudice is perhaps why I've had to start a project with this yarn five times. Yes. Five times. I can report with full and complete honesty that the yarn withstands the rigors of repeated ripping and knitting. Beyond that ... well, I'm still not sold, but I AM knitting with it. This is the Double Bordered Scarf from Jane Sowerby's Victorian Lace:
I'm 32 rows into it, and finally starting to enjoy the process. I'll let you know how it all works out. In the meantime, this is probably going to be a Christmas gift for one of the youngish ladies in my lives. (You know who you are!)

I have committed myself to finishing the Great American Aran Afghan this calendar year. To that end, I knit up one of the remaining unworked squares -- the Jay Campbell square.
This square is worked from the outside in, circularly. Interesting concept, worked well, and the chart was impeccable. Don't know why I hesitated so long on this one.

Finally, we started a Knit-Along project at the store. The Arching Cables cardigan from the Fall Interweave Knits. I decided to use Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Flamme.
I'd been looking for a project for this wool so that I could showcase it at the store. This is it. A delightful project, not incredibly difficult but beautiful to behold. Here you see the belt, which took slightly more than one skein of wool. I'm just finishing the third ball here, so it will use a fair bit of wool. As Clairol would say, "I'm worth it!"

So ... what are you working on?

This just in ...

and going quickly! My last shipment lasted less than 24 hours. Any bets on how long this one will last?


For the record, this yarn is now sold out. It lasted less than 2 business days. What a great seller!

What I've done in January ... and there's still time left!

It's been quite the month for me -- from finishing projects, starting projects, and everything in between!

Firstly, and there is no photo to go along with this, I've been x-c skiing THREE times! The first two times created an amazing variety of bruises. My knees look like they've been painted various colours of green, blue, purple and black. So unattractive! But the third time? Not a single wipe-out, and a grand time was had by all. I'm looking forward to this weekend -- the potential for another three ski outings!

Remember Doug's (non-existent) Christmas socks? This is how they look now!

The boy is ridiculously happy!

We are teaching a fair isle class at the shop. In times past, I have used all kinds of bad words, in many combinations, to express my displeasure with fair isle. I did learn, finally, a technique to wrap the yarns so that they don't tangle around each other. The result:
This lovely hat and fingerless mittens. I used Patons Classic Merino and some neat yarn my step-daughter brought home from her trip to Ireland, on a 4.5mm for the hat, and 4.0mm for the mitts. Doesn't the inside of the work look nice? (Not that I'm fishing for compliments or anything!)
These little ensemble just might become a gift for the young ladies in my life. All four of them live in cold climates and a little extra warmth would be greatly appreciated by them.

In other news -- January 2 was the one-year anniversary of the shop's big relocation. We decided to have a party. But first, we needed to clear the counter of coffee mugs. Doug built and installed this for us, the morning of the party. Cut it a bit close, but after giving him a ball of yarn for his unknit socks, who am I to complain?
Since the party, he has installed a second, smaller panel which holds 18 mugs to the left of the first panel. Interestingly, a number of ladies brought cups in, and we're now looking at a total of 16 empty spaces.

I did mention that we threw a party, right? Parties involve food.
It was all delicious. Entirely too good. At the wool shop, however, there are no calories, so were just fine with it all.

And if you have delicious food and wool, you just know there will be friends!

All told, we had 20 people attend the party, as well as another half dozen who stopped by and shopped. Or dropped off chocolate.

I'm so excited that Doug procured the Addi Click needles for me. The fair isle set above was knit with them. For the hat I used the 16" cable, and it was quite nice to not have to finagle magic loop. (Did I say that out loud?!?) And you all know how dedicated I am to knitting everything possible on circular needles. So, guess what I did Tuesday?
Started a new project on my new Addi Clicks!

Finally!

This past year has been the Year of the Sock. This pile of socks represents my year. Almost one full pair of socks per month ...
Did I learn anything from this endeavour? I certainly did. Knitting a pair of fancy socks every month, along with the myriad other projects that I knit was not nearly as easy as I had thought it would be. In fact, it was downright difficult. I'm not certain, but I think that the number of months that I actually finished on time was far fewer than the months I didn't. I did, ultimately, knit a pair of socks for every month -- but only if you count the plain striped socks for December. While not originally planned, these are the pair that saved my claim of "a pair for every month!"

Well, that and the fact that I finished the November socks on Christmas morning. Yes, my youngest son did, in fact, receive a pair of socks still on the needles. Everyone else? Well, the claim is that a picture says a thousand words.
Beginning with the 1:00 position and moving clockwise, you see my daughter-in-law with some lovely Arequipa socks, my step-daughter with hand-dyed Briggs & Little, my daughter with the fair-isle Naturally Loyal socks, myself with the Dream in Colour sparkly yarn, youngest son with the Colinette Jitterbug November socks, eldest son with the Misti International Alpaca sock yarn, and ... well, there's poor Doug with a ball of yarn.

