My Knits 'n' Purls World

Happy New Year!

2012-01-09T12:47:00.001-08:00

Even though the 2012 calendar went up over a week ago, for me today feels like the first day of the brand new year. For the third year running, Cameron and I spent the first week of January on holidays, more or less holed up on our own, with limited contact with the outside world and this morning signaled a return to real life. This year we opted for a “staycation” and except for spending two nights in a not-so-rustic cabin at a local golf course, we stuck pretty close to home. The weather was not conducive to a lot of outdoor activities so we passed much of the time reading and knitting and just enjoying being together. It’s a tradition that we will definitely be carrying on.

The socks have just been flying off my needles. Since Christmas I’ve finished three pairs.

I enjoyed knitting up this variegated yarn in a slipped-stitch pattern.

Almondine worked up quickly in some yarn I received from Jessica and Neil in my "Boxing Day Survival Kit”.

Last year I had presented Neil with a video-game themed kit so they turned the tables on me this year, providing everything I needed for a relaxing, knitting-filled Boxing Day (including adult underwear so as to avoid those pesky bathroom breaks). The truth is, I didn’t put it into use until a few days later (well, except for the Depends…) but it was much appreciated just the same.

I also made my tenth stop along the Silk Road and knit up Yomut in just a week’s time.

I just love how they turned out in the Gradiance Yarn from The Unique Sheep.

In addition to socks, I joined a shawl KAL in the Handmaiden/Fleece Artist group on Ravelry and cast on Caricia in some Sea Silk that’s been in my stash for over four years.

I like how it’s knitting up so far. This yarn has tried and failed to be several other things in the past but I think this one’s a winner.

And if that weren’t enough, yesterday I began a new pullover for Cameron, the Traveling Man Sweater, in a charcoal grey that’s much darker than it appears here.

Something tells me that I may regret all that ribbing in near-black yarn before it’s done but this one is all about the product, not the process. I’d like to have it finished by the end of February, in time for his birthday. But it won’t be a surprise. Cameron is rather, shall we say selective?, about his clothes so he was involved in every step of the planning, from choosing the pattern, to determining the size, to shopping for the yarn.

With all that knitting, I’ve had plenty of time to think about the coming year and what it might bring. Most of my goals—maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, bringing vacation photo albums up to date, and compiling some genealogical research—don’t involve yarn or needles but I have been contemplating a rather ambitious project that does. This year I’d like to try my hand at design and put together a pattern collection for sale. Right now I am purely in the planning stage, with tons of ideas running through my mind and keeping me awake at night. As the year progresses I hope to bring some of those plans into fruition and share the process with you as the year unfolds. So hang on tight—it may be a rocky ride.

The Making is Over

2011-12-14T17:16:00.001-08:00

One by one, I have gradually been crossing things off on my Christmas to-do list. Today I reached a significant point in my holiday preparations by completing the last of the handmade gifts. Since daughter, dear daughter is on the receiving end of one of those presents and sometimes reads my blog I can not share everything I’ve been working on but here is a sampling.

Ever since I gifted the first felted slippers back in 2006 I have received requests for at least a pair or two every year. Knowing how much they are loved and appreciated, I am happy to oblige, even though the novelty of knitting them wore off long ago. This year I had planned to make only two pairs, one for my sister, Anna-Marie, for her birthday and one on behalf of my sister, Alison, to gift to her daughter-in-law. I think it was halfway through the third slipper that I decided to also knit a pair for my brother-in-law, Doug, for his birthday (we celebrate the winter birthdays in my family at a post-Christmas brunch so holiday gift-planning also includes several birthday presents). I vaguely recall having a conversation with him about them and I’d recorded his shoe size in my knitting notebook so I am guessing that he had expressed an interest in owning a pair at some point.

So, that makes three pairs in all:

I still haven’t decided whether to gift them felted or unfelted—I’d hate to get the sizing wrong but it is nicer to receive a pair that you can slip on right away.

Once upon a time I used to be quite a seamstress but it’s rare these days that I use my machine for anything other than hemming or mending. However, since Santa is bringing my granddaughter an Easy-Bake Oven, Jessica suggested that an apron might be a good gift for Morgan this year. I found a really good tutorial online and had a lot of fun picking out coordinating fabrics. It made up in no time and I love how it turned out.

While I was sewing it I remembered a Christmas apron panel that I’d bought years ago when I used to work at a craft store and decided that it had sat in the fabric stash long enough. Luckily, I had just the right amount of muslin to line it with and before I knew it I had another apron to gift, this time to my mother (who is actually the only person I know who regularly uses an apron).

You’ll notice that I’ve used our Christmas tree as a background for all of these projects. If you look more closely you’ll see that the Christmas tree is completely bare of ornaments, even though it has been up since Sunday. I am hoping to remedy that situation in the next day or two, now that the making is over and the shopping is almost done. (We won’t dwell on the fact that I haven’t even begun the cards.) Considering the jobs that still remain on my to-do list it is unlikely that I will be posting again before the big day so I’d like to extend a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my blog readers and wish you nothing but good things in 2012.

P.S. If you have the means, please try to make the holidays brighter for someone less fortunate. Every year my ladies group adopts a family for Christmas from our local women’s shelter and we are going shopping for them tonight. This is one of my favourite holiday traditions—it feels good to ease the family’s burden at this time of year and it always makes me feel even more grateful for all I have.

Reveal

2011-12-05T10:26:00.001-08:00

Now that Andrew’s birthday has come and gone I can share details and pictures of his super-secret birthday sweater. Well, it wasn’t entirely secret. Jessica knew which sweater I was knitting for him, she just didn’t know what colour it was going to be.

I fell in love with Arshile months ago so when I saw the booklet in my LYS I immediately snatched it up and purchased yarn; an added bonus was discovering Abi, which by the way, despite numerous issues, turned out perfectly.

(One of these days I am going to have to get model shots of all my sweaters—the laid-out-flat-on-the-floor poses just don’t do them justice but it’s hard to take pictures of yourself!)

Back to Arshile…

I really loved the gansey-style textured stitches and I am a sucker for a hoodie.

The pattern called for knitting it flat and seaming but I couldn’t see why it couldn’t be knit in the round so I adjusted the pattern and cast on after taking off for Miami back in September. It turned out to be perfect travel knitting—the pattern was straightforward and just mindless enough that I could knit and look out the airplane window at the same time. I worked on it a bit on the way home but mostly I just slept.

It didn’t take long to finish once I got home and settled in.

Once blocked, all I had to do was wait for the big day…

With Andrew so mobile these days, it’s hard to get him to stand still for a picture but I managed a quick one.

and then another.

After that the photo shoot went downhill when I tried for one with the hood on and he proceeded to jersey himself in his effort to get it off. However, I am happy to report that he has gone on to wear the sweater multiple times since without incident.

Birthday Boy

2011-11-21T13:17:00.001-08:00

From this

to this

in the blink of an eye.

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Triumph and Tragedy

2011-11-10T14:39:00.001-08:00

Triumph: Despite suffering a major setback, after two months of tv-, car-, and social-knitting I finally finished the seemingly endless stockinette body of Abi at about 10:30 last night. I was so excited by the prospect of adding the sleeves and beginning the cabled yoke that I decided to begin right then. This may have been a lapse in judgment.

Tragedy: The process did not turn out to be as simple as I first anticipated. Recall that the pattern is written for flat construction and I am knitting it in the round. Consider that to eliminate seams you must alter stitch counts and use different construction techniques. Also take into account that I decided to attach the sleeves and increase for the yoke in the same row and you might have some idea of why I ran into trouble.

Triumph: A couple of hours, a glass of wine, and several failed attempts later, I successfully attached the sleeves to the sweater and ended up with the right number of stitches. Win, win.

Tragedy: Even after a good night’s sleep, this morning it took three tries to get the cables placed around the yoke to my satisfaction. I should have waited until after I’d had my first cup of tea.

Triumph: The cables are evenly dispersed and strategically placed and the yoke is well on its way. Abi may become a sweater yet.

On a more somber note, tomorrow we celebrate Remembrance Day. In addition to observing a minute of silence at 11:00 am, Canadians wear poppies to commemorate the memory of our fallen heroes.

Lest we forget.

And Then There Were Two

2011-10-30T16:02:00.001-07:00

Well, three, if you count the cat (who is currently oblivious to the whole situation).

Just a short time ago Cameron helped Matt load up the last truckload of his belongings and move them into his new abode (Colin’s condo), thus decreasing the size of our household by one and ushering in a new phase of all of our lives. It’s a day we have all been looking forward to, in the best kind of way. Matt will experience true independence for the first time in his life and we will regain some of the freedom we lost when our first child was born. I know some parents dread becoming empty-nesters but I look at this moment as a sign of success. What greater achievement is there than raising your children to become capable, responsible, independent adults? After all, isn’t that what it’s all about?

Tomorrow we will celebrate another milestone when our youngest turns twenty-two. Happy Birthday, Colin!

Matt and Colin, roomies once again. Okay, so maybe they don’t look like the most capable, responsible, independent adults in this picture but underneath those Halloween costumes I assure you that they are.

Taking a Breather

2011-10-25T17:58:00.001-07:00

September and October have been very busy and will continue to be so right up until this weekend, when we will be hosting about 25 people for our family’s annual fall birthday get-together on Saturday, then helping our eldest son move out on Sunday (after that we will officially be empty-nesters!). Today feels like a bit of a catch-up day, working on some knitting this morning and updating Ravelry project pages and the blog this afternoon.

First things first, a secret project I alluded to way back at the beginning of September. A very kind Ravelry friend sent me some yummy sock yarn from her mother’s destash

so I thought it only fitting that I send my yarn fairy a gift in return.

River Grass socks made from some locally dyed yarn, purchased at one of my favourite LYS’s. I may have also sent along some Canadian chocolate because isn’t everything better with chocolate? Once again, Yarn Fairy, I want to say a huge thank you for your kindness and generosity.

Throughout September I worked on several other projects.

I made quite a lot of progress on my Strata Sphere but it still doesn’t look much like a sweater yet.

I finished up my last pair of socks from Chrissy Gardiner’s CSK, Memento Mori.

Unfortunately, this photo doesn’t do justice to the gorgeous yarn from Impulse of Delight. I salivate every time she updates her shop. I also cast on and completed Gordes, knit from Quince and Co.’s Tern.

This is the second pair I’ve made with this yarn and I really like it. I have plans to try out their sweater weights too. As if that weren’t enough I also cast on Cusp for the Cookie A. KAL and got as far as the gusset on the first sock.

I chose another new favourite yarn, Spud and Chloe Fine. Like the Tern, it is a wool and silk blend with a nice bounce. As if all of that weren’t enough, a few weeks before we left for holidays I decided that I really wanted a shrug to wear with my “little black dress”, one that would match the necklace I planned to wear with it. The result was the Lady Grey Lace Shrug in a deep red.

I finished it in plenty of time and It turned out exactly as I’d hoped but you’ll have to take my word for it when I tell you how elegant it looked since I neglected to get a picture.

We left for our trip on September 29th, a working holiday with my husband’s company that consisted of three days in Miami, followed by a weeklong cruise to the eastern Caribbean. Of course, the most important decision was what knitting I would pack for the plane. The Ennea Collective had released Clue 1 of a mystery shawl the week before and I had promptly jumped in—you know how I love a good KAL.

If Clue 2 was released in time I planned to work on that. If not, Plan B was to cast on for Andrew’s birthday sweater, Despite Lori’s valiant attempts on my and another knitter’s behalf, Plan B it was (in retrospect, it was probably a better choice anyway since all of the lace charts might have been a bit fiddly to manage). I worked on it all the way to Miami and by the time I arrived I had more than half a body. Then I put it away and didn’t knit a stitch for ten days.

Think about that for a minute. Ten whole days.

There simply wasn’t time. We were too busy participating in 70’s night and getting down with the World Class Rockers,

then enjoying the mellow sounds of Blue Rodeo the following night.

We golfed and did some sightseeing in Miami, then boarded The Allure, the world’s largest ship.

The ship was not only huge, it was also very beautiful with an aqua theatre and boardwalk area, complete with carousel, ice-cream parlour, and old-fashioned candy store,

a mini replica of Central Park,

a zip line,

a climbing wall,

and two flow riders,

in addition to numerous restaurants and shops and some amazing artwork.

Our first stop was Nassau, Bahamas

then it was on to St. Thomas, where we went on a sail ‘n’ snorkel on a pirate ship. We saw lots of turtles and tropical fish and got tattooed on our way back to port.

In St. Maarten, our final port-of-call, we attended a beach party hosted by my husband’s company. The beach was spectacular!

With that we said good-bye to the Caribbean and headed back to Ft. Lauderdale, sailing through some stormy seas on our way (I might have been a little queasy).

What a contrast!

A few days later we arrived home to find that October was already almost half over. Since then, real life has kicked in with a vengeance and our trip already seems like a distant memory—cliche, I know, but all too true. A post-vacation cold this past week allowed for plenty of knitting and I have several FO’s to show off but I’ll leave that for another post—this one is plenty long enough.

Note to self: Write shorter, more frequent posts so you don’t bore the poor blog readers to death.

Distraction

2011-10-24T23:58:00.001-07:00

I promise I will post some actual knitting content one day soon but here’s a pretty picture for you to enjoy in the meantime. It was the view out my back door this afternoon.

Laundry Day

2011-10-19T14:06:00.001-07:00

It’s that time of year again…

Going Around in Circles

2011-09-07T18:38:00.001-07:00

The other day it occurred to me that all of my latest knitting projects are being knit in the round. There are my various socks-in-progress, my Strata Sphere swirl jacket, and this sweater, Abi, made with Berroco Remix.

In fact, the pattern calls for Abi to be knit in pieces but I couldn’t see any reason for doing all that sewing when it would be so easy to convert it to a bottom-up circular sweater. After knitting a gauge swatch I did the calculations, cast on for the front and the back, and began working in the round.

Let’s face it, until you get to the yoke Abi is a pretty boring knit. After the ribbing comes inch after inch of stockinette, broken up only by occasional decreases and increases for the waist shaping. Not a sweater to keep your interest under normal circumstances but the perfect project to work on while watching tv or going for a drive. In other words, the perfect project to work on this past weekend, during which I was guaranteed to spend at least nine hours in the car.

When we left home Saturday morning the sweater was already almost 7” long. By the time we arrived home again Tuesday evening I was into the third ball of yarn and the sweater had grown by another 7”.

Just the final set of increases and another 5” of knitting, then it would be time for the interesting part.

As our freeway exit approached I returned Abi to its project bag and remarked to Cameron that I really should run some yarn through the live stitches and try it on, just to make sure it fit. In fact, I said, I probably should have done it before now. And with those prophetic words, I set myself up for a major fail.

When I tried the sweater on this afternoon I was shocked to discover that it was WAY TOO BIG. How did this happen? I checked my gauge and it was bang on. Puzzled, I reviewed the cast-on numbers and found that they were also in order. A quick glance at my knitting confirmed that I had indeed decreased after the ribbing. Another look at the pattern, then another scan of my notes, some figuring on the calculator, and then it hit me.

After working the ribbing, instead of decreasing 28 stitches on both the back and the front for a total of 56 stitches, I had only decreased a total of 28 stitches all around. At 4.5 stitches per inch that made a difference of just over 6”. No wonder it is WAY TOO BIG.

Right now I don’t even want to think about frogging it back to the ribbing, working the correct number of decreases, and starting all over again but I know that’s what I’ll do (and the sooner I get the frogging over with, the better). An eternal optimist, I can’t help looking at the bright side of things. If I’d knit the sweater in pieces I might not have discovered my mistake until after I’d seamed it together so there’s something to be said for knitting in the round.*

I’ll try to remember that when I am reknitting the inches and inches of stockinette…

*I later realized that if I’d knit the sweater in pieces I never would have made this mistake in the first place. Oh dear, there may be no bright side after all.

Knit, Swoon

2011-09-01T15:32:00.001-07:00

You know you’re excited about a project when you sacrifice an extra hour of sleep so you can get up early to work on it.

I can’t remember when or where I first heard about Knit, Swirl, I only know that I was immediately smitten with the beautiful, drapey sweaters with their unique, circular construction. What can I say? I am a sucker for knits with interesting construction techniques.

After pouring over the book several times I finally chose Strata Sphere as my first project, partly because I thought the off-centre circle would be flattering and partly because the Noro Silk Garden would be easily available and entertaining to work with. When you have to knit band after band of alternating stockinette and reverse stockinette, frequent colour changes help to keep it interesting.

My yarn arrived the other morning while I was writing my last blog post (thanks for the warm welcome back) and it wasn’t long after I hit “publish” that I picked up the needles and started swatching.

After soaking and blocking it soon became apparent that even though I was getting stitch gauge I was going to have to go up at least a needle size because row gauge is equally important in this type of sweater construction. I knit a second swatch and after its bath it seemed to be pretty much bang on. If I was a good, little knitter I would have waited for it to dry and pinned it out and checked and double-checked but I was too impatient to get going. I decided it was good enough and cast on the required 537 stitches. (The proof, as they say, will be in the pudding—cross your fingers!)

So far, so good. I managed to join in the round without twisting and am into my third welt (each band of stockinette and reverse stockinette is called a welt). I love how the colours are playing out so far—unlike some Noro colourways there isn’t one, jarring colour that clashes with the rest—and I look forward to seeing the stripes of colour widen as the circle grows smaller.

Meanwhile, it’s the first of the month and, therefore, time for the next round of the Silk Road Socks and Knit. Sock. Love. knitalongs.

I’ll be casting on for Gordes

and Cusp later this afternoon, as soon as I finish vacuuming.

Just to make it clear, it’s not that I’m virtuous, just realistic. If I start casting on now, the vacuuming will never get done. We’re going away for the long weekend and I want to come home to a clean house.

With all that plus a secret project for my yarn fairy (more about that later), not to mention a variety of half-finished socks and sweaters kicking around, I have more than enough knitting to keep me going for a while. Even though September no longer means “back-to-school” for me or my family, there is still a sense of new beginning at this time of the year that fills me with inspiration.

Except when it comes to housework.

“The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

2011-08-30T12:49:00.001-07:00

If you haven’t visited my projects page on Ravelry lately or, for those in my personal life, seen the odd post on Facebook you might be forgiven for thinking that I’d dropped off the face of the earth. One thing is certain--my blog has given no indication of whether I’ve been alive or dead since I wrote my last entry late last December.

Over the past eight months I’ve thought about writing a new post now and then (I even went so far as to began typing one a few months ago) but I felt obligated to catch you up on everything that had happened in the intervening months and, overwhelmed with the enormity of the task, abandoned the idea. However, this morning I was once again seized by the desire to take pen to paper (or, more precisely, fingers to keyboard) and was determined to see it through this time.

I still feel the need to bring you up to date with my life but for all of our sakes I’m going to stick to the Reader’s Digest version and just hit the highlights.

Just after New Years we returned to Ucluelet for a few days of R&R (we even had the same condo we’d had last year), then spent the remainder of the week just up the road at Tofino. This area is the home of Pacific Rim National Park, which is known for its wild beauty and surf-worthy waves.

Wintertime is storm-watching season but even though we had a bit of rain, we’ve yet to experience a full-out storm. Maybe next year—we’ve decided to make this getaway an annual event.

A couple of weeks after we got home Jessica had to go in for an emergency appendectomy so Andrew had his first sleepover at our house. Typical of most sleepovers, there wasn’t a lot of sleeping going on but there were some smiles and lots of cuddle time.

As a Christmas present Cameron had arranged for a boat tour down the Harrison River to see the eagles, which gather there in huge numbers in the wintertime to feast on spawning salmon.

By the time the weather cooperated the peak viewing season had passed but we still saw our share of the birds and enjoyed some spectacular scenery besides.

In February Cameron turned 50 so we threw a party to celebrate.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature planned a snowstorm for the same night so some of our invited guests were unable to make it but we had fun just the same.

Two months later my sister, Jacqueline, also turned 50 and she celebrated by running the Vancouver Marathon, coming first in her age group.

Her husband had also arranged for a surprise party afterwards at a downtown restaurant so she got to blow out candles and eat cake too. In my opinion, that’s much more fun than running 26 miles but what do I know?

In May I took paintbrush in hand and finally renovated Colin’s old bedroom. I turned it into a craft room!

Now most of my sewing, needlework, and knitting supplies are in one place. I say most because some things still live under my bed and in the trunk in the living room.

Colin’s band made great strides this year, moving up one spot to come in third in Chilliwack’s Battle of the Bands.

They have a three-song CD coming out shortly and have played quite a few gigs lately, including the city’s Party in the Park one Friday night in August (that’s him on the right).

This year Matt’s spent a lot of time working out of town so we’ve gotten a taste of what it’s like to be empty nesters.

We always enjoy seeing him when he’s home but we’re looking forward to the next stage.

Jessica and Neil got engaged and had Cameron’s grandmother’s ring restored.

They’ll be getting married next September 1st in my sister’s garden. Jessica and I went shopping with Neil’s mom this past weekend and found the perfect wedding dress.

Another highlight of my year has been losing almost 25 lbs, with the help of Weight Watchers Online. I’d been watching my weight creep up over the past three years so it feels good to be almost back to where I want to be—just a couple more lbs to go!

But I think it’s safe to say that the biggest joy of 2011 has been spending time with our grandchildren. Of course, a baby’s first year is chock full of developmental milestones so we’ve seen incredible changes in Andrew since January. With a year of kindergarten behind her now, Morgan has also matured and is on the brink of reading—Grade 1 will be an exciting time for her and she is anxiously awaiting the first day of school. I have eight month’s worth of pictures I could share with you but I won’t. Instead, please indulge just a few of my favourite shots from “Grandma’s Brag Book”.

And knitting? Well, I’ve done a lot of knitting this year. If you want to see all the pretty pictures, you can check out Ravelry.

So, now that we’re all caught up, what exciting things can you expect in the months to come?

The second leg of the Silk Road Socks KAL.

Some Knit, Swirl. The yarn just arrived this morning and I can’t wait to give this new construction method a try.

An upcoming trip on the largest cruise ship in the world…

…and much, much more! Watch this space.

Out With the Old and In With the New

2010-12-28T17:25:00.001-08:00

With 2010 drawing to a close and January 1st just a few days away, I’ve been giving some thought to my knitting goals for 2011. I ended up feeling well enough after all to knit Alison’s slippers and finish sewing Morgan’s doll clothes before Christmas so I am beginning the new year with more or less a clean slate. As I look back at my list of knitting goals for last year I am happy to see that I was able to meet many of them, the most important of which was to finish the Great American Aran Afghan in time for my parents’ anniversary. However, despite my best intentions, I did not “let it go” as much as I would have wished. Even though I generally limited myself to only one SKA project each month, I found myself involved in other KAL’s and pushing myself to meet their deadlines. In the process I put off (yet again) knitting many other projects I have wanted to knit for a while. As a result, this year it’s all about the queue.

Drum roll please…

1. Limit my involvement in organized KAL’s. I will continue to participate in Chrissy Gardiner’s CSK and attempt to knit each month’s new pattern but with no fixed deadline I can work at my own pace. I may join in other KAL’s as the spirit moves me but my goal is to avoid overcommitting to arbitrary deadlines.

2. Cut back on yarn clubs. There are so many yarn clubs out there that entice me but like KAL’s they prevent me from knitting other projects. I am currently enrolled in two bi-monthly clubs and will likely participate in the next tea version of “Sip ‘n Stitch” but so far I have resisted joining any other upcoming clubs for this year (even though they sound really good).

3. Participate in the Stash and Burn “Sock Stash Knitdown”. While at first glance this appears to contradict Goal #1, this KAL is extremely flexible. with its sole objective to use up twelve skeins of sock yarn in 2011. I’ve decided to take it a step further and have matched up yarns with sock patterns I’ve long admired but have never knit. So far I have almost thirty combinations from which to choose but I am committing myself to knitting only twelve over the course of the next year; if I knit more than that, it’s a bonus.

4. Knit two pairs of socks for Cameron before the end of winter. I gave him yarn for Christmas with this intention. Otherwise…

5. Engage in more selfish knitting. It’s okay to give non-knitted gifts. Lots of people do it.

6. Knit more sweaters. I say this every year but this time I mean it.

7 Knit more shawls. There are so many beautiful shawls and I want to knit them all.

8. Buy less yarn. I have a lot of beautiful yarn and I should be knitting it instead of acquiring more. I’m not going “cold sheep” or declaring myself on a yarn diet but I will try to be more conscientious about my purchases.

In a nutshell, the objective this year is to get more joy from my hobby by limiting deadline knitting and casting on more of those “must-knits” from my imaginary queue. While I will most likely always do some gift knitting because I enjoy it I will try to balance it with some “selfish” knitting. After all, as I keep reminding myself, knitting is supposed to be fun.

Good to Go

2010-12-20T14:32:00.001-08:00

Well, good enough, anyway.

The tree is up, the cards have been mailed, most of the presents are wrapped, and as of about an hour ago the knitting is done.

Liz’s slippers have been felted, soled, and wrapped and Cameron’s socks have been bound off, soaked, and blocked. They should be dry in a day or two—I will be hanging them over the heat register whenever Cameron is not around.

I know he will be pleased to receive them. A day or two after I blogged last he mentioned that new socks would make a perfect gift, although he was careful to note that with all the other things I had to do that he did not expect them until after Christmas. I smiled inwardly—little did he know I already had a pair for him half knit. I’ve also wrapped up two skeins of sock yarn with the promise that I’ll knit them up in the new year. After several years of trying to convert him, Cameron is finding out for himself that handknit, wool socks are warmer than the cotton sports socks he is used to wearing. He says he does not even need to turn on the space heater in his office when he is wearing them.

I haven’t touched Alison’s slippers and mostly likely won’t for several weeks. Nor have I finished sewing Morgan’s doll clothes but I’ve made enough that she won’t miss them and her birthday is coming up in a little more than a month so I can give the remainder to her then. The last few weeks have been full with Christmas preparations, family visits, and social outings and I’ve reached saturation point. To top it all off, I woke up with the beginnings of a cold this morning, the consequence of cuddling a sick Andrew last week. Except for a few last-minute jobs, as far as I’m concerned I’m about as ready as I’m going to be. My best effort is going to have to be good enough.

It’s unlikely that I will blog again before Christmas so I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy and healthy holiday season. Don’t forget to make some time for yourself in the hectic days to come!

The Year of the Slipper

2010-12-09T13:42:00.001-08:00

Unselfish knitting continues…

Last week I washed up a bunch of “handwash only” socks and noticed that Cameron had added a few pairs to the pile. He usually wears white sports socks and reserves his handknit, woolen ones for really cold weather so I was surprised to see them, considering that he only pulled them out once the snow and bitter winds had disappeared and the rain and warmer temperatures had returned. It got me thinking that maybe it was time to knit him another pair. Why not make them for Christmas?

I know, I know, I’m crazy to put more pressure on myself but Christmas ideas for him are hard to come by. And I chose a simple, easy-to-memorize stitch pattern, just interesting enough to keep me engaged.

They’re actually working up pretty quickly, considering that a) I haven’t had a ton of time for knitting lately and b) I can only work on them when he’s not around.

And just when I thought I was finished with slippers for a while a couple of things happened. First, my sister, Alison, happened to mention that she was in need of some new ones. I told her I had just knit four pairs and was slippered out but would knit her some in the new year and she was totally down with that. Then my sister-in-law, Liz, gave Cameron her Christmas list and the second item on it was slippers.

Now, to be fair, she did not ask specifically for felted slippers but she did mention that she had worn through the ones I’d made her a few years back so I knew that she liked and wore them. Knowing I could knit a pair over the course of a couple of days, I determined her size and asked her what colour she’d like. And while I was at it, I got Alison to pick out some yarn for hers and placed an order with Elann.com.

Not only do they carry the suede soles from Fiber Trends, their Highland Wool is a good value and comes in lots of pretty colours. I’d given it a test run with Ed’s slippers and it felted really nicely. The best part is that I receive my shipments from them only two days after I place my order which means I didn’t have to fit in another shopping trip. This arrived this morning, right on cue.

I never get tired of the sight of stacks of unknit skeins of yarn—I think it’s the possibility it implies.

I warned Alison that I still may not get to her slippers until after the holidays but I have a feeling that I will end up powering through them, just to get them off my plate. That will make a total of six pairs this year, the most I’ve knit at one time since I first made the pattern four years ago. Needless to say, they’re a hit.

I’m now attaching suede soles to every pair I make in the hopes that it will significantly extend its life. With any luck it will be a good while before there is another “Year of the Slipper”.

Whatever Happened to Selfish Knitting Month?

2010-12-01T13:45:00.001-08:00

Well, it lasted about five minutes. Okay, maybe a little longer but suffice it to say that November didn’t really turn out as planned.

It got off to a good start when I cast on Nuppy Diamonds, November’s installment of Chrissy Gardiner’s CSK.

After working a few inches on that I put it aside and cast on Liesl with some beautiful Punta yarn I’d bought early in the new year.

I might have also cast on a pair of plain, vanilla socks. I had a bad case of startitis and I was enjoying it.

A few days later a certain someone who shall not be named…cough, Jessica, cough…called and said she was in a time crunch and could I please test-knit something for her asap. Well, what are mothers for? I sighed and turned my attention to her project, all the while gazing longingly at my other WIP’s. (It’s all done now but it’s super-secret so I can’t show you any pictures.)

Meanwhile, my brother-in-law, Joe, requested a new pair of felted slippers for Christmas. He’d loved the ones I’d knitted him two years before but had worn holes in the soles and had had to resort to a pair of store-bought. I hadn’t planned to do any more gift knitting but I’d made that decision before I’d received Joe’s Christmas list. How could I refuse? I’m a sucker for people who really appreciate my knitted gifts.

While I was buying yarn for Joe’s slippers I picked up some for myself since I’d recently noticed some holes in my own pair. And while I was at it I might as well knit Cameron a new pair—his slippers were practically falling apart and the yarn for a new pair had been sitting in a bag beside the couch for months and months. Every time I saw it I felt guilty.

Sigh…add three pairs of slippers to the list. Okay, one pair was for me but it’s one of the few projects I knit for the product, not the experience, and it always feels like a chore. It definitely does not qualify as selfish knitting.

Not long after I began knitting Joe’s slippers Cameron received a Christmas list from our brother-in-law, Ed. You guessed it, it included a request for a pair of felted slippers since his pair had also developed holes.

Now, technically Cameron has Ed’s name for Christmas and I am only responsible for gifting to Joe but Ed has a special place in my heart. He has had my name for Christmas for the past two years (and, as luck would have it, has my name again this year) and has bought me knitting stuff!! Two years ago he even went so far as to phone one of the indie dyers I’d mentioned and ask her for yarn recommendations. Obviously, he is truly worthy of a knitted gift, even if I didn’t draw his name.

So…make that four pairs.

As I wove in the last stitch on the last slipper I swear I heard angels singing.

By the way, from now on all the slippers I knit will include leather soles in the hopes that they will last longer. With any luck I will only have to replace them every few years.

In addition to Christmas knitting I have also been doing some Christmas sewing but this has been a labour of love. Morgan’s dolls are sorely in need of clothes so I have been stitching up an entire wardrobe.

I still have a few more outfits to go. Come Christmas, her dolls should be among the best dressed in town.

So with all of this and Andrew’s birth too, there hasn’t been a lot of time for selfish knitting but I have managed to squeeze in a few things. I’ve finished one Nuppy Diamond sock

and Liesl. It was a nice, quick knit but I’m having trouble finding just the right thing to wear with it.

Sorry for the crappy photo—the weather’s been dreary lately plus my good camera is in the shop.

I’ve also been working on a set of winter accessories. It all started with spotting a pair of red gloves in the Fall 2009 issue of Vogue Knitting. I had the perfect yarn for them, Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in “Tart”. Then I realized that one of the cones of yarn I’d bought in San Francisco had the same red and black tones and would make a great matching triangular scarf. And if I was going to make gloves and a scarf, I might as well knit a hat to go with them. I tracked down some Madelinetosh Vintage in the same colourway (not easy to find, as it turns out) for a slouchy beret.

Sadly, I don’t expect that December will yield much time to work on them. We are expecting houseguests from both sides of the family this weekend and will be caught up in the various activities family visits involve. Then, of course, with Christmas approaching, we’ll be busy with holiday preparations and social events.

Therefore, it looks like Selfish Knitting Month is going to have to be postponed until January. We plan to kick it off with another weeklong getaway right after New Years, location still to be determined. There are so many things I want to knit I’m not sure how I’ll decided what to take along with me. I can’t wait for the chance to knit undisturbed for an extensive block of time, without thinking about all the things I should be doing instead.

Which reminds me, I have a house that needs cleaning so it’s time to sign off…

I hope you’re finding some time for selfish knitting.

Part Deux

2010-11-21T15:46:00.001-08:00

Here’s Andrew a few hours later, after a bath, a nap, and a good meal.

Proud mama

and grandparents.

Meeting big sister, Morgan.

One big, happy family.

It’s amazing how someone so small can inspire so much love.

Words can’t describe how happy I feel.

It’s a Boy!

2010-11-21T11:11:00.001-08:00

Meet Andrew Ross, born at 3:08 this morning. He weighs in at 6 lbs 11 oz and measures 20”.

Isn’t he sweet?

Mom, Dad, and baby are all doing great. I’m looking forward to holding Andrew for the first time when we visit the hospital later today. We worked hard for this one (nobody harder than Jessica!) but it was oh, so worth it.

Keeping Days and Selfish Knitting

2010-11-01T14:57:00.001-07:00

Today’s post will be broken into two parts. What can I say? I have two things I want to talk about and they’re not related in any way. And a word of warning: If you like posts with few words and lots of pictures today’s entry is not for you. Sorry, but it’s my blog and I can do what I like. :o)

A Keeping Day

When I was a teenager/young adult one of my favourite book series was The Keeping Days by Norma Johnston. The first two books were written in the mid-1970’s and were in our school library; then in the early 1980’s they were republished in paperback, along with four new titles. Set in 1910 in Yonkers, New York, the first book opens on Tish Sterling’s fourteenth birthday. She informs us that she knew as soon as she woke up that it was going to be a Keeping Day, one of those particularly memorable days that occur only two or three times a year, a day to be cherished and recalled during less happy times in the future. And although her birthday didn’t turn out exactly as she’d envisioned, it was a Keeping Day nonetheless.

Ever since then I’ve held on to the idea of Keeping Days and have stored away quite a few in my own memory. They’re not always entire days, sometimes only moments or hours, but they’ve stayed with me over the years. Driving home from the hospital with newborn Jessica crying at the top of her lungs while Stevie Wonder sang “Isn’t She Lovely?” on the radio. The time we bundled up young Jessica and Matthew and took them skating on a lake that had frozen over (a very rare thing around here). Having dinner in a Barkerville restaurant on our anniversary while a trio of musicians serenaded the patrons with old-time tunes. These occasions and others filled me with a ridiculous sense of happiness and contentment and stand out among the many more forgettable experiences of my life.

Yesterday was one of those days. Our youngest, Colin, stopped by in the morning to receive birthday presents and congratulations. Afterwards Cameron and I went out for brunch—something we do once or twice a year—then stopped by the mall to pick up a convertible crib/playpen to have at our house for when our upcoming grandchild comes to visit. The day before Cameron had suggested that we take a drive to Manning Park, about an hour or so away, to see the fall colours so we set out a little before noon. We’ve spent a lot of time at Manning over the years, sometimes going up for just the day, other times for a few nights of camping, and once in a while just pausing there briefly on our way to or from somewhere else. We’ve hiked a number of its trails, both as a family and alone, and have seen it in every season.

It was overcast when we left home and we met a few raindrops on the way but the weather improved as we headed east and crossed the summit of Allison Pass. Even though there was a dusting of snow quite low on the mountains, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the air held only a slight chill. As I suspected, the fall colours were past their prime but there were still a few trees holding on to their brilliant autumn splendor.

After a brief stop at the day lodge we decided to walk the canyon trail, a loop that originates near the road, goes up one side of a canyon to our favourite campground, then follows the other side of the canyon back to the road. It had been ages since we’d hiked it and as we passed a familiar hollowed-out rock we couldn’t help but be reminded of this photo of our kids, taken sixteen years earlier.

I love this picture.