Yes, even with knitting a pair of socks every month in 2011, I ended up short one pair of socks for the gift-giving. Now, I do have a bunch of socks for the ladies in the family for 2012 ... it just turned out that I was short on socks for the men in my life. I have since made great strides toward rectifying this oversight as I'm on the toe shaping for sock #2 of his pair.

And Doug definitely deserves a pair of socks after he got me the fabulous Addi Click needles for Christmas.

I did, however, give him a very awesome gift too:
A KitchenAid professional model stand mixer. Doug has been wanting a new stand mixer for ages, especially since last Christmas his then-current mixer lost a part. Still worked, but was no longer a "start and walk away" model. He'd been wanting and wishing for a new mixer all year, and I decided that he deserved a new mixer. Does he look happy?

In fact, he was so thrilled with the mixer that he immediately hauled it out to the daughter-in-law's kitchen and the two of them mixed up a batch of cinnamon rolls.

Hope everyone else had a delightful Christmas and New Year.

You should see what my honey got me for Christmas!

I had the best Christmas ever. You should SEE what my honey got me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyTatiIhPDg

Good news, bad news.

What should I expect? After all, it IS Monday. The good news is that I finished Sylvi. And oh, what a beautiful sweater she is.

The bad news? Well, let's just put it this way. De Nile ain't just a river in Egypt. It seems that I've gained a wee bit of weight since I moved to Canada. My doctor and I had a discussion about that same weight, and agreed that I should lose a bit. So I'm trying. Unfortunately for me, not quickly enough. And probably won't be in the right places.

In any event, I did model her, just so I could show her off.

I got stitch gauge just fine, using my 6.0mm needles. Row gauge seems to be a bit off, though. The sweater is much shorter than pictured.
Also, the hood wasn't quite as tall as I would have liked; well, needed is a better word.

Look at the flower detail:
That's just gorgeous. The petals are added after everything else is knitted. Just pick up two stitches at the base, and away you go. Then you sew the petal down once you have completed knitting it.

I used 8 skeins of Araucania Nature Wool Chunky, colour number 105 which appears to be discontinued. I had calculated that I would need 10 balls, so apparently being off on row gauge made a huge difference.

If I were to make this design again, I would modify the pattern by working an edge stitch that is always slipped at the beginning of a row and knit at the end, and then a stitch that is always knit on the right side and purled on the wrong side. This would give me edges and a seam similar to that on Inggun, which I quite adored.

I'd also measure myself before I started, to be certain that I made the correct size.

I'm not going to frog this sweater. It's too beautiful. So here's the question -- do I give it to my daughter, my step-daughter or my daughter-in-law? They're all approximately the right size. Did I mention that I'm open to bribes?

Good bye, old friend

Good bye, Henry. You've been a wonderful friend --

everything a kitty should be. From sunning yourself in the sun,
to claiming every box you saw. Everyone loved you.
And you loved everyone. Your favourite pastimes were sleeping in the sun, wherever you found it.
Or simply being near us, wherever we were.
When the weather turned chilly, you'd warm us up. Or perhaps we warmed you. We could never tell, except that the purr motor was constant.
For such a small critter, you've left a gaping hole in our hearts.
Sleep well, Henry. We loved you well.

November? Already?

I can't believe how quickly the year has flown past. I mean -- seriously? November? Where did October go? We aren't even going to talk about September!

The good news is that I did manage to complete the October socks very close to the end of October. Actually, I was only one day late. Notice how these look like plain, old vanilla socks?

Until you look at the top of the foot!
These are Kei-Mei from Cookie A.'s book, Sock Innovations. I knit mine in Arequipa, from Estelle.

Finally, I just had to brag show off report on my progress on Sylvi.
I still have all the flower petals to complete, but everything else is stitched together. I'm 12 rows into the hood! I'll be wearing this baby soon!

More catching up ...

So last April (yes, I know that was 7 whole months ago!) we started a knit-along at the shop. The project was "Inggun" from Elsebeth Lavold's book #18. I had been eyeing that vest for months -- 6 of them to be exact -- and I was so happy when the designated month arrived.

I cast on the first week. Three weeks later, this is what I had:

The back view is equally gorgeous:

And the seam detail -- oh, how I love the seam details:

I used Patons Classic Merino, the camel colour, which has sadly been discontinued. Four balls, on a 5.0mm needle. Delightful. Elsebeth Lavold is my favourite designer, for a reason.

Finally, in keeping with the whole sock-a-month idea, I bring you my September socks:

These are the Ricks socks from Cookie A's book, Sock Innovation. I used Ranco from Auracania, on a 3.0m needle. I purposely used a larger needle and made the sock a wee bit longer because I know the wool will shrink.