About a half hour later we arrived back at the car and headed a short distance down the road towards Lightening Lake, where we did a longer trail around the lake. We recalled the time we’d hiked it with the kids, when Colin took three steps to every one of ours because he kept going ahead, then running back to us, then going ahead again. At one point we spotted two Great Blue Herons in the trees on the other side of a secluded bay, which we later regrettably frightened away when we reached that part of the trail. We had the place practically to ourselves and only passed one group of hikers the entire time. The familiar sites put us in a nostalgic mood and we talked of the past but also spoke of future vacation plans and, of course, the impending birth of Jessica’s baby, due in only three week’s time.

Just as we pulled into the driveway we received a call from Jessica. Did we want to join her and Neil for Indian food later on? Cameron was a little hesitant—he’s not an adventurous eater—but agreed to give it a try. We had a nice meal with them (we all enjoyed the food), then arrived home just as our first trick-or-treater was approaching our front door. The rest of the evening was spent quietly (we never get many kids and this year had only five in all) and I went to bed with a perfect sense of satisfaction. Our “baby” had turned 21; we’d had a wonderful afternoon together, enjoying the outdoors; we’d spent time with each of our kids that day; and, to my great relief, I’d finished the last of my gift knitting. Which leads us to…

Selfish Knitting Month

I have a cloth-covered blank notebook that I hesitantly call my knitting journal. I say hesitantly because since November 2008 I’ve only used up two pages. It’s the place where I keep track of my gift knitting, writing down what I want to make for who, and ticking off each project as I complete it. Because I knit on gifts all year long it helps to have a list of what I’ve already knit so that I have an idea of where I stand as various birthdays and the Christmas season approach.

In August this year, after making a list of prospective gifts, I had jotted down some projects I wanted to make for myself: a couple of sweaters, a couple of shawls, and some winter accessories. A week or two ago I realized that while I had worked my way through most of the gifts, I had cast on only one item on my own to-do list (Laminaria), and I’d worked on it for only a day or two before setting it aside. What was wrong with this picture?

When I took a look at what I’d knit since the summer, and then over the course of the past year, I realized that it wasn’t only gift knitting that had prevented me from casting on these other items, it was also my participation in various knitalongs. Every month I cast on for two or three KAL’s, in addition to having one or two gift items on the go at all times. No wonder I hadn’t had much time to knit on sweaters and shawls and such for myself.

Now obviously, nobody forces me to knit gifts or participate in KAL’s. I knit gifts for people I know will appreciate them and look forward to seeing their pleasure at receiving them, even if at times I don’t enjoy the actual knitting. As for KAL’s, I like the camaraderie of the various groups, the motivation of a deadline, and the added bonus of potential prizes. The downside is that gift knitting and KAL’s prevent me from knitting other projects on my wishlist, many of which I’ve already purchased yarn for.

I’m not about to stop knitting gifts entirely. There are some people I really enjoy knitting for and many of the socks I knit for others are “mindless” projects, saved for car rides or watching TV, and do not detract from my other knitting. What I am going to do is avoid large gifts, like afghans, for the foreseeable future and ease the pressure on myself to produce a knitted gift. If I’m not feeling it, it’s not happening.

It’s also time to step away from the knitalong. This shouldn’t be too difficult. The ZenGoddess and 50 Socks/50 States KAL’s are both coming to an end and I’m also considering sitting out this round of SKA. I’d already decided that this year I was only going to participate in the mystery sock KAL’s (which take place every other month) but as fun as they are I am reconsidering the wisdom of knitting a sock I may or may not love when there are tons of patterns I know I want to knit. Besides, SKA has become so large (over 11, 600 members) that it has become impossible to keep up with each month’s discussion, let alone all the other threads on the board. What I will continue with is Chrissy Gardiner’s CSK. It’s like the best of both worlds—it’s made up of many familiar, longtime SKA members and although we are united in our desire to knit each month’s sock design there are no deadlines or restrictions.

Another thing I’m cutting back on is my participation in yarn clubs. While I’ve really enjoyed receiving yarny packages in the mail every month or two I’m ready to focus on the yarns and patterns I already own. I’m not giving up clubs entirely—there are still five shipments to come from the 7 Wonders club, I will most likely continue with the Sip ‘n Stitch club when the tea version recommences in six months, and I have just signed up for the Color Co-op—but I have resisted the temptation to sign up for several others that have caught my eye.

After I had my revelation a couple of weeks ago I made a determined effort to finish up all of my outstanding gift knitting and KAL projects, with an eye to finishing them by October 31st. I missed the deadline by a mere hour and a half, casting off a fingerless glove for my Mom at 1:30 this morning. All that’s left is some blocking and finishing work, which will take a few hours at most.

Therefore, I hereby declare November “Selfish Knitting Month” and plan to work on whatever takes my fancy, with no deadlines in sight. The first thing I’m going to do is rummage through my stash to find the perfect yarn for this month’s CSK sock, “Nuppy Diamonds”. I think it will feel strange at first to be free of deadlines (even if they are usually self-imposed) but I am looking forward to a more freeing and relaxed knitting experience in the weeks leading up Christmas. After all, knitting is supposed to be fun, right?

To Frisco and Back in the Blink of an Eye

2010-10-10T19:42:00.001-07:00

It was just a week ago that I was packing our suitcases for our trip to San Francisco but as I write the bags have already been emptied and the last of the holiday laundry has been washed and put away. I’m not sure where the time went but I know we had fun.

We left the clouds behind as we sailed under the Lion’s Gate Bridge and out of Vancouver last Monday afternoon.

They say a red sky at night is a sailor’s delight and that proved to be the case. The weather was perfect for the remainder of our trip.

After a lazy Tuesday at sea the cruise portion of our holiday came to an end when our ship passed beneath the Golden Gate Bridge and into San Francisco Bay on Wednesday morning.

After checking into our hotel we spent the afternoon shopping. Or rather, Alison and I shopped and the guys patiently tagged along. A few weeks before we left for our trip I’d learned that ArtFibers was reopening in a new location, which just happened to be on the same street as our hotel. It had to be a sign, I’m sure of it.

ArtFibers is not your ordinary yarn store. It carries only its own line of yarns, which are wound onto cones and sold by the yard. There are samples knit up in almost every colour of every yarn, along with suggested yardages for common projects such as sweaters and scarves. If you like, you can indulge in a little “yarn tasting” and try out the yarns for yourself before you make your final choices. There were so many beautiful yarns it was hard to decide but I finally narrowed it down to four.

Just after we arrived at the shop and began looking around I heard some familiar voices. A quick peek at their faces confirmed my suspicions—it was Jenny and Nicole from Stash & Burn. They were there checking out the new store and recording their next podcast. I have been a longtime fan of their podcast and am a member of their Ravelry group so it was a pleasure to meet them in person.

The next day we went on a wine tour in the Napa Valley. We visited four wineries in all and each had its own style and offered a different experience. We tasted all sorts of different wines, had an amazing picnic lunch, saw grapes being crushed, and toured a vineyard.

That evening we had a delicious seafood dinner at Fishermans Wharf before heading back to the hotel to watch the Giants beat the Atlanta Braves in the first game of the playoffs.

We’d planned to go to Alcatraz on Friday but discovered that there were no more tours available until the following day so we did some other touristy things instead.

We rode the cable cars,

checked out the crookedest street in the world,

and spent some more time at Fishermans Wharf, where we did a bit of shopping and were thoroughly entertained by some California sea lions,

There was an airshow going on and we got a good look at The Blue Angels and a few other performers.

After another seafood dinner we returned to the hotel for our last evening. Once again we tuned into the Giants game but this time they were beaten by the Braves in extra innings.

Saturday morning it was time to say goodbye to the sunshine and head back to rainy Vancouver. As much as I enjoyed our holiday it was good to return home, despite the weather. Tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving and I am looking forward to having the family together for turkey dinner. With great kids, good health, and a grandchild on the way we have a lot to be thankful for.

And yarn, of course. Every day I am thankful for yarn.

Practically Perfect in Every Way

2010-09-30T17:31:00.001-07:00

You know how some days you feel good just to be alive? This has been one of those days.

First, there’s the weather. We’ve had a real mixed bag lately, alternating between sun and clouds and pouring down rain. Today there is not a cloud in the sky, with just the hint of a soft breeze.

I mean, there’s no other way to describe it other than soft. I sat out on the swing this afternoon and was struck by how the light touch of the breeze felt neither cool nor warm, just soft.

Meanwhile, the air has been continually filled with the sound of birds chirping and chittering. The feeders are a buzz of activity these days. I’m used to seeing house finches, chickadees, house sparrows, and Stellar’s jays year round but I’ve recently spotted many of my favourites, including juncos, white-crowned sparrows, towhees, bush tits, and flickers, returning from their summer grounds. The goldfinches are still hanging around but are wearing their winter colours and will soon be migrating south.

I also woke up this morning with a sense of satisfaction. Last night I finished the first pair of what I am dubbing “the Alaska socks”.

The yarn for this pair was bought at Mission Street Arts & Fibers in Ketchikan. It’s Bear Feet by Raven Frog Fiber Arts in the “Northern Lights” colourway knit into a basic stockinette sock.

Ketchikan was our last port and Raven Frog was the only yarn left on my souvenir list (I’d already purchased yarn from two other Alaskan dyers in Juneau and Skagway) but, truth be told, there wasn’t much of a selection so I chose what I thought was the best of the bunch. I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about the bright, neon green and purple bits but when I began to knit I was pleasantly surprised with how they knit up in predictable spirals against the navy background. And with its cashmere content the yarn is oh, so soft. I am going to enjoy wearing these this winter.

I also finished another pair of socks yesterday afternoon. Two in one day—not bad, huh?

These are “Archery Socks”, the second installment of Chrissy Gardiner’s CSK. We’ve been gearing up for October’s sock, featuring yarn from The Unique Sheep’s Gradiance Collection and got our first glimpse of the pattern today. Instead of simply knitting the shades from light to dark along the length of the sock, Chrissy has designed a sock that combines the shades from either end of the gradiance in a colourwork pattern. As much as I’d love to jump right into this one I’ll have to wait until I receive my yarn order from The Unique Sheep, which probably won’t arrive for a couple of weeks.

What did arrive on my doorstep and added to today’s perfection was my goodie bag from the CSK, which was awarded to the first 100 members to sign up.

Besides a canvas bag, we received all sorts of goodies, including a needle case, a couple of yarn samples, a sock-blocker keychain kit, a scarf pattern, a stitch marker, a ruler/needle-gauge, notepads, pens and a pencil, a button, and a box of yarn-themed gift cards.

As if life wasn’t good enough, it is about to get even better. On Monday afternoon we are setting sail on a two-day cruise to San Francisco, where we will spend three nights before heading home on Saturday. My sister and brother-in-law, Alison and Stan, are traveling with us and we are all looking forward to exploring the city, touring Alcatraz, and going on a Napa Valley wine tour while we are there. San Francisco is one of those cities I’ve wanted to revisit so I am very excited to finally get the chance. Cross your fingers that the good weather there holds.

BTW, Hallett’s Ledge is back on track. I’ve finished the sweater body but I’ve had to put it on hold for the time being while I work on some gift knitting. I’m hoping to get back on the ledge before too long.

Falling off the Ledge

2010-09-15T23:49:00.001-07:00

You know how it is when you start a new project and you’re all enthused? You knit and knit and ooh and ah over your progress and don’t want to put it down for anything.

That’s how I ~~feel~~ felt about Hallett’s Ledge.

I cast on yesterday afternoon and happily knit my way through the ribbing. When it came time to begin the decreases I plotted them all out in my notebook and began to tick them off as I worked each set. By the time I went to bed I had several inches to show for my effort.

This morning I eagerly picked the sweater back up again and continued to work the ribbing. I determined how long I wanted the lower half to be and worked a few extra rows to make up for the smaller row gauge of my DK yarn before beginning the increases. Just after dinner I finally finished the ten or so inches of ribbing and prepared to begin the upper part of the sweater. In only two days I’d knit about 2/3 of what it had taken me well over a year to accomplish on Fylingdales. I was feeling great.

Then I counted my stitches and came up eight short.

Huh?

It didn’t take long to figure out where I’d gone wrong. Instead of decreasing every 4 rows once and every 6 rows 4 times I had decreased every 4 rows once and every 6 rows 6 times. I’d obviously had six on the brain. Sigh…

Resignedly, I frogged the sweater back to where I should have worked the final decrease and put the stitches back on my needle, ready to continue the pattern as written. That’s when I realized that by doing so I would have to add an extra couple of inches between the last decrease and the first increase, significantly altering the lines of the sweater. Blame it on the smaller row gauge and my long waist.

Well, I’d rather do it right than do it quickly so I reworked the frequency of the decreases (every 8 rows 5 times) and ripped back a few more inches. It’s on the needles again, ready to go, and with any luck I’ll be back on the ledge in a day or two.

I love knitting. Especially ribbing.

No, really…

A Fresh Start

2010-09-14T18:04:00.001-07:00

In another week summer will officially be over and autumn will be upon us. I love this time of year, when the temperatures cool down and Mother Nature treats us to one last blast of colour before the grey of winter settles in.

Fall also signals the return of sweater weather and, for us knitters, sweater-knitting weather. For the last week or so my fingers have been itching to cast on a sweater, particularly Hallett’s Ledge, which was featured in the latest edition of Twist Collective.

I really wanted to use some yarn from my stash but the only thing I had that was comparable to the Rowan Felted Tweed Aran that the pattern called for was some Joe Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed. While lovely, I didn’t feel that the cranberry colour really suited this design; I kept picturing it in a light neutral, similar to the original design. In fact, I couldn’t stop envisioning it in the very yarn that was half knit up into my Fylingdales cardigan.

Begun way back in January 2009, this sweater has spent most of its life languishing in a partly-knit state. Every so often I would pull it out and knit a few inches but would soon grow bored with its repetitive stitch pattern and shove it back into its bag. I really like the basic design of this sweater but the fact that it has drop shoulders kept niggling away at the back of my mind and I wasn’t sure that I would even like the finished product, should I ever manage to actually complete it.

The yarn is also Jo Sharp Silkroad but in a DK rather than an Aran weight. But the yarn is not your usual DK—it knits up more like a worsted and I didn’t think it would be too difficult to rework the numbers. In fact, a quick check of the pattern showed that one of the cast-on numbers corresponded almost exactly to my required number of stitches making it relatively simple to sub in my preferred yarn. Easy peasy.

So with very little regret and a great deal of relief (no more UFO on my conscience) I frogged Fylingdales, reskeined the yarn, and gave it a good soak to restore it to its original condition.

Then I picked up an unused skein and cast on for Hallett’s Ledge.

Now that I’ve given this yarn new life I am determined to knit it up into the sweater it was meant to be. It has spent way too many months at the bottom of a knitting bag and deserves to see the light of day.

There and Back Again

2010-08-06T16:18:00.001-07:00

Well, so much for staying quietly at home!

My sister, Jeanine, phoned me Wednesday afternoon and the conversation went something like this:

Jeanine: Hi, what are you doing tomorrow?

Me: Nothing special. Why?

Jeanine: How’d you like to make a quick, overnight trip to the cabin to surprise Dad for his 80th birthday?

Me: That’s a great idea. Count me in.

Now, there had been talk of doing something special to celebrate Dad’s milestone birthday but between the cruise earlier this summer and everyone’s work and holiday schedules we just hadn’t been able to put anything together. Jeanine, herself, had expected to be away but thanks to some vehicle troubles her own family vacation had been postponed and she found herself at home instead.

Another sister, Anna-Marie, was also free and up for the surprise so we quickly coordinated food and travel plans and arranged to leave first thing the next morning. It was so fun to see Mom and Dad’s expressions when we pulled up in front of the cabin mid-afternoon, bearing supper fixings and birthday cake.

Our visit was short but sweet--just over 24 hours later we were back home again—but we’ll all remember Dad’s impromptu birthday celebration for a long time. There’s definitely something to be said for spontaneity.

Good Mail Day

2010-08-04T12:57:00.001-07:00

Look what arrived in my mailbox this morning!

It’s Miriam Felton’s new book, Twist & Knit, a collection of twelve designs, mainly featuring shawls and scarves, but also including a cowl, fingerless gloves, and socks. Miriam’s aim was to create a set of patterns that could work for a variety of yarns so each design has small pattern repeats, flexible gauge, or special construction methods so that you can get the most mileage out of your one-of-a-kind or hand-dyed skeins. In addition to the lovely designs, beautiful photographs, clear instructions, and excellent charts, the book includes a substantial resource section with tutorials for the cast-ons, bind-offs, and other techniques used in the patterns. At $20 US it is well worth the cover price but for only $2 more you can also purchase the digital files for all the patterns but one (which is under contract for digital distribution), making it an exceptional value. If you’re only interested in knitting one or two items the patterns are also available for purchase on Ravelry individually or as part of three digital pattern collections (shawls, scarves, and accessories). Personally, I think the hard copy/digital option is the best of both worlds. You can flip through the book for inspiration (knitting books make excellent bedtime reading) then print a digital copy of your chosen pattern for easy portability.

Brilliant.

There’s No Place Like Home

2010-08-03T12:15:00.001-07:00

This morning I woke up in my own bed and it felt good. I love to travel but I’ve been away a lot this past month and have missed the rhythm and routine of ordinary daily life. There has been way too little time lately to just be.

Having said that, we spent a wonderful week on Vancouver Island. The weather could not have been more perfect. On Tuesday we took Cameron’s mom to Port Renfrew to see the tree the family planted a few years ago in memory of my late sister-in-law. Afterwards we walked the Botanical Beach loop trail, where we admired the rugged coastal scenery and spied some sea creatures in the beach’s tidal pools.

Then it was off to Nanaimo for a few days by ourselves. Our hotel was right by the waterfront and we took several walks along the pier. The fishing boats brought in fresh seafood daily and we ate our fair share.

We weren’t the only ones craving seafood. One morning we spied this seal near the dock, hanging out alongside some crabbers, hoping for a handout.

On Friday it was onto Courtenay, where we spent the weekend with Cameron’s brother, Trevor, and his wife, Linda. On Saturday we took in the Filberg Festival at Comox and on Sunday we played a round of golf at Arrowsmith, near Qualicum Beach. My lucky number must be seven because I sunk a birdie on the seventh hole; the same thing happened the only other time I played this course!