In other news ... my brother David just celebrated his birthday. This time last year was quite bleak as he'd just been diagnosed with cancer. This year, he's doing far better. His latest blood work came back with an all clear. Yahoo!

Trying to be current

I'm trying to keep the blog current, keep up with my projects ... you know the drill. There's still so much to report, and time at the shop keeps getting interrupted. But I still try. So this is the second post this week -- how's that?

The Year of Knitting Socks is proceeding apace. I've finished the August socks -- Brainless. Working on the September socks -- Rick from Cookie A -- using Araucania Ranco. Now, I know this yarn will shrink every time you wash it. (Doug had a pair of lovely green socks that are now mine, you see.) As I was working on these, I thought I was getting close to the toe shaping. To make certain, I tried it on.

Remember how I knew this yarn would shrink? Well, the sock barely made it on past the ankle and heel area.
Which meant that the prudent course of action was to frog it. Completely. (Insert heavy sigh here!) Of course, this just means that I get to enjoy that yarn all over again! (Insert happy face here!)

In other knitting news, I learned how to double knit this past week. The result:

This nice reversible headband. I plan to use it this winter when cross-country skiing! Made from one ball each of Naturally Yarns Loyal Superwash Merino, colours #912 and 915 (dark and light green respectively) and 3.5mm circular needle.

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving everyone!

With apologies to Dr. Suess ...

I present my version of his classic counting story (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish)

One sock:

These are the April socks, done with a pattern called "Twisted Rib." I believe this one was from KnitPicks, but I can't check because their site seems to be down. Both my socks (blue ones on the right) and Barb's (brown ones on the left) were worked in Misti International Alpaca sock yarn. Yummy!

Two sock:

These are the socks for May, from Cookie A's book titled "Sock Innovation." The design is called "Angee." My socks, on the left, were worked from Cascade Heritage sock yarn -- truly a delightful yarn. I don't remember what yarn Barb used, but she got hers finished too.

Red sock:
These are the socks we chose for June -- the Ribbed Ribbons Socks from Wendy Johnson's book Socks from the Toe Up. My socks, again on the left, were worked with Dream in Colour sock yarn that Carrie gave me for Mother's Day. The pictures doesn't really show the sparkles in the yarn, but sparkle it does.

Blue sock:
This pair of socks was worked in Berroco Metallic Sock yarn, and was started while Doug and I were camping in Algonquin Park in July. My theory is that we encountered so many thunderstorms because of the sparkles in the yarn. The sky just wanted to mimic the sock. Hey -- I said it was a theory, not a good theory!

And since I'm not done showing off socks, here are the July socks:
This design is called "Froot Loops"from Knitty. Barb and I both chose to use hand-painted yarns that we had created some time ago. Looking at our feet, Barb claims that I have the "before milk" socks and she has the "after milk socks." I can see that!

But wait -- there's more!
These are socks knit from KnitPicks Simply Stripes, a discontinued sock yarn. Probably will be gifted at Christmas, but we don't know for sure. After all, there ARE eight pairs of socks to be done for the big holiday.

We got some new sock yarn at the store, and I got to make a sample pair of socks.
This is Zauberball, and as other folks have noted, these are definitely fraternal twin socks. If you are a knitter/sock wearer who requires matching socks -- don't go near the Zauberball. On the other hand ...

And finally, I have completed the August socks:
These are called Brainless, from Yarnissima. I'm not so sure what is brainless about these socks. You definitely need a brain to knit them. I really love how the cables split apart to bracket the heel gusset, and then reform to travel up the leg. Really sweet design. The yarn is, if memory serves, from Socks That Rock, but I can't find the label to know for certain.

Wow. That's 8 pair of socks. At least you know I've been doing something during this very long blogging absence!

A day in the life of ...

Now that it is August (shhh -- I know the month is one/third over. DeNial ain't just a river in Eqypt, ya know?), I thought it was time to show you the March socks that Barb and I knit up. This is the Butterfly sock from Knitpicks. I was loyal to my stash and used up some old Eaton's yarn; Barb, on the other hand, used On Your Toes Bamboo sock yarn. Couldn't tell you what size needles or anything else about them, except that we did them. And on time!

And then there's this little gem:

Abandoned like yesterday's McDonald's french fries. For this:
This is the Sagrantino Shawl, being knit from Misti International HandPaint Sock yarn. I saw this on Ravelry, looked at the handpaint yarn, and fell. Hard. Hard enough that I'm even using double pointed needles.

But even the shawl paled when confronted by this:
Which very quickly became this:

What you see there is the fall shipment of James C. Brett Marble Chunky. Including the new colours for fall. Man, did I have fun at the wool shop! With much rearranging and squeezing, I managed to fit all the colours into the display, and store the overflow. See?

Now, it's back to the shawl ... or the sock ... or Sylvi ... or the July socks ... or the August socks ... decisions, decisions, decisions.