Our campsite was right by the water and on Saturday night we saw the Zuiderdam cruise past on its way to Alaska. It’s hard to believe that it was just a month ago that we sailed past this very spot on the same ship, as we began our own Alaskan holiday.

Behind our site, high up in the trees, was a bald eagle nest, which was home to two juveniles and their parents. It was very cool to hear the eaglets’ insistent chirps and to observe the adults’ comings and goings. What a treat.

Of course, no knitter’s holiday is complete without souvenir yarn. I had planned to visit one of my favourite LYS’s, the Beehive Wool Shop, in Victoria but it turned out to be closed the day we were there. I’d already checked out the shop in Nanaimo when we were there in January but I’d done my homework and knew there was an as-yet-unexplored yarn shop in Courtenay. We stopped by Uptown Yarns before meeting up with Trevor and Linda and I scored a couple of skeins of locally hand-dyed sock yarn. Imagine my delight when I spied a booth featuring the same Sweatermaker yarn at the festival the next day. Naturally, I had to add a skein of laceweight to my collection.

Now that I am home for a while I am itching to sink my teeth, or rather needles, into some serious knitting. Besides working on my current SKA project, there are a couple of other sock KAL’s I want to cast on for. And then there’s the half-done Brandywine shawl and the languishing Twigs and Leaves cardi and the umpteen prospective projects calling to me and, well, you get the picture…

If this blog goes quiet again, you’ll know why. Just sayin’.

Dragonfly Summer

2010-07-25T18:39:00.001-07:00

One disadvantage of having a fellow knitter and Ravelry member in the family is that I can’t show you all of my projects as I complete them. On the other hand, another knitter truly appreciates the gifts you make for them so that more than makes up for the inconvenience.

My daughter, Jessica, celebrated her birthday on Friday but had to wait until today to see her gifts.

First up, Dragonfly Socks.

Jessica is a dragonfly fanatic so I knew these would be the perfect choice. I tried to find a yarn that captured the brilliant blue-green of a dragonfly and found it in SweetGeorgia Yarns’ “Tourmaline” colourway.

And, coincidentally, in the same colour range, the Shoalwater Shawl, knit with Knit Picks Shimmer.

I can’t even remember when I cast on this shawl—suffice it to say it was years ago—and it has spent most of its life languishing in my knitting basket. Every so often Jessica would inquire about its progress and threaten to kidnap and finish it herself so it seemed fitting that it should be hers when I finally completed it this spring.

These two pieces were gifted together in a dragonfly-print knitting bag, along with a dragonfly card—can you tell I love a theme? Ironically, Jessica presented us with an anniversary card with—you guessed it—dragonflies on the front. She says she chose it for the message…

Here Again, Gone Again

2010-07-23T15:54:00.001-07:00

This month I am spending far more time away than I am at home. First up was the Alaskan cruise, then after about a week at home (which included a visit from my mother-in-law and a ball tournament) came a mini roadtrip with my sister, Anna-Marie. It has become an annual summer tradition for us to leave the husbands at home and spend a few days at the cabin with my parents.

The day after we arrived we took a drive up the road so Anna-Marie could see the damage from the forest fire last summer. Although I was once again saddened to see the utter devastation in some areas, it was encouraging to see green grass growing where last fall there had been only ash.

The forest begins to heal…

Thanks to some inclement weather I got a fair bit of knitting done, working a pattern repeat on my Bougainvillea socks

and casting on the latest ZenGoddess project, the Isis scarf.

When the weather cleared up I went fishing with my Dad. In addition to admiring the beauty of the lake

I managed to catch dinner.

When I arrived home yesterday I eagerly downloaded the last clue for the SKA Mystery Sock by Chrissy Gardiner. Tah dah! One down, one to go.

This has been such a fun pair to work on and I will miss them when I am done.

I’m only home for a few days before leaving again on Monday, when Cameron and I begin a week’s holiday on Vancouver Island. We’ll have a few nights on our own but will also spend some time visiting my mother-in-law and camping with my brother- and sister-in-law. Once we return home life will kick into high gear for Cameron at work but with any luck will settle into a lazy summer routine for me, which will include lots of knitting.

Something that I am particularly looking forward to is the first pattern release in the Indie Socks CSK, a new venture by designer Chrissy Gardiner. This has also turned out to be the year of the yarn club for me and this summer I will be receiving shipments from ZenGoddess, Sip ‘n Stitch, and 7 Wonders, in addition to taking part in SKA and the 50 Socks/50 States KAL on Ravelry. Okay, maybe this summer won’t exactly be lazy but it should be relaxing.

Finally, a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY is in order for my daughter, who turns 25 today. Sorry, Jessica, you’ll just have to wait until Sunday to get your present. I’ll share pics with the rest of you then.

North to Alaska

2010-07-16T18:15:00.001-07:00

It’s hard to believe that just a week ago we were enjoying our last day aboard the ms Zuiderdam and somewhat reluctantly anticipating our return to real life.

We set sail last Saturday afternoon from Canada Place in Vancouver.

Some of my nieces and nephews came to bid us bon voyage.

There were many surprises awaiting my parents in their cabin, including balloons, flowers, champagne, and various other anniversary gifts. All twelve of us squeezed into their tiny stateroom and watched them open their cards and packages.

The anniversary celebration continued the next night when the dining room staff sang to them and presented them with a special cake.

On Monday we sailed up Tracy Arm and saw our first icebergs

and numerous waterfalls gushing into the glacial-green waters.

Before arriving in Juneau later that day the whole family ate together at the Pinnacle Grill, a gift from our travel agent. My lunch was almost too pretty to eat.

In Juneau we joined up with Alison and Stan and did a bit of shopping. Afterwards we checked out the beverages at the Alaskan Hotel.

Then Cameron and I were off on an evening whale-watching tour. Although we did see two humpbacks they moved too quickly to capture on camera.

The next day we arrived in Skagway, where we had arranged a bus and train trip along the White Pass & Yukon Route.

We took the bus to Fraser, BC, which boasts a whopping population of 14, all Canadian Customs officials,

then boarded the train for the return trip to Skagway,

Despite the fog we took in some beautiful sights.

Once in Skagway, we had lunch at a local pub and did some shopping. Do you detect a pattern here?

Wednesday was undoubtedly the highlight of our entire cruise.

In the morning we entered Glacier Bay and cruised right up to the Margerie Glacier, where we remained anchored for about an hour.

Even when you get up close, it’s hard to believe that this glacier is over a mile wide and about 25 stories high.

The Margerie Glacier moves about seven feet a day, continually calving huge chunks of ice into the water. We were lucky enough to see it calve twice before we headed back out of the inlet.

The rest of the day was one picture postcard moment after another, as we sailed past more glaciers, snow-capped mountains, and rugged shorelines. We even saw a brown bear walking away after lunching on a beached whale.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better several pods of whales were spotted as we made our way out of Glacier Bay. They were spouting and breaching all around us.

Most were quite far away but one pod came close to the ship and put on a show.

Our final port-of-call was Ketchikan, where it was hot and sunny.

We spent our time there much as we had the other towns, wandering in and out of shops and checking out the local pubs. The whole family met for lunch at Fish Pirate’s Saloon where we enjoyed some cold drinks and delicious fish and chips, while listening to live music.

We spent the last day at sea under mostly overcast skies but the weather didn’t stop some of us from participating in a 5 km on-deck walk to support breast cancer. My mom, a fifteen-year breast cancer survivor, was thrilled to be walking, accompanied by four of her five daughters. Even the captain participated and unexpectedly popped into our group photo.

The final night featured the Master Chef’s Dinner and everything was beautifully presented and delicious, just as it had been during the entire trip.

That evening the sun came out and highlighted the beautiful British Columbian coastal scenery as we cruised past. The feeling was bittersweet; our cruise was coming to an end but we all looked forward to returning to our homes and families and a more familiar way-of-life. The next morning Vancouver looked stunning in the sunshine as we sailed into Burrard Inlet, past Stanley Park, and back into Canada Place. Within just a few short hours of docking, we arrived home.

Now, I can imagine you thinking, “That’s all wonderful but what about the yarn, the knitting? That’s what we really care about.”

The truth is that despite my best intentions I did very little knitting on my trip, less than twenty rows of ribbing on a sock cuff. But I was thrilled to spot this large and beautiful sculpture in the ship’s theatre.

It made me feel right at home.

And in each port I picked up some sock yarn, each dyed by a different Alaskan hand-dyer.

From left to right: A Tree Hugger’s Wife “Sturdy Sock” purchased (and dyed) in Juneau, two skeins of Rabbit Ridge Designs “Soxx” bought in Skagway, and Raven Frog Fiber Arts “Bear Feet” from Ketchikan. Alison and I also each bought a skein of Noro “Kureyon” in Ketchikan. It was Buy 1, Get 1 Free—how could we resist?

I think yarn makes the very best type of souvenir, don’t you? You can knit your memories into every stitch.

All is Revealed

2010-07-03T07:20:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday people across Canada marched in parades, ate cake, and attended fireworks displays. Even the queen turned out for the event.

What prompted this nationwide celebration? Why, my parents’ 50th anniversary, of course!

Okay, so the rest of the country was really celebrating Canada Day but we can pretend, right?

In actual fact, my parents weren’t interested in having a big party to mark their Golden Anniversary. Last year when the subject came up we decided we would take a family vacation instead, for the first time since we were kids. Since we’re all married now we decided the husbands could come too but no children! After much discussion, we decided on an Alaskan cruise and we will be boarding the ship just a few hours from now.

Mom and Dad stayed over at my place last night and when they arrived I couldn’t wait to present them with their afghan.

They seemed genuinely pleased with their gift and spent a while oohing and aahing over the various squares. I pointed out what I thought of as “their” squares, a fish for Dad

a breast cancer ribbon for Mom,

and a church for the two of them.

They even declared that they would use it, not just put it where it could be admired but not touched—music to a knitter’s ear!

And like a good knitter I have scoped out the yarn shops in our ports of call and plan on picking up some Alaskan hand-dyed souvenirs along the way (I thought about some qiviut but $92 per oz is a little rich for my blood). I’ll be sure to show them off when I return but for now I’d better go finish packing!

The Saga Continues…

2010-06-23T15:04:00.001-07:00

So, a few days ago I wrote about how my three flower baskets had been stolen off my front porch in broad daylight (as best as I can figure—I’m sure I’d have noticed them missing when I checked the mail that morning). Knowing how upset I was, my sweet and thoughtful husband brought home a bouquet of flowers that evening in an attempt to cheer me up. It helped but I still felt ripped off every time I went and in and out the front door and saw the empty hooks.

Last night we decided to go for a walk and as we passed a rental duplex a few doors down from us I spotted what could have been one of my baskets hanging from their front porch. There were people out front and we were across the street so I couldn’t get a really good look but we made sure to pass by it more closely on the way home. While I couldn’t swear it was my basket I had a strong suspicion that it was. We even went into our backyard to see if we could see the other two baskets but their back porch was out of sight.

This experience left me feeling frustrated. I was pretty sure I knew who had stolen my baskets but I couldn’t prove it. I was tempted to go in the dark of night and steal the one back but then what would we be opening ourselves to? Empty hooks seemed preferable to slashed tires or smashed windows. I ranted a bit then resigned myself to the fact that it was only flowers and I still had some beautiful baskets out back that I could enjoy. Time to get over it.

Then I went out to run an errand this afternoon and found this hanging from one of the hooks:

It was definitely not there when I went to check the mail this morning.

All I could do was laugh--a wee bit hysterically if truth be told.

Now, this is not one of my baskets but it is a basket and I have no idea who put it there. A good Samaritan who heard my tale of woe (a handful of friends and close family members) or the thief trying to appease their conscience? Chances are I’ll never know but I’ll be sure to tell you if I find out. Meanwhile, I’m just going to accept the new flowers at face value and enjoy their colour and scent as the summer progresses.

Update: I wondered if the mysterious donor could have been my sister. I had bought the original baskets at her school fundraiser and had told her of their theft when she dropped by the other night. I guessed correctly—she reluctantly admitted to it when I asked her about it. She said she did it secretly so that I might think the thief had had a fit of conscience. I will treasure the new flowers even more now, knowing they were given with such love and thoughtfulness.

Trying to Get a Grip

2010-06-18T17:38:00.001-07:00

Tell me. What kind of person walks up to an occupied house in broad daylight and takes the hanging baskets off the front porch? I suppose it’s the same sort of person who takes Christmas lights off the windows and lawn ornaments off the grass.

I’m normally a glass-half-full kind of girl who thinks that the vast majority of people are kind and good and I suppose that deep down I still believe this but this afternoon my opinion of the human race went down a notch.

This summer, instead of admiring the colours and fragrance of flowering baskets every time I check the mail or return home from errands I will instead be reminded by the empty hooks that the world we live in is not the place I thought it was when I woke up this morning.

My only hope is that the ill-begotten flowers bring no joy to their new owner, just a stab of conscience with each new bloom.

Cueing Beethoven’s 5th

2010-06-12T11:40:00.001-07:00

Done Done Done Done!

done done done done

done done done done done done

done

Done Done Done!

Saving the Best for Last?

2010-06-01T15:45:00.001-07:00

I’ve been away from Blogland for a long time. No excuses, no real explanations—I just haven’t felt like writing. In the meantime, the days have gone by with lightening speed. There’s always something going on, including, of course, plenty of knitting.

The most exciting thing to happen in these past few months is learning that Cameron and I are going to be grandparents for the first time in November. I envy Jessica her relatively nausea-free pregnancy so far and it’s been fun—and a little strange—to see her body change as the baby grows. Of course I’ve been giving some thought to baby knitting but don’t look for updates here or on Ravelry—it’s hard to keep a secret when you have a knitter for a daughter!

Another special occasion this year is my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary on July 1st. Since March I have been working diligently to finish up the remaining twelve squares of the Great American Aran Afghan so that I can assemble the blocks and knit the border in time for the big day. This morning, with a great sense of relief, I put the finishing touches on the final square.

This miniature Aran sweater took first place in the GAAA contest and I’d been looking forward to knitting this block since the beginning. So that I wouldn’t be tempted to knit all the “fun” squares first I’d made myself start from the beginning of the book and methodically work my way through, page by page. Perhaps I was just tired of working with plain, ivory yarn or maybe I was simply anxious for this phase of the afghan to be over; whatever the case, I did not enjoy this block as much as I’d anticipated. The stockinette base was boring to knit, while the tight gauge of the sweater hurt my hands. But once it all came together I was pleased with how it turned out and eagerly moved onto the next step: deciding on the layout.

First things first—was it going to be a 4x6-block configuration or was I going to have to knit an extra square and make it 5x5? I was worried that 4x6 would be too disproportionate (the book suggests 4x5, with four squares left over for cushions) but once I laid the blocks out on my bed I was satisfied that it would be just fine. Phew--I really didn’t want to knit another square!

Next, I divided the blocks into three main categories: vertical patterning, “pictures”, and circular construction. I found that just over half of the squares featured vertical lines so I alternated them with the others, evenly distributing the pictures and the circular designs among them. Then I spent well over an hour arranging and rearranging the various blocks, trying to balance highly textured squares with those with less prominent stitchwork. Finally, I achieved a layout that I was happy with and took careful notes and photos to assist in the assembly process.

Next up: Miles and miles of sewing, followed by miles and miles of afghan border. Wish me well.

Olympic Glory

2010-03-01T15:16:00.001-08:00

The last two weeks have been fabulous.

Vancouver dressed itself up

and welcomed the world.

Olympic spirit was evident everywhere

and fired everybody up.

Some people zipped across town

while others took part in some serious sport.

Like knitting.

And more knitting.

And still more knitting.

In the end all that hard work paid off

as Ravthletes

and athletes alike

reveled in Olympic glory.

Olympic Spirit

2010-02-12T12:05:00.000-08:00

I always enjoy watching part of the Olympic coverage, whether it be the summer or winter games, but I feel a particular sense of anticipation as the 2010 Winter Olympics begin this evening. Obviously, part of the excitement comes from the fact that they are being hosted by Vancouver, just 100 km from where I live. Another factor is my sense of connection to the this games’ torch relay. Just a few weeks before the torch was lit for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games we were in Olympia, the site of the ancient Olympics, and were shown where the Olympic flame is lit by the rays of the sun in front of the ruins of the Heraion temple.

After a 10-day relay through Greece the flame was entrusted to Canadian officials at the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens. We had spent several days in Athens at the end of our holiday and had passed the stadium numerous times during our stay.

I felt a little thrill when I watched the news coverage of the torch ceremonies and thought, “I was there”.

Last Sunday the torch relay came closer to home—literally—at one point passing less than a mile from my house. I can’t describe the feeling of seeing one torch bearer appear in the distance,

then approaching and handing off the flame to another.

These Olympics also mark the first time I will be taking part in a related knitting event. I was unaware of the Yarn Harlot’s blog when she initiated the Knitting Olympics four years ago and chose not to participate in the Ravelympics in the summer of 2008. But with Canada hosting the games it only seemed fitting that I take part this time around. I will be working on two pairs of socks for Team Tufty (the SKA team) and attempting to finish up my long-neglected Tangled Yoke Cardigan for Team Manic Purl (one of my favourite podcasts, hosted by a Vancouver resident). Unfortunately, I will not be watching the opening ceremonies as I cast on; instead, I will be the car, on the way to my parents’ house for the weekend. But that won’t stop me—with the help of a handy-dandy clip-on light I will be able to start a plain vanilla sock and work on it as I travel. With any luck, I will meet my knitting goals by the time the Ravelympics end on February 28th.

Speaking of luck, they say good things come in threes but it was with great astonishment that I learned that had won yet another yarny prize a few weeks ago. I had entered a contest sponsored by Skacel and WonderMike of the Fiber Beat podcast and I was chosen at random to receive five skeins of Zitron Unisono, a springy, variegated merino wool.

It just arrived this morning and is destined to become a sweater...after the Olympics, that is. Let the games begin!

It’s That Time Again

2010-01-18T12:28:00.001-08:00

I’ve felt a bit unsettled since New Year’s. I’ve done some reflecting on last year’s knitting goals and accomplishments and have been thinking about my plans for 2010 but I haven’t had a chance to organize my thoughts and commit them to writing until now. Even though January is already more than half over, I won’t feel as though the year has truly begun until I do.

Last year I made a rather lengthy but perfectly achievable list of goals for 2009. Although I did meet many of my objectives for 2009, like knitting a sweater from start to finish, reorganizing my stash, and completing some WIP’s, I also failed to meet some others. Despite my intention to knit more from stash and cut back on yarn purchases, my stash definitely increased again this year. And, unfortunately, I did not finish the Great American Aran Afghan in time for Christmas, having lost interest sometime around July. But instead of feeling guilty about it languishing half-finished under the bed, I took Goal #10 to heart and simply set myself a new deadline.

Which brings me to my goals for 2010.

1. Finish the GAAA by July 1st, in time for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. There are twenty-some-odd weeks between now and then and twelve blocks to go—no sweat.

2. For the most part, limit my SKA projects to one per month in order to free up time to knit other projects. With so many choices each month it’s hard to resist doing one in each category.

3. Knit every SKA mystery sock this year. The designs are usually excellent and it doesn’t hurt to go out of my comfort zone and give up a little control now and then.

4. Make a point of using my sock books. I’ve owned Sock Innovation for almost a year and haven’t knit a pair from it yet.

5. Finish some of my sweaters-in-progress, like Twigs and Leaves, the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, and Fylingdales. I recently completed the February Lady Sweater and the Mondo Cable Cardigan and have enjoyed wearing them. I’d like to wear more of my sweaters.

6. Spread out gift knitting (mainly socks) over the course of the year. I did this in 2009 and it worked out great.

7. Embrace the stash. I love yarn. I love to buy yarn. I can afford to buy yarn. Then why feel guilty about something that gives me so much pleasure? This year I am not setting any moratorium on buying yarn. While I do have plans to knit more from my stash because there are some beauties in there that are calling my name, I will continue to buy yarn as the spirit moves me, guilt-free.

8. Spend more time knitting and less time reading about knitting. I’ve already begun putting this into practice. As much as I love Ravelry and my favourite knitting blogs they can really suck up the time. Although I will continue to follow my favourite threads and blogs, I will be scanning more and chatting less.

9. Blog when I feel like it. Last year I set a goal to blog at least once a week, putting undue pressure on myself. The truth is I am not a once-a-week blogger. Sometimes I am a three-times-a-week blogger and sometimes I am a once-a-month blogger. You get what you get. No apologies.

10. Let it go. Other than setting a specific deadline for finishing the GAAA and participating in the SKA monthly challenges (which I love), my intention this year is to be less regimented when it comes to my hobby. In 2010 I am going worry less about meeting other people’s expectations or my own self-imposed knitting deadlines; instead, I am going to go with the flow and knit and buy and blog what I want when I want. Something tells me this is going to be the hardest goal of all.

Thank You, Mr. Postman

2010-01-16T15:05:00.000-08:00

It has been a good mail week chez Knitsnpurls.

Two parcels arrived while we were away. One came from WEBS and was full of Regia sock yarn.

Many of the people who I knit for prefer basic, washable socks so I took advantage of their clearance sale on discontinued colours and stocked up.

The other parcel contained something much less practical and much more exciting, the latest shipment from Woolgirl’s “Embrace the Lace” club.

This time the theme was “Love”, represented by a luscious skein of superfine alpaca yarn from Curious Creek Fibers to be made into a cowl designed by Leila Wice. The kit also included a Namaste Buddy Case, an organza project bag, a stitch marker, and some tea and honey sticks. As usual, the presentation was impeccable.

A few days into the new year I learned that I was one of the lucky winners of SKA’s November sockdown. I won a skein of sock yarn of my choice from String Theory Yarn. My Caper Sock in the “Spruce Head” colourway arrived on Wednesday.

It reminds me a lot of Casbah, one of my favourite sock yarns, and is even prettier in real life than it looks on the website.

Wednesday also brought an additional treat, a skein of sock yarn from Barking Dog Yarns.

I’d been admiring the “End of Summer” colourway for a while, so when it went on sale I snatched it up. Suzan told me she will be introducing a new sock yarn and also three lines of laceweight to her shop soon.

On Friday the mail van made yet another stop at my house, bringing more sock yarn.

I ordered the Shibui to combine with a bright skein of Socks That Rock in a stranded knitting pattern, possibly Chrissy Gardiner’s Windowpane Socks. While I was at it I ordered the Smooshy in “Chinatown Apple”.

January must be my lucky month. Yesterday morning I learned that I had won two prizes in an Embrace the Lace contest: two skeins of Lobster Pot baby camel and six patterns by Jolene Treace.

With all these exciting packages it’s like Christmas all over again. I might just start calling the mailman Santa Claus.

A Knitting Lesson

2010-01-14T21:01:00.001-08:00

I don’t usually post twice on the same day (heck, sometimes I don’t even post twice in the same month!) but I couldn’t wait to share my solution to obtaining a jogless jog in an alternating multiple-row/single-row striped pattern when knitting in the round.

I’ve been knitting a pair of striped pedicure socks called “Peekaboo” from The Joy of Sox and have been frustrated at my inability to disguise or minimize the jog that occurs when changing colours. Even though the colour changes are located on the sole of the socks and will therefore be hidden when the socks are worn, I have been dissatisfied with what I consider a defect in my knitting.

The sock features a two-colour sequence, five rows of Colour A followed by one row of Colour B. As I knit the first sock I experimented with several methods of changing colours, even resorting to joining in and ending a separate strand of yarn for each single-row stripe of Colour B. Not only did this fail to solve the problem, it also made for a lot of ends to weave in. I searched knitting books and the internet for a solution but although I found various methods for single-row stripes or multiple-row stripes, nothing seemed to address the issue of a multi-row/single-row sequence.

As I knit the second sock my thoughts kept returning to the slipped-stitch method demonstrated in this video but I didn’t think it would work because it requires you to knit one round of the new colour before slipping the first stitch on the second round and Stripe B is only one round high. However, with a little experimentation I came up with a modification to this method and finally achieved a jogless jog.

Here’s how it’s done:

1. After knitting the desired number of rows for Stripe A, begin Stripe B by slipping the first stitch of the next round, then knit to the end of the round with Colour B.2. Begin Stripe A by knitting the first stitch in Colour B,

then slip the next stitch

and knit the rest of the round in Colour A.

Note that the first two stitches will be in Colour B, while the rest of the round will be in Colour A.

3. Knit desired number of rows with Colour A.

4. Repeat Steps 1-3 with each colour change.

Voila! Practically jogless jogs.

Like the slipped stitch method demonstrated in the video, this technique means that Stripe A is one row shorter where the colour changes take place, and in this method this change is spread over two stitches instead of one. This could be an issue in a larger garment with numerous stripes but it won’t make a significant difference in the fit of this particular project.

Now that I’ve mastered the jogless jog I’m tempted to frog the first sock and reknit it but considering that a) it’s a pedicure sock and nobody will ever see it but me, b) they’re made from leftovers, for heaven’s sake, and c) I’m ready to move onto another project, I think I’ll just finish up the second sock and keep the first as it is to remind me of a knitting lesson learned.

We Now Return to Our Regularly-Scheduled Program

2010-01-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have gone by in a blur. After all the holiday preparation and festivities, houseguests, and our subsequent vacation, it seems as though life is finally regaining some sense of normalcy.

This year the Christmas season was particularly busy, with some sort of family gathering taking place practically every day. Christmas morning was spent with our own family; Colin stayed over the night before, then Jessica and Neil came by for brunch later on.

After stopping briefly to visit with my brother-in-law and his family we continued on to my sister’s house for Christmas dinner with my extended family. We were all thrilled to meet the newest member of the clan, my great-nephew, Jeremy, who spent the evening being passed from person to person,

while his older sister, Lauren, stationed herself next to the Doritos bowl.

Once again I received some wonderful knitterly gifts, including a pair of handknit socks from Jessica,

a gift certificate to one of my favourite LYS’s, sock blockers, some sock yarn, and several knitting books.

Over the course of the next week, in addition to playing host to my parents, then to my sister and brother-in-law, and finally to my mother-in-law, we gathered with various family members for numerous dinners, a birthday brunch, and New Year’s Eve celebrations. Everybody seemed pleased with the handknit socks they received as Christmas or birthday gifts and my niece even requested a pair of her own. Another convert! I was relieved to see that Morgan’s sweater fit her perfectly and it didn’t take any coaxing to get her to model it for me; she loves to “pose”.Last Monday morning Cameron and I said goodbye to the hustle and bustle and took off for a decidedly untropical island vacation. We spent three days in Ucluelet, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and three days near Parksville, on the east coast. Rainbows seemed to follow us everywhere.

We couldn’t have asked for a more relaxing holiday. We took the occasional nature walk and even visited a couple of yarn stores but the majority of our time was spent reading and knitting and admiring our ocean views. We returned home on Sunday with our batteries recharged, ready to resume our ordinary life.

Things are still a little hectic, as they often are after a vacation, as we try to catch up on all the various things neglected in our absence. It’s already mid-January and I have hardly given a thought to my personal and knitting goals for the new year or chosen a project for the upcoming Ravelympics. But with any luck, by next week our days should have settled into their regular rhythms, giving me a chance to ponder these—ahem--momentous decisions.

Down to the Last Minute

2009-12-24T12:32:00.000-08:00

I remember when I was a kid the day before Christmas seemed to last forever. The hours ticked slowly by as I waited in anticipation for holiday celebrations to begin. Once I had my own children Christmas Eve never seemed long enough—especially the years I was hosting dinner the following day—as there seemed to be an endless list of last-minute jobs to take care of in too-few hours.

This year my Christmas Eve is a little less hectic. Except for a last-minute pair of socks my Christmas knitting was done in good time, as was the majority of my shopping, wrapping, and decorating. I’ve even had time to finish up a few projects this week, including the aforementioned last-minute socks for my sister-in-law, two other pairs of socks, and the Mondo Cable Cardi I began last month. And as of 10:00 this morning my February Lady Sweater finally has buttons after going six months without.

Most of today’s to-do list consists of housework of the there’s-no-point-doing-it-until-the-day-before-because-it-will-just-have-to-be-done-again variety. Other jobs include food preparation and freshening up our good clothes for tonight’s and tomorrow’s festivities. Perfectly manageable.

And then at about 4:00 this afternoon the crazy will start—good crazy but crazy all the same. Over the next week or so we will have three different sets of house guests (thankfully not at the same time!) and will be taking part in numerous family get-togethers. I love this time of year and look forward to seeing relatives from all the different branches of the family but I’m sure I’ll be more than ready for the calm after the storm.

And calm it will be. The day after our last guest leaves Cameron and I will be heading to Vancouver Island, where we will spend a week doing a whole lot of nothing in particular. I am already anticipating days spent reading, knitting, and walking on the beach. If the weather’s good we may even play a round of golf. After a busy year and Christmas season it will be great to recharge our batteries before real life kicks in again in the new year.

I’d like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and nothing but the best for 2010. And here’s hoping Santa leaves you some awesome knitting gifts under the tree.

What I Meant to Do

2009-11-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

Warning! Embrace the Lace Spoiler!

Way back on October 31st I meant to acknowledge Colin’s 20th birthday. Here he is with his new friend, Maurice.

Then, on November 1st I meant to show you this picture of Morgan, who came trick-or-treating at our house wearing Colin’s old Halloween costume.

She, Neil, and Jessica came bearing Halloween cupcakes so we celebrated Colin’s birthday in style.

I also meant to post once or twice more in November, bringing you up to date on my knitting projects, such as my four (count ‘em, four) pairs of socks for this month’s SKA challenge.

Naniboujou

Florenz

Miss Marple, the SKA November mystery sock

And the Edwardian Boating Socks

I’m still working on these.

I meant to show you Sundog, which I will be giving to Morgan for Christmas

And the Mondo Cable Cardigan, which I am knitting out of Malabrigo. That will have to wait a while longer because I meant to take a picture of it and forgot.

I meant to do all those things; instead, I let a whole month go by without blogging.

On the bright side, I meant to post today and show you the newest Embrace the Lace kit and I am doing it. Here it is in all its glory, a cowl and fingerless glove set designed by Anne Hanson, to be knit in baby camel from Lobster Pot Yarns.

The theme for this kit is “Prudence” and as usual it comes with all sorts of goodies.

Cameron and I meant to spend a fairly uneventful weekend at home. Instead, thanks to a last-minute cancellation we will be boarding a plane early tomorrow morning for Calgary, where we will take in Sunday’s Grey Cup (think Canadian Superbowl) courtesy of Cameron’s employer and one of the company’s suppliers.

Which just goes to show that sometimes things turn out okay, even if you don’t do what you meant to.

How I Spent the Last Few Days

2009-10-28T16:10:00.000-07:00

Knitting slippers for Matt and me.

Boring but necessary.

Blocking.

This magical process never ceases to amaze me.

Swatching.

Definitely worth the evening it took to determine the size and colour combination for my first ever colourwork sock, Naniboujou, just one of the three pairs I have planned for next month’s SKA sockdown.

Is it November yet?

Actual Knitting Content

2009-10-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

One advantage of having many projects on the go at any given time is that my FO’s tend to come in spurts. Besides filling me with a sense of accomplishment, this gives me something to talk about and lots of pictures for you to look at.
Of course, socks continue to feature prominently in my knitting life. Here are a few of the latest:

Woodelves in Fleece Artist Trail Socks in the Boreal colourway for SKA’s October challenge. I love how these turned out.

My latest pair of plain socks in Hazel Knits’ “Hometeam Baseball” colourway.

I call these my Hometeam Baseball Hockey Socks because they not only feature the team colours of the Seattle Mariners, who I cheer for when I am not pulling for the Toronto Blue Jays, but also those of the Vancouver Canucks, my hometown hockey team. I like how the variegated yarn knit up and the socks are simple but cozy.

Balance Socks in Handmaiden Casbah in “Blackberry”.

I love everything about these socks. Usually by the time I finish the second sock I am ready to be done but I enjoyed this knit so much I was sorry to see it end. I loved working with the yarn, which features shades of blackberries in every stage of ripeness. Good enough to eat!

Once I decided to make the Temperance Stockings I couldn’t wait to cast on. I knit almost nothing else for three days and Voila! I had a knee sock.

This project has really taken me out of my comfort zone, Not only am I knitting a pair of knee socks for myself (and striped ones at that!), I’m not even squirming (too much, anyway) over the inevitable pooling that results from the calf and gusset decreases. As the mornings and evenings get cooler I am looking forward to pulling these on with my pajamas.

With only one pair of SKA socks to knit this month I was free to work on other projects. I finished the back and one front of the Twigs & Leaves cardigan but they’re all curled up and therefore not photo-worthy yet.

On Friday I cast off not one, but two shawls that I began this summer. The knitted-on edging of the Creideamh shawl took several days to complete, thanks to the countless stitches and my ineptitude.

The crocheted edging on the Secret Garden shawl went much more easily and took only a few hours.

This shawl had been marinating since the end of August while I dithered over whether I had enough yarn to knit one more row before casting off. I’d already had to eliminate half a pattern repeat because of insufficient yarn and I wanted to get all the mileage I could out of what I had left. In the end I decided not to risk it --the idea of picking back 768 stitches did not appeal to me. Predictably, it turned out I would have had enough for one more row but better safe than sorry.

I’m hoping to block both shawls soon. Meanwhile, I have a few other projects on the go but I’ll save them for another day.

Gifts From the Earth

2009-10-19T18:32:00.001-07:00

Our apple tree fell over this weekend. Its demise was not totally unexpected as it has been leaning more and more each year. It wasn’t a matter of “if” but “when”. Cameron and Matt spent a couple of hours yesterday chopping it up and removing the stump and, of course, picking apples.

The tree went out with a bang, producing one of its best crops ever. We’ve never sprayed or treated the tree in any way and as a consequence we very seldom have many worm-free apples for snacking. This year, however, we have plenty, in addition to the usual numerous blemished and wormy apples we use for baking.

I spent a good part of today washing and sorting apples, then peeling, coring, and slicing those designated to the baking pile. In the past I’ve usually frozen the apples in unbaked pies and crisps but this year I decided to make pie filling for freezing instead. Unfortunately, I wasn’t entirely happy with the results. Even though I cut way back on the water, as suggested by a lot of people who’d tried the recipe (gotta love the internet), the end result was way too runny and I had to use a slotted spoon to transfer the filling to containers. I am hoping it will gel a little more once it is baked and cooled.

Of course not all the pie filling was destined for the freezer—I had to try it out, didn’t I?

I baked some of it into an apple streudel and I must say it turned out very well, considering it was the first one I’d ever made.

Served warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it made the perfect autumn afternoon snack.

Giving Thanks

2009-10-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday people across Canada celebrated Thanksgiving. Not a year has gone by that I haven’t had plenty to be grateful for: loving family and friends, a roof over my head, plenty to eat. This year we had Thanksgiving dinner with Jessica’s boyfriend’s family. We’ve come to love Neil and his daughter, Morgan, over the past nine months and we enjoyed becoming better acquainted with his parents and siblings.

Having an extra day off this weekend also gave us the opportunity to drive up to the cabin and check out the wildfire damage for ourselves. It’s one thing to see photos but quite another to see it in person. We were reassured to find the area surrounding the lake and our property relatively unchanged, aside from some burnt patches and retardant-stained trees.

But it was sobering to climb the hill behind our place and quickly come upon this scene:

Fire protection crews turned this old logging road into a fire guard and thankfully it did its job.

Even though this spot is less than 300 paces from the nearest cabin (I counted) it is hidden from view by dense forest growth. It was not until we actually emerged from the trees that the clearing came into sight, driving home the realization of just how close we came to losing our beloved vacation spot.

It could have been much worse. Under different circumstances our hillside could have looked like this.

As we drove further north we saw even greater devastation.

In some areas both sides of the road were completely burnt out.

We could only imagine the inferno that must have raged there.

Driving through the fire zone also gave us a greater appreciation for just how far the fire had spread. Our route took us a distance of about 30 km/20 miles but that doesn’t take into consideration the areas we could not reach; the entire zone covers an area of almost 21,000 hectares. While it is still active, the fire is now considered 100% contained and will continue to be monitored until it burns itself out. This shouldn’t be long now, considering that overnight temperatures in the region have recently dipped to about -15° C (5° F) and snow is expected over the next few days. Brr…

Our own weather has taken a turn for the worse; after a stretch of warm, sunny days it is blustery and cool this morning, with rain expected all week. No complaints here--sounds like perfect conditions for knitting.

Put One Foot in Front of the Other

2009-10-07T17:10:00.001-07:00

We all know that a great deal can be accomplished by simply taking things one step at a time but it’s easy to forget. Yesterday it felt like my mystery socks would take forever to complete but lo and behold, by the end of the evening they were done.

There are some elements of these socks I'm not crazy about, like the Dutch heel and the new-to-me toe (in which the stitches are divided into thirds and decreased along those lines), but I feel honored that Nancy Bush took the time to design a sock just for SKA and I enjoyed knitting it along with everyone else. I really liked doing the vickel braid and look forward to including it on a future project.

So, with that out of the way my thoughts turned towards October’s challenge. I only intend to make one pair this month and couldn’t decide between a man’s sock or a Jeannie Cartmel design. However, I soon realized that the idea of knitting for a size 10 foot right now didn’t really appeal to me so in the end the choice was easy. But which one? Jeannie has some really fabulous, intricate patterns that I’ve been eyeing for a long time. The one in her ravatar, “Summer Sliding”, is particularly stunning. Maybe it was the late hour or maybe it was the sense that I’ve already fallen behind but I just couldn’t face the idea of twisted stitches and detailed charts so I settled for something simpler, “Woodelves”. I quickly found just the right yarn in my stash, some Fleece Artist Trail Socks in appropriate shades of green, brown, grey, and tan.

What could be more perfect for woodelves? Just to challenge myself I tried the Turkish cast on for the first time.

Monday morning’s mail brought the latest installment in the Embrace the Lace club. This kit’s theme is “Temperance” and the yarn and pattern are the work of my good friend, Lori Law, of Oceanwind Knits.

The yarn is dyed in soft shades of blue, green, yellow, and pink and is to be knit into a pair of knee-high stockings. At first I dismissed the idea of making these for myself because I don’t wear knee socks but I really liked the yarn and was reluctant to give it to someone else. I considered keeping the yarn and making something else out of it but in my opinion that goes against the spirit of the club. To me, the whole point of joining a club like this is to go out of your comfort zone and be open to yarns, colours, and designs you might not have chosen for yourself. So, with this in mind, I’ve decided to keep the yarn and knit the pattern for myself after all—I think they’ll make very cozy house socks now that the weather is turning cooler.

One last thing…
I’ve come to the realization that there is no way that I am going to finish the Great American Aran Afghan in time for Christmas. I haven’t looked at it in months and the thought of working on it steadily between now and December makes my stomach churn. It just wouldn’t be right to knit those kinds of vibes into it. Instead, I am setting myself a new, perfectly attainable goal to have it finished by next July in time for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Twelve squares in nine months—how hard can it be, right? Shh, don’t answer that…

Lagging Behind

2009-10-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

After being away for over two weeks it feels good but strange to be home. Traveling across ten time zones in less than 24 hours really does something to your body clock and it is taking me a while to get readjusted. I’m having a hard time staying awake until bedtime and an even harder time sleeping past 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning. I’m not used to being up before the sun! When we left we were still enjoying summer weather but the season definitely turned in our absence. It’s time to put the sandals away and pull out the handknit socks. The house seems strangely empty with Jessica gone and only Matthew still at home.

Our busy itinerary didn’t allow much time for knitting but I did manage to finish Clue 3 of the Nancy Bush mystery socks on one of our days at sea.

I couldn’t wait to tackle the final clue once we got home but surprisingly it was two days before I even felt like knitting and even then I could only handle some basic stockingette. It wasn’t until yesterday that I was ready for something that demanded more concentration and I worked a few more pattern repeats on the mystery socks. I’m hoping to finish those soon so I can turn my attention to this month’s SKA challenge. Here it is, almost the end of the first week of October and I haven’t even decided which pattern I’m doing! Not like me at all. Oh well, I know I will feel more like myself in a few days so I just have to cut myself some slack until then. Any discomfort I feel now is a small price to pay for the experiences I’ve had in the past few weeks.

Since 1993 the company Cameron works for has been offering an incentive program to its customers, in which they can apply a portion of their purchases towards the cost of a bi-annual cruise. Some company employees are invited on the trip and in addition to engaging in some general schmoozing with the approximately 1000 customers, host a table for dinner each evening. Thanks to Cameron’s position as a regional manager, we are automatically included among the chosen few and have been lucky enough to go on six cruises, including this year’s trip to the Eastern Mediterranean. The company’s owner and president does his best to make each trip unique and special and has arranged some truly memorable experiences. In the past we’ve been paraded down Canal St. in New Orleans before embarking on a dinner cruise on a Mississippi riverboat, watched an exclusive performance of the Broadway show, “Movin’ Out”, and enjoyed private concerts by Credence Clearwater Revisited, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman of The Guess Who, and Trooper.

This year’s cruise began in Istanbul and included various stops in Turkey, Egypt, and Greece before ending in Athens, where Cameron and I spent three days’ holiday on our own. Over the course of fifteen days we visited the Blue Mosque in Istanbul

and looked out over the waters of the Bosphorus,

toured the ruins of Ephesus, once the third largest city in the ancient world, next to Alexandria and Rome,

took in breathtaking views on the Greek islands of Mykonos,

Santorini,

and Crete,

gazed at the Great Pyramids of Giza,

watched night fall on the Sphinx,

stood on the original starting block in the Stadium at Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympics,

explored the hilltop fortress at Nafplion, the first modern capital of Greece,

and were awed by the Parthenon atop the Acropolis in Athens.

We ate delicious Greek food,

rode a camel (well, Cameron did—I took pictures),

wore goofy Egyptian headdresses

and rocked out with Tom Cochrane against the backdrop of the pyramids and Sphinx.

Truly the trip of a lifetime. Is it any wonder I’m having trouble readjusting to real life?

Things

2009-09-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

Something that makes me happy:
At approximately 8:30 this evening Cameron and I will be boarding a plane to Europe for a 12-day Eastern Mediterranean cruise followed by three days in Athens. It’s a working holiday but definitely more holiday than work.

Something that makes me sad:
Knitting needles are a banned carry-on item at Heathrow Airport so I will have to find other ways to entertain myself for approximately thirteen hours of flight time each way (not counting layovers).

Something that makes me happy:
I finally finished a pair of twisted rib socks I began in April.

Something that makes me sad:
Knitting miles and miles of 1x1 twisted rib. What was I thinking?

Something that makes me happy:
Knitting Nancy Bush mystery socks the colour of sunshine.

Something that makes me sad:
We'll have limited internet access so I probably won’t get to see Clue 4 until after we get home. Imagine, no Ravelry for over two weeks!

Something that makes me happy:
Jessica is moving into her own place while we’re gone, a beautiful basement suite she’ll share with her boyfriend and his daughter.

Something that makes me sad:
I’ll be the only knitter in the house when she’s gone.

Something that makes me happy:
I’m almost packed.

Something that makes me sad:
I still haven’t decided what knitting projects to take.

Better go!

Hurrah, Hurrah!

2009-09-04T08:48:00.001-07:00

As of noon today all evacuation order and alerts will be lifted for the Clinton area. The fire is still burning but is no longer considered a threat to residents of the area. I can't tell you the joy and relief I felt upon hearing the news last night.

My parents were very lucky. When they were evacuated from our vacation property they simply moved back to their house in town. Although they have spent part of the time preparing for another potential evacuation, at least they were at home. Most of the other people in the area are permanent residents so they have been living in hotel rooms for the past two weeks, worrying about their houses and wondering if they would have to face evacuation yet again should the fire threaten Clinton itself. They must be thrilled to be returning home today, although I'm sure that happiness is mixed with trepidation. What will they find when they get there? The structures were all saved but some properties sustained considerable fire damage.

After my parents and relatives were evacuated I and members of my immediate and extended family assured each other that what really mattered was that everyone was safe, that if we lost the cabins we could always rebuild. There were even jokes about how we wouldn't have to sleep on that lumpy bed anymore or look at those ugly couch cushions (why do cabins become the repository of old, cast-off items, as though they aren't "good enough" to contain comfortable and attractive furnishings?). But the truth is that so many of our memories are wrapped up in the buildings themselves. Even though all four cabins have been remodeled and modernized over the years, at their core they are much the same as they have always been. The main room of what used to be my grandparents' cabin still contains the fireplace that my grandpa built, a collage of interestingly shaped and coloured rocks, interspersed with curios, such as tiny metal toy figurines.

The picture of my grandpa's big fish still hangs in there too.

A few years ago my youngest son gazed around the main room of our cabin and posed the question, "Do you think Kelly Lake will ever change?" I laughed and said that it had already changed a great deal over the years.

Before the addition of electricity and indoor plumbing we had had to use kerosene lamps, haul buckets of water, and visit the outhouse. Even the cabin we were sitting in had not been built until 1967 and since then it had grown to six rooms, instead of the original three.

What hadn't changed, I told him, was the feeling of the place. Since my grandparents purchased the property in 1943 what we call Kelly Lake (although the lake itself is almost a mile away) has been a gathering place for their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and now even great-great grandchildren. Every summer we would go to Kelly Lake and reacquaint ourselves with the aunts and uncles and cousins who lived hundreds of miles away from us; this tradition continues today. And now, thanks to email and sites like Facebook, it is even easier for the various generations of cousins to maintain relationships with each other. I'd like to think that if our cabins had burned in the fire the essence of KellyLake would have carried on; we would have rebuilt and continued to gather each summer from various corners of BC and Alberta and even farther afield.

But there is no denying that something would have been irretrievably lost. I can't imagine the place without the original cabins, the old garden swing my grandpa built,

or the shed with the wagon wheels that had travelled on the original Cariboo Road.

I'm glad I don't have to.

A Sigh of Relief

2009-09-02T17:34:00.001-07:00

In my last blog post I wrote of how the wildfire burning near Clinton has touched me in a very personal way, threatening the cabins that have been in my dad’s family for over sixty-five years. Since the controlled burn-offs took place along Kelly Lake and behind our cabins and neighbouring homes on Saturday, the family has been speculating about what changes we might expect in the landscape on our next visit. Thankfully, we don’t have to wonder anymore.

My parents, who were evacuated almost two weeks ago, had an opportunity to visit the cabins this afternoon, escorted there by a fire official. He was gracious enough to also drive as far as the picnic site at the lake so that my parents could get a good look at the aftermath. After seeing this dramatic photo of Saturday night’s burn-off*

they were amazed to see that so little had changed from how it used to be.

Other than some scorched areas (particularly high on the ridge) and red patches of fire retardant the hillside is predominantly green. The fire mainly consumed fuel from the forest floor and left most of the trees intact. The smoke you see is from another burn-off.

This photo, taken Saturday afternoon, shows the fire advancing down the hillside directly behind our property.*

While I knew intellectually that the fire had reached this spot and had been successfully halted, it hit me for the first time just how close it had come to our beloved cabins.

From this photo, taken at a different angle just a little farther up the road, you can see that once again, amazingly, the hillsides bear very few scars.

The little fire that is remaining is expected to burn itself out and our cabins are no longer considered to be in danger.

This final picture, of my uncle’s cabin, shows the hillside as it appears from our place; as you can see, there is practically no visible damage.

Having seen other photos of homes surrounded by scorched trees I feel very fortunate to have escaped so lightly. Thanks to our location, the weather, and an amazing crew of firefighters our cabins will continue to provide our family with more happy memories for years to come.

*Source: http://bcwildfire.ca/ftp/!Project/WildfireNews/8302009~63809_2009_C40429-Kelly%20Creek,%20August%2029_BCFS(Gwen%20Eamer).JPG

*Source: ftp://ftp.tnrd.bc.ca/pub/2009Fire/Kelly_Creek_Fire_Photos/kellycreekaug29/

The View From the Top

2009-08-31T14:40:00.000-07:00

On Saturday afternoon Cameron and I went on an incredible hike at Mt. Baker, WA with my sister, Alison, and her husband, Stan. There were times when the climb and the views literally took our breath away.

The trail wound along the right edge of this valley, through the patch of snow, and climbed higher and higher, eventually passing through the saddle to the right of the flat rock formation (Table Mountain) at the top left of the photo.

From up above the views of Mt. Shuksan and the valley were spectacular.

As we passed through Herman Saddle the imposing peak of Mt. Baker came into view.

We descended to a chain of three lakes and were more than ready to have some lunch and rest for a while before making another ascent.

As we rounded the trail Mt. Shuksan came back into sight.

On a plateau in the valley below was a herd of mountain goats (the teeny weeny white dots running horizontally across the flat area in the foreground).

We watched them as we made our way along the ridge, through a meadow of fireweed, back to where we’d begun our hike almost five hours before.

As we enjoyed the serene alpine scenery I couldn’t help but think of the contrast between it and the fire-ravaged slopes in the area surrounding our family cabins, near Clinton, BC. The Kelly Creek wildfire began on August 1st, when a lightning strike sparked a small blaze in Edgehills Provincial Park (click for photo). Even though several mountain ridges and a considerable distance separated them from the fire, my parents and other relatives were alerted to the possibility of evacuation should the fire threaten their lives and property. As they were returning from a day trip the afternoon of August 20th, my aunt and uncle saw a portion of the mountain flare up under the force of gusty winds and likened the sight to an atomic explosion; our cabins were evacuated later that evening, along with other homes in the vicinity. By the next morning the fire was estimated to cover 10,000 hectares, having more than doubled in size overnight. Since then hot temperatures, high winds, and rugged terrain have continued to challenge efforts to bring the blaze under control and it currently covers approximately 18,500 ha or 185 square km (115 square miles).

Thankfully, this past weekend saw calmer weather conditions and fire crews successfully conducted burn-offs along the shores of Kelly Lake (click for photo) and immediately behind nearby evacuated homes, including our family cabins. From what I understand the entire hillside behind us has burned to within several hundred feet of our cabins but unless something unexpected occurs our buildings will remain intact, even though the surrounding landscape will bear scars of the fire for some time to come.

However, we are not yet able to breathe a full sigh of relief. The fire continues to grow to the north and east and the evacuation alert has been expanded to include the village of Clinton, which is where my parents make their permanent home. Even though the fire is 12 km from the townsite and it is unlikely that they will actually face an evacuation order, they are taking precautions by moving irreplaceable items to a storage locker in another town. And with other residences in the outlying area also under threat it will be difficult to completely relax until the fire is fully contained and extinguished and evacuation alerts and orders are rescinded.

True to plan I have managed to get a fair bit of knitting done these past few weeks and hope to update the blog again soon. In the meantime please send good thoughts to the firefighters and residents of the Clinton area—their ordeal is far from over.

Whoosh...

2009-08-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

WARNING: Embrace the Lace Spoiler

July flew by in a flash. Here are some highlights:

My brother-in-law, James, got married to Liz, a longtime family friend.

When they were younger they referred to each other with such affectionate names as “little bother” and “big blister”. Liz has been like part of the family for so long that it’s a joy for us to officially welcome her as one of our own.

Less than a week later our daughter, Jessica, celebrated her 24th birthday.

The very next day she was excited to learn that she had successfully landed the new job she had applied for. If her first shift yesterday is any indication, she is going to love it. We couldn’t be happier for her.

Last week our household was reduced by one, when our youngest son, Colin, moved into his new condo.

It is strange to see his room so empty (and clean!) and know that he will not be coming home to stay, only dropping by now and then for a visit. But he hasn’t gone far—just a few blocks—and any feelings of sadness we have are far outweighed by our sense of pride at his accomplishment.

By far the highlight of this July was the celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary.

In some ways it feels like we’ve been together for only a few years but in others like we’ve been together forever (in a good way!). The best part is that we both love and like each other after all this time and truly enjoy spending time together.

We just got back from a few days away. We spent the first night in a luxury cabin on a golf course. This was the view from our deck.

We didn’t want to leave and checked out at the very last minute.

From there we drove to Kelowna where, despite some record high temperatures, we enjoyed a great round of golf on Saturday. I also checked out the city’s two yarn shops and made some souvenir purchases.

We spent the final night at our family cabin near Clinton, where we celebrated my dad’s birthday a few days early.

There were no big knitting highlights in July. I only managed to knit one complete pair of socks (Journeyman Socks) and finish up a couple of others.

I am looking forward to a much quieter and more productive August (at least as far as knitting is concerned). The day we left for holidays the latest shipment of the Embrace the Lace club arrived with a pattern and yarn for a triangular shawl (in addition to other assorted goodies), which I’m itching to cast on.

Since returning home a few days ago I’ve been almost exclusively occupied with the knitting of the Secret Garden mystery shawl, a KAL offered through The Unique Sheep. I’ve now finished Clue 4 and have another week to go before the final clue is revealed.

I also cast on a couple of last minute projects for SKA’s July sockdown and am working my way through the Pink Ribbon socks and Marie Antoinette.

I’d attempted both patterns before but didn’t have good luck with my choice of yarn; I’m happy to report that they’re working out better the second time around.

If you don’t hear from me for a while don’t worry. I'll be in a corner somewhere getting my knitting fix before crazy starts all over again in September.

6-Month Check-up

2009-07-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

With the year half over, this seemed like a good time to review my knitting goals for 2009 and see how I’m doing.

1. Knit two pairs of patterned socks per month, at least one of which will meet SKA’s monthly challenge. Both pairs must be knit from stash.

I think I can safely say that I have met the first part of this goal, having knit sixteen pairs of patterned socks (and several pairs of plain) so far this year; of these, eleven were for SKA. I initially thought that I had failed miserably at my goal to use only stash yarn but in fact ten pairs were knit from yarn I already owned before January 1st. Grade: A

2. Make the Great American Aran Afghan for my parents for Christmas. Knit the border as I go, one section for each square.

Although I’d hoped to be halfway done by the six-month mark, I am not that far behind, having completed the eleventh of twenty-four squares just yesterday. I initially knit a section of border immediately after I finished each square as planned but have put that on hold until I make a final decision on how I will assemble the blocks. I will probably arrange them four wide and six long but I have also been mulling over the idea of knitting an additional square and making a 5’x5’ afghan like I did for the Great American Afghan. Once I decide I will know where to place the corner sections in the border. Meanwhile, I would like to average a square a week from now on so that the afghan will be finished in plenty of time for Christmas. Grade: A-

3. Knit one new sweater for myself from stash. To be determined.

I haven’t knit a complete sweater since January but I did finish a vest (which has since been frogged) and recently completed my February Lady Sweater, barely begun last November. So far I have cast on two sweaters this year and hope to see them through to completion by the end of the year. Grade: A-

4. Knit more lace. Even though I already have a good selection of lace yarn and patterns, after much consideration I have decided to sign up for Embrace the Lace, a yarn club featuring eight lace projects over the course of a year. With any luck, receiving new yarn regularly will help me to meet goal #5.

I have definitely been knitting lace, finishing up old projects (Muir and Nightsongs), starting some new ones (Silver Birches and Aspen Grove), and whizzing through entire projects (Aeolian and Heart to Heart). I look forward to receiving future Embrace the Lace shipments and will be beginning a mystery shawl KAL next week. Grade: A+

5. Cut back on my yarn purchases and knit from stash. Notice I did not say eliminate yarn purchases. I am a realist, if nothing else.

I have no idea how this year’s purchases compare to last year’s but I do know that I have talked myself out of many a skein. I’ve made a conscious effort to reduce the number of impulse buys and mull over my shopping cart, sometimes for weeks or even months, before I press “Proceed to Checkout”. Grade: B+

6. Continuing in the same vein, take a realistic look at my stash and UFO’s. Frog anything I don’t plan to finish and get rid of yarn I don’t see myself knitting.

I finally got around to this job about a month ago. I frogged a number of UFO’s and took stock of what I had. There are some yarns that I may eventually destash but I’m holding on to them for now. Grade: A-

7. Finish three WIP’s, including the Garter Stitch Jacket that’s only missing one sleeve. Anything else is gravy.

Mission accomplished! Grade: A+

8. Make at least one blog post per week, even if it’s just a photo.

Er, not so much. While I frequently think about blogging, the truth is I’d usually rather spend my time knitting than writing about knitting. However, when I finally get around to it, I tend to do several posts in a short space of time because once I start writing I realize how much there is I want to talk about. I’ve never been a consistent journal writer so it’s no coincidence that I’m also an inconsistent blogger. But I’ll keep writing if you keep reading. Grade: C+

9. Enjoy my knitting. Avoid overcommitting to gift knitting and set reasonable goals and deadlines for myself.

So far I’ve done a good job of limiting my gift knitting list to the GAAA and about six pairs of socks. Whenever possible I am coordinating gift socks with SKA challenges in order to provide some extra motivation to get them done. Most importantly, I am spreading out the knitting over the course of the entire year so that I won’t feel overwhelmed as birthdays and Christmas draw near.

Even so, I have to admit that there are times when gift knitting and KAL’s get in the way of my knitting enjoyment. These deadlines, though they are self-imposed, sometimes add an undesirable element of pressure to my knitting life. Grade: A-

10. Feel free to revise my goals at any time. See goal #9.

Generally speaking, I am very pleased with my progress so far this year but there are a couple of goals that need some consideration. First, I’ve come to the realization that I am not a once-a-week blogger and will simply write when I have something to say and try not to feel guilty about prolonged silences. And second, I’d like to increase the enjoyment of my knitting by reducing the amount of pressure I put on myself to meet deadlines. I still want to knit the items on my gift list but while I will continue to take part in KAL’s such as SKA, I will try not to get too caught up in the excitement and cast on more deadline projects than I can handle. I want to knit on whatever catches my fancy without constantly feeling like I “should” be working on something else. After all, knitting is my hobby and it’s supposed to be fun.

I’m afraid this long post with no pictures hasn’t been too exciting for you to read but it has been a very useful exercise for me. I am amazed at how much I’ve accomplished in just six months but I’m afraid there is no denying my addiction to sock knitting! Although I will continue to knit socks like a fiend from here on out, I would like to spend more time on other types of projects like shawls and sweaters.

On another note, today is our nation’s 142nd birthday. Happy Canada Day!

Getting It Right

2009-06-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

Carrying on with yesterday’s theme, there are times when matching up the perfect pattern to your variegated yarn seems effortless. I’ve had several recent successes.

Conwy.

It helped that I used the same yarn as the pattern called for, only in a different colourway. I had tried this yarn with several other patterns in the past, with no luck.

Anastasia.

This was one of those times when I saw the pattern and instantly knew which yarn I’d use. They turned out exactly as I had envisioned.

Copper Penny Socks.

Another pattern from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns (have I told you how much I love this book?). I wasn’t sure at first which pattern this yarn wanted to be but as soon as I cast on 63 stitches on a 2 mm needle I knew at the very least that I had found the right combination of needle and stitch count. When the beautiful striping continued as I began to work the lace pattern the deal was clinched.

One of the potential trouble zones of socks made from hand-dyed yarns is the heel. When you work a traditional heel flap and gusset you disrupt the flow of the yarn, first by working back and forth to create the heel flap, and then by knitting a greater number of stitches around the gusset. Sometimes pooling occurs in this area and even when you have returned to the original number of stitches after working the gusset decreases the yarn does not always behave in the same way that it did on the leg. While I did not encounter any problems when working the heel flap and gusset on Conwy, I was unhappy with the pooling and pattern disruption that did occur on the Copper Penny Socks.

I often find that substituting a short-row heel for a traditional heel flap and gusset is a satisfactory solution to these problems but even so, the colour distribution on the foot will not always match that on the leg after the heel is worked. I never thought of simply knitting the heel with yarn from the other end of the ball until I heard Gigi speak about it on the Knitmore Girls podcast. What a concept! When I reached the heel I joined in the new yarn, worked a short row heel, then carried on with the original strand for the rest of the sock, without disrupting the colour flow at all. Depending on the sock, an afterthought or a forethought heel may be more visually pleasing (ie. If you want a bull’s-eye effect) but I prefer not to deal with provisional cast-ons, grafting, or cutting my knitting if I can help it.

Size Matters

2009-06-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

If you have followed my blog for any length of time you will know that I am a huge fan of hand-dyed sock yarns. However, I am not such a huge fan of pooling and flashing so I am very particular about pairing up the right pattern with the right yarn. If the yarn isn’t behaving I won’t hesitate to frog what I’ve done and try again. Sometimes it requires multiple attempts to get it right, switching needle sizes, varying stitch counts, or trying two or three different patterns before I’m satisfied.

Here is a perfect example of how gauge and stitch count can make the same yarn behave in different ways.

This is my first attempt at the Rib Fantastic Socks (Ravelry link).

Because Handmaiden Casbah tends to be on the heavy side of fingering weight I chose to knit the 60-stitch version on 2.25 mm needles. Note how certain colours cluster together and spiral down the sock. Now, while I don’t mind striping I am not too crazy about spiraling so I thought I’d give it another go. I picked up the second cake of yarn and cast on again.

This time I changed everything: needle size, stitch count, pattern. I cast on 63 stitches for the Braided Gem Socks (Ravelry link) on 2 mm needles. The results (not pictured here—I didn’t know that it was going to turn into a blog post) were somewhat better. The greater number of stitches meant that the colours were not stacking up on themselves quite so much but I quickly concluded that while I want to knit this pattern one day, this was not the time or yarn for it.

Well, they say three times is a charm. Now, having experimented with smaller needles and a higher stitch counts, I knew that a) the yarn did not feel like cardboard when knit at a tighter gauge and b) the colours were more evenly distributed when knit over a larger number of stitches. I decided to try Rib Fantastic once again, this time casting on the 66-stitch version on 2 mm needles. Voila!

No flashing. No pooling. No spiraling.

The moral of this story? If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. If your variegated yarn does not initially appear to be compatible with your pattern of choice, try tweaking your needle size or stitch count or both. Sometimes, of course, no amount of experimentation will yield the desired results and then it’s time to consider a different design entirely. I believe that for every skein of hand-painted yarn there is a pattern out there that will show it off to its best advantage; sometime it just takes a while to find it. I have several skeins of my own that are patiently waiting in the stash, dreaming of the day they meet Mr. Right.

A Cause for Celebration

2009-06-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

Warning! Embrace the Lace Spoiler Alert.

Mmm, the smell of chocolate is wafting through the house.

Why would I even think of turning on the oven on a day that promises to reach 33 degrees Celsius (about 96 degrees Farenheit)? Because it’s my son’s birthday and he deserves cake. Happy 22nd, Matt!

There was yet another cause for celebration this morning. My second Embrace the Lace shipment arrived. This time the theme is “Charity” (with a particular focus on Autism Speaks) and the colour is blue-green. The package contained some beautiful cashmere laceweight hand-dyed by Mama Llama to knit the “Heart to Heart Beaded Scarf” by Sivia Harding, along with a Gabrielle Lace Keeper knitting pouch from Julip Bags and various other goodies.

My fingers are itching to cast on but there a few other things to take care of today first. I’ll just have to settle for the occasional pet or admiring glance until then. While I was very satisfied with the first kit, the project was more suited to Jessica than me so after knitting one pattern repeat just for the experience, I passed it along to her to finish and wear. This time, however, the pleasure will be all mine!

Untangled

2009-06-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Remember this?

It now looks like this.

But no worries. With the addition of a few more balls of yarn it will soon be making an encore appearance as this.

The Washington Square Vest is not the only victim. I recently pulled everything out of my knitting chest and took a good, hard look at all the things I have on the go. Some, I had to admit, were never going to get finished for one reason or another so to the frog pond they went. It was actually a very liberating feeling to turn the ball winder and watch the knitting come undone, stitch by stitch. No longer is there a feeling of, “Oh, I really should finish ________.” Instead, I now look at the long-buried treasures I’ve unearthed and think, “I can’t wait to work on ________ again.”

And that’s what knitting should be all about.

There and Back Again

2009-05-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

We came.

We saw.

We conquered.

Focus, focus...

2009-04-29T15:12:00.001-07:00

Thanks to some dedicated knitting I finished my Margaritaville socks one day

and my Punctuated Rib socks the next.

I’ve also produced two afghan squares since I wrote last. This one designed by Marian Tabler

and this one by Meredith K. Morioka.

That makes four in total, four less than I had hoped to have made by the end of April, but I still have eight months to knit the remaining twenty squares so I’m not too concerned.

I’m still in love with shawl knitting. This is what I have done on Silver Birches so far

and I caved and cast on Aspen Grove.

I think the colours suit the name perfectly.

Meanwhile, I am gearing up for another sockdown with three projects planned: Journey Cable socks, Marie Antoinette, and a mystery sock by Yarnissima. My yarn is all wound and ready to go.

With the beginning of May also comes our trip to California! We leave for the airport early Monday morning. All the planning has been done so all that remains is the packing…and the housecleaning. No sense starting that too soon or all my good work will be undone before we go. I’ve yet to decide what knitting projects I’ll take with me. I don’t expect to get a lot done but our plans do include some longish car trips so at the very least I can work on some socks.

The time has gone so fast it's hard to believe that just a year ago I was in Toronto celebrating my sister's birthday with her. I wish I could be with her again today--Happy Birthday, Jacqueline!

Getting Back on Track

2009-04-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

Despite my best intentions I have not been blogging as frequently as I would have liked. Funny how life seems to keep getting in the way.

Dare I say that I think Spring is now really and truly here? The snowdrops have come and gone and many of the daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips are already past their prime. Fruit trees are beginning to blossom, while others are putting out new leaves of yellow-green. And best of all, it is now possible to go out with only a light jacket, or sometimes with no jacket at all.

With the new season finally taking hold I feel as though I am emerging from a “long winter’s nap” and am anxious to shake off the sluggish feeling and get moving again. This morning I exercised for the first time in a very long time and it felt good to work up a sweat and stretch my muscles. I have a love/hate relationship with working out and don’t do it as consistently as I should. I love the way it makes me look and feel but I resent the time it takes away from more enjoyable pursuits, like knitting. Still, if my soon-to-be-48-year-old sister can run the Boston Marathon for the second year in a row (Yay, Jacqueline!), I figure I can go for a walk or ride the stationary bike a few times a week.

As for knitting, I am still in a shawl phase and began my Year of Lace fall kit, the Silver Birches Shawl (Ravelry link). I know I should finish my summer kit first but it’s just not speaking to me right now. I did one pattern repeat on the Embrace the Lace kit, just for the experience, then handed the project over to Jessica. The stole is more her style than mine and I thought she might enjoy knitting it herself.

After largely ignoring the Ivy socks for most of March and April, I devoted several days last week to finishing them up.

I am really happy with how they turned out and hope that Jacqueline likes them as well since I am sending them to her for her upcoming birthday. April’s SKA project is going much more quickly and I finished the first Margaritaville sock yesterday morning, before heading home from a four-day getaway to Wendover.

I’ve also been working on several pairs of non-SKA socks, like these Punctuated Rib socks from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns, and resisting casting on even more.

It's nice to be missed--these flowers are a welcome home bouquet from Cameron.

Of course, all of this other knitting and travel is keeping me away from the GAAA and I am about five blocks behind on my proposed schedule of two blocks per month. It’s time to get back on track with that too before I blink and it’s Winter again.

Aeolian Finale

2009-04-06T12:37:00.001-07:00

Here are a few photos of my blocked Aeolian Shawl. Definitely worth all the frogging and reknitting.

We spent yesterday scrubbing the winter grime off our deck and outdoor furniture. It was even warm enough to sit outside afterwards in capris and a t-shirt--what a treat! We are supposed to have a few more days like that then it's back to rain so I plan to enjoy the sunshine while I can.

Blocking

2009-04-04T13:57:00.001-07:00

Saved by the Swatch

2009-04-03T16:38:00.001-07:00

Remember this? It saved my life this afternoon or, at the very least, my sanity.

I finished my Aeolian Shawl.

The bind-off took about nine grams of yarn. Unfortunately, I only had eight.

Thank goodness I swatched.

Hope Springs Eternal

2009-03-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

Warning! Embrace the Lace Spoiler Ahead!

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that Spring really has arrived but here is some proof. (Hmm, looks like the garden needs a good weeding.)

And this daffodil's for you, Christy! It should open any day now. I hope yours bloom soon too.

I was very surprised and excited to receive my first Embrace the Lace club shipment this morning. Since my last shipment from Woolgirl took almost three weeks to arrive I wasn’t expecting it quite this soon, especially since it was only shipped last Wednesday.

If this first package is any indication of what’s to come, it’s going to be great fun embracing the lace this year.

The theme of the first project is Hope, which is expressed through a lace stole designed by Chrissy Gardiner, knit in a specially-dyed colourway of Malabrigo Lace called Verde que te quiero verde. (I’m not sure how that translates into English but I know it involves green). Besides the yarn and the pattern we also received a large knitting tote, a key chain, a stitch marker, and some other goodies. While I’m not sure that I would wear this sort of lace stole I think part of the adventure of joining a club like this is to go outside of your comfort zone and knit the projects as they come. I can always gift it if it doesn’t suit me.

But first things first. I am going to finish my Aeolian Shawl before I begin any new lace projects. Call me crazy but after adding an extra agave repeat and working my way up through part of the edging I decided that I would have enough yarn for yet another repeat and frogged back 24 rows and added it in. I am now on the edging for what I hope is the third and final time. Wish me luck!

Ups and Downs

2009-03-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

First the good news.

Some more birthday yarn arrived yesterday.

Dream in Color Smooshy in “Pansy Go Lightly” and Paca Peds in “Fireside”, neither of which I’ve tried before. They’ve been hanging out on my coffee table, where I could admire them while knitting the Aeolian Shawl.

Oh, yeah, the Aeolian Shawl. That brings me to the bad news.

Knitting the Aeolian Shawl has brought me much happiness over the past few days. The pattern is interesting but not difficult and since it incorporates several different stitch patterns you are motivated to finish one section so you can get to the next. I’m even enjoying the nupps, now that I know to knit them at a very loose gauge. So what’s the problem, you ask?

Right from the beginning I’ve been struggling with the issue of yarn requirements. The (very talented) designer, Elizabeth Freeman knit the pattern using three different laceweight yarns, resulting in three different sized shawls. The two smaller she called “shoulderettes” and even though she knit the same number of pattern repeats for each, one came out considerably larger than the other because of variances in the yarn and needle size used. She explained that the size of the finished shawl could also be altered by changing the number of pattern repeats but warned that the edging section required a considerable amount of yarn, with the smaller shoulderette using a full 65% of the total yardage.

I was aiming for a shawl a little larger than the finished dimensions of the larger shoulderette. The Mersea I was using is fingering weight and I was planning to knit it on a 4 mm needle. The two 115 g skeins have a total yardage of about 760 yds. After reading the various comments on the Ravelry forums and doing a multitude of mathematical equations I concluded that I should have enough yarn to knit two extra repeats of the first stitch pattern (yucca) and then follow the remaining instructions for the shoulderette as written. However, after knitting the six repeats of the yucca pattern I used up considerably more yarn than I had estimated and became fearful that I would not have enough when it came to the edging. After more calculations I decided I was right to be concerned so I ripped back to the fourth repeat and continued on my merry way. By the time I came to the edging section I had about 75% of the yarn remaining so I proceeded, confident that I would have enough, with a bit to spare.

Now I know what you’re thinking but you’re wrong. I did not run out of yarn. Instead, I have exactly the opposite problem.

I only have six more rows plus the bind off to do and I have a full 95 g of yarn left. The last two rows, one of which included 24 yarn-eating nupps, used only 6 g of yarn, which means that even if the remainder uses up a generous estimated 45 g I will still have 50 g of yarn remaining. I wouldn’t mind so much if I was happy with the size of the finished product but after comparing it to my newly-finished Gail shawl I can tell that it is going to be too small for my liking.

There’s no way around it. If I want to the shawl to be larger I am going to have to rip back rows and rows and rows of knitting and beadwork, add a pattern repeat, and then reknit the frogged sections. And as crazy as it sounds, I still run the risk of running out of yarn. Keeping in mind that new stitches are increased every other row and that the new section will add 48 stitches to the total number, the reknit sections are going to require more yarn than they did the first time through. My head hurts just thinking about nearing the end for the second time, only to run short.

Still, I think it’s the only way to go. I think I’ll wait until after dinner when I’ve had some sustenance and maybe a glass or two of wine for courage.

Hmm, my love affair with shawl knitting seems to be in jeopardy—now where did I put those socks?

A Tale of Two Shawls

2009-03-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

First up, the promised photos of the blocked Gail/Nightsongs shawl, pattern by Jane Araujo (By the way, I don’t know why it has two names on Ravelry; I prefer Nightsongs).

Knit in a merino-seacell blend from Stash Up Yarns in the “Sea of Cortez” colourway.

It's just the perfect size for a shawl, about 64" x 32".

I couldn’t be happier with the results. This is one of my favourite projects ever.

As predicted, after swatching for the Aeolian shawl there was no way I could bring myself to work on another, older project. Since casting on Tuesday afternoon I’ve been knitting on the new shawl every chance I get. At first I found it a bit fiddly attaching the beads with a crochet hook (the yarn kept splitting as I pulled it through the bead) but I soon got the hang of it. I thought I would be able to do two extra repeats of the first lace pattern but after working them and calculating how much yarn I’d used I realized I wouldn’t have enough after all. That meant ripping back twelve rows of knitting but I’d rather do that at the beginning of a project than winding up short in the end.

I’m really happy with how it’s knitting up so far. Just ten more rows until I get to the elaborate edging section. If I keep going at this rate I’ll have it finished by the time the first Embrace the Lace kit arrives; I received notification today that it shipped on Wednesday. The designer, yarn, and project are all secret. The only thing I know for sure is that it will be inspired by one of the seven heavenly virtues and that this month’s project will be green, one of my favourite colours. I love a good mystery!

Still Marching

2009-03-24T16:07:00.000-07:00

I’m not sure what has gotten into me but I like it. I’ve finished up yet another neglected project (gotta love fingering weight for lace—it knits up so fast). Here’s a taste of Gail/Nightsongs.

More to come when it’s finished blocking.

With one shawl barely off the needles I am itching to cast on another. Luckily, the yarn for my Aeolian shawl arrived yesterday so this morning I took a trip to the bead store to make my selection. When I first saw the yarn I had envisioned it with a gold matte bead and found one at the store with a slightly rosy tone. Another translucent bead called “Copperline” also caught my eye so I bought a package of each and went home to swatch. As I worked the swatch I found myself leaning towards Copperline (on the left) but once the swatch was blocked I decided to go with my first impulse and use the rosy-gold beads (on the right). What do you think?

The weather is wet and dreary here today so it’s hard to capture the colours accurately (the Copperline beads show up better in real life) but this gives you an idea. My conscience is telling me to finish off another WIP before casting on the real thing but I will probably ignore it. A girl can only be so good for so long.

Now that Clue 4 has been revealed and the mystery socks are no longer a mystery I can show you how I spent the last week of February.

The yarn is some Oceanwind Knits fingering weight I bought a few years ago when Lori first started dyeing and it’s been waiting for something special. I think we can all agree that Kristi's beautiful and interesting design does it justice.

A Love Story

2009-03-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

Presenting Muir

Knit in Oceanwind Knits Wool Silk Lace, colourway "Agate".

The perfect marriage between yarn and pattern.

There are no words for how much I love this shawl.

May we live happily ever after.

I'm Marching as Fast as I Can

2009-03-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

Soon after I finished my Garter Stitch Jacket my thoughts turned to my languishing Muir shawl, begun so lovingly last January. Because the fine, laceweight yarn and 32-row chart required close attention I found myself working on this project in fits and starts during the past year, knitting several repeats over the course of a few days, then ignoring it for months at a time. I had already decided to devote the rest of March to finishing up some UFO’s when I heard about “March to the Finish” on Stash and Burn. Perfect, another KAL to provide some motivation.

Like many neglected projects, whether knitterly or otherwise, once we finally get around to them they are done in no time and we are left wondering why we put them off for so long. Muir was no exception. I think the secret is giving them your undivided attention; the problem is, I don’t usually have that much staying power and am easily distracted by things new and exciting.
In any case, Muir is finally knit and I spent about an hour this morning blocking it. It was too long for the kitchen table so I ended up laying out my blocking mats on the floor. As luck would have it, the finished measurements corresponded almost exactly to the size of fourteen blocking mats laid out two by two so it took very little time and effort to block the shawl into shape.

Against the beige background of the blocking mats it’s pretty hard to see the leaf and eyelet pattern so I am anxious to see how it looks once it’s dry. Even though the overall tone is taupe, the yarn has subtle bits of rose and green throughout.

Another project I’ve been stalled on is Bellatrix (Ravelry link) for February’s SKA challenge. I began the socks on a bit of a whim; having already completed two February challenges I didn’t really need another pair but I couldn’t resist. After a couple of pattern repeats I decided to frog back to the cuff and reknit them , this time purling every other row to better set off the undulating waves. Even though the pattern wasn’t difficult, or maybe because the pattern wasn’t difficult, I found these slow going and was soon distracted by other projects. However, determined to finish them before the March 31st deadline, I gave them a little love this week and lo and behold, they’re done.

With a full third of March remaining I am confident that I can complete at least one more UFO before the end of the month. My current focus is the Gail shawl I started last November. Probably better classed as a WIP, this project is really more of a guilty pleasure than a chore, begun as a distraction from Christmas knitting and neglected only out of sense of obligation to other, more pressing knits. Now that we’ve been reunited, the shawl is working up in record time. Each and every stitch of the exquisitely hand-dyed, merino-seacell yarn is a pleasure to knit and I predict that this is one project that will end long before I grow tired of it.

But new, exciting knits are just around the corner. This Wednesday I celebrated my 45th birthday and besides receiving several skeins of sock yarn, I have put some of my gift money towards even more yarn, including this merino-seacell to make the new Aeolian shawl. And as if that weren’t enough, the first installment of Embrace the Lace ships next week.

I hope that on this, the first day of a new season, that Spring is indeed springing in your neck of the woods. Whatever the weather, enjoy your weekend.

The Meat and Potatoes

2009-03-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

Several months ago when I was looking ahead to 2009 one of my goals was to finish a minimum of three WIP’s and UFO’s, particularly a Fleece Artist Garter Stitch Jacket that I had begun almost two years before. Anything else, I wrote, I considered gravy.

Well, pull up your chairs for some meat and potatoes ‘cause the jacket is D-O-N-E.

Why, oh why, did it take so long to finish? It’s garter stitch, for heaven’s sake. Well, even though the pattern itself is extremely simple, I found that the yarn required great attention. My needles constantly got caught in the boucle loops or mohair fibres so I had to watch every stitch. Added to that was the fact that the yarn was too dark to work on in the evening. And let’s face it, row after row of garter stitch is not exactly stimulating knitting.

It also didn’t help that I messed with the pattern so that I could avoid as many seams as possible. Knitting the jacket in one piece to the armholes and working a 3-needle bind off at the shoulders was easy enough. What was a bit trickier was figuring out how I could knit the sleeve in the round from the armhole down. I kept putting it off and putting it off, even though in the end it didn’t prove to be difficult at all. I thought after I’d done one sleeve that I would immediately do the other but other things came up and, well, it got pushed to the side again. When I finally dragged it out again last week it only took a few days. Makes me want to smack myself.

But it was worth the wait. I love the way it fits. I love the way it feels. I love the way the sunlight makes the sapphire blue and emerald green come to life. And don’t you just love this shawl pin? I’ve had it in my jewelry box for months, just waiting for this moment.

In other knitting news, I can now tell you that I spent the latter part of February working on a secret project. I was very flattered to be asked to test knit the mystery sock for SKA’s March challenge and of course I said yes. The designer, Kristi Schueler, was a pleasure to work with and as my fellow SKA’ers can attest, having seen the results of Clues #1 and #2, she has created a beautiful and interesting sock for us (go here to get a taste). It has been a lot of fun seeing it made up in all sorts of different yarns and colours. I’ll show off my version in a couple of weeks, once all the clues have been posted.

Since finishing up the mystery sock I have been on a ridiculous sock kick and currently have no fewer than five pairs on the needles, two from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns. But that won’t stop me from casting on another, plain pair to work on this weekend, when we go to Victoria to visit Cameron’s family. Once good thing about making this trip is

(drive to and from the ferry + ferry ride) x 2 = plenty of mindless knitting time

And to leave you with a little taste of why I love to live where I live, here is what I saw when I sat down to dinner the other night.

I only wish the photo did it justice.

Vest-uary Victory!

2009-02-25T13:26:00.001-08:00

If you recall, when February began I had some rather ambitious plans, including knitting a vest as part of the Vest-uary KAL on Ravelry. Even though some of my plans have gone by the wayside (cough, GAAA squares, cough) I am happy to report that I finished my Washington Square Vest Monday night. Even though it is still slightly damp from blocking, I took advantage of the good light and got Colin to take a picture.

While I am fairly satisfied with the results I wish I had made the vest just a little bit bigger since I would prefer more coverage in the front. I’m going to have to experiment with some other tops and see if it looks better with them. As I was finishing this project I realized how long it’s been since I’ve completed a sweater-type garment and it felt very satisfying. So much of last year was spent knitting socks, scarves, shawls, and, of course, the afghan, so it was a nice change.

As you can see from the photo, after a stretch of some remarkably springlike weather, we have snow today. Winter’s last gasp? We can only hope.

Hope and Remembrance

2009-02-20T13:55:00.000-08:00

Last night I finished my second pair of socks for this month’s SKA sockdown.

With their alternating stripes of stockinette and moss stitch, they’re appropriately named “Mossinette”. They’re knit in superwash merino from Beyond Basic Knits, in a colourway named “Hope and Remembrance”. The proceeds from both the yarn and pattern went to breast cancer research.

This seems like a good time to tell you that I got the results from my mammogram and everything’s fine. Let’s hope I remember to book one every year, the way I’m supposed to. Maybe these socks will help to remind me.

I’ve been plugging away on my Washington Square Vest and am now a few inches past the division for the armholes. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get a good picture of my work in progress so this will have to do until it’s finished.

Other than the cabled section and the lace border, it’s been all stockinette so much of this vest has been worked with a book on my lap to make the miles of plain knitting more bearable. I’m worried that it’s going to be a bit small but am hoping that it will stretch a bit in the blocking. And yes, I did remember to do a swatch but we all know they lie, right?

A Good Mail Day

2009-02-19T09:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, maybe I do have a Yarn Fairy after all, at least a surrogate one. This morning I received my prize for the Sock Knitters Anonymous December Sockdown.

Not only did Pick Up Sticks send me a skein of Casbah in their exclusive colourway, they also included a Perl Grey stitch marker necklace/brooch and a cute little sheep tape measure. A big thanks to Connie and her staff for such a generous prize package.

I also received the spring issue of Interweave Knits but I haven’t looked at it yet. I’ll save it for later today, then I’ll make a cup of tea and read it from cover to cover.

The sun is shining, the snowdrops are blooming, and the mailman brought me knitterly goodness. I think it’s going to be a good day.

On My Toes

2009-02-16T12:49:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was all about the toes. I reached the end of my first Mossinette sock

and finished off both of my Annetrelac socks.

What a blast these were to knit.

And then I couldn’t resist and cast on a pair by the late Gigi Silva (aka Monkeytoes), one of our featured designer’s for February’s sockdown.

These are Bellatrix, knit in Malabrigo Sock in the Stonechat colourway.

I had to delay my traditional Valentine’s Day gift to Cameron by a day because we were away this weekend.

He gets another lemon meringue pie in two weeks for his birthday. Even though they are technically Cameron’s, we all get to enjoy them. Matt says February is his favourite month!

A Repeat Visitor

2009-02-11T14:53:00.000-08:00

Last week I looked out my back window and saw a small hawk sitting on the fence. After a couple of minutes it flew towards the suet feeder under the plum tree, then disappeared. From its size and appearance I guessed it was a sharp-shinned hawk. On Monday it was back, only this time it landed on the deck railing. I managed to take some pictures and after doing some research I was able to confirm that it was indeed a sharp-shinned and learned that they like to prey on feeder birds. This afternoon I was on the phone with my mom, who is an avid bird watcher. We were just talking about the hawk when from the corner of my eye I saw a bird fly up to the deck. I couldn’t believe it--there it was again, right on cue!

I hate the idea that some of my beloved birds might fall prey to this guy (except the starlings--it can eat all of those it wants) but what a treat to see one so close up.

The flickers have also been frequent visitors lately and I am constantly interrupting my knitting to go look outside just in case there’s one on the suet. Even so, I am getting a lot done, though I don’t have any pics to share with you today. I am currently working my way through the cabled waist section of my vest, which has turned out to be a rather slow process. Every second row has 66 or 67 4-stitch cables and even with cabling without a cable needle, every 4-row repeat takes me about two hours to complete. I estimate that the entire 5” section will entail approximately twenty hours of knitting. The work is tedious and hurts my hands so I’ve limited my knitting on it to two repeats or eight rows per day. Meanwhile, I am making good progress with my Annetrelac and Mossinette socks. Pink Ribbons hit the frog pond because I didn’t like the way the yarn was knitting up but I’ll do them in the future with some different yarn.

Cameron and I had a lovely weekend, including a night’s stay in Vancouver. I demonstrated tremendous restraint (or stupidity) at Urban Yarns; even though they were having a really big sale, I left with only the pattern I’d come for and a circular needle I hadn’t seen elsewhere. Impressive, no?

To Our Health

2009-02-06T17:04:00.000-08:00

It is somewhat coincidental that I should be knitting “socks for a cause” for breast cancer during the same month I was scheduled for a mammogram. I chose this particular cause because my mom is a breast cancer survivor; fourteen years ago she underwent a mastectomy, radiation, and chemotherapy and is thankfully healthy today. You would think, considering her experience, that I would be diligent about having a yearly mammogram but I confess that I have been neglectful about making that all-important annual appointment. As I’ve been knitting these socks I’ve been reflecting on how vital it is that women do self-exams and get their yearly mammograms. After all, as the technician pointed out, the most common factor among breast cancer sufferers is that they are women. Genetics is secondary. So, if you haven’t yet, go book yourself a mammogram!

Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox now.

This may be Vest-uary but this week has been all about the socks. I immediately got hooked on my Annetrelac socks and once I got going I did not want to put them down. I also worked a bit on the Pink Ribbon socks and Mossinette.

But in the back of my mind a little voice kept nagging me to finish my socks for January’s sockdown before I got too far into February’s and so I devoted the past couple of days to Queen of Cups and am happy to report that I now have a pair.

And you didn’t think I’d neglect my vest entirely, did you? I have worked the first 4” and am now ready to begin the cable pattern at the waist.

Unlike Christy, I don’t have a yarn fairy but I did have some Christmas money to spend on books and these two arrived on my doorstep yesterday afternoon.

They are both winners and I can’t wait until I have some time to really dive into them. Maybe March?

No Little Plans

2009-02-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

Considering my last post, it was entirely fitting that I should turn to February 1st in the Yarn Harlot’s page-a-day calendar and read the following quote, attributed to Daniel H. Burnham:

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood…Make big plans, aim high in hope and work.”

This morning I embraced this philosophy to the fullest and cast on no fewer than four new projects. Add to this the Fylingdales cardigan I cast on late last week, and I think it can be safely said that my blood has not been merely stirred but whipped into a frenzy.

Back, from left to right, Mossinette Socks, Washington Square Vest, Pink Ribbon Socks; Centre: Annetrelac Socks; Background: Fylingdales

My heart beat a little faster last night when I learned that I had won a prize for the Sock Knitters Anonymous December sockdown, a skein of sock yarn from PickUpSticks. I'd be part of this group even if there were no prizes but it was cool to have my number drawn.

Overachiever?

2009-01-29T15:44:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I don’t know what to do with myself.

Once upon a time I knit without deadlines. Unless I made something as a gift or wanted a garment for a specific occasion I knit what I wanted when I wanted, with no time constraints.
All that changed when I discovered knitalongs.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love knitalongs. I love the camaraderie of knitting alongside my “virtual friends” and I love the motivation and focus that result from knitting to a deadline. Even if my collection of WIP’s and UFO’s suggest differently, I have become a much more disciplined knitter since I began participating in knitalongs. Just think how many more projects I would have on the needles if I hadn’t set some personal goals for myself or felt obligated to complete a project for the benefit of my blog or Ravelry friends.

But really, sometimes I get carried away.

January started out great. After just a couple of weeks I was well on my way to meeting my goals for the month: to knit two pairs of patterned socks and two blocks for the GAAA. I had produced my Oolong socks for January’s sockdown and was almost finished the second afghan square (incidentally, here it is, designed by Julie H. Levy).

I’d also begun work on another pair of patterned socks called Kethry and had made some progress on the Rocky Mountain socks I’d begun last summer. Things were going so well I picked up my Muir shawl and gave some serious time to it. Wow, at this rate there was a chance that I could even finish it before the end of January. I felt productive but not overwhelmed.

The trouble started when I finished my Rocky Mountain socks a few days ago. “You know,” I thought to myself, “There is still a week left to cast on another pair for January’s sockdown.” I’d originally planned to do Queen of Cups but since I didn’t get the required yarn for Christmas like I’d hoped, I wasn’t able to cast on January 1st. I’d since bought the yarn but I was determined not to cast on. As much as I enjoy the SKA challenges I’ve found that I’ve neglected other sock yarns and patterns I want to knit in favour of those that meet the sockdown requirements and so I’m trying to limit myself to only one SKA pair per month.

Yeah, right. Who am I kidding? Sigh...here is the first of my Queen of Cups socks.

The trouble continued when I realized I needed a good trip project for this coming weekend. Like last year, Anna-Marie, Doug, Cameron, and I are heading to Clinton to spend the weekend with my parents and I wanted more than just plain socks to work on. I’ve been itching to knit up some Jo Sharp Silkroad DK I bought last year and this seemed like a good opportunity. The only question: Tangled Yoke Cardigan or Fylingdales? After swatching, Fylingdales won out and I cast on. 3” of ribbing and 5” of stocking stitch should provide plenty of mindless knitting for travelling and visiting.

Poor Muir, set aside once again. And what about Kethry?

Well, there's always February...isn't there?

Uh oh, more trouble. I had made up my mind to knit two pairs of breast cancer awareness socks for February’s “socks for a cause” challenge. Even after learning that one pattern I’d chosen doesn’t qualify I decided I’d knit it anyway and embrace the spirit of the challenge. Okay, two pairs of socks plus the second Queen of Cups by the end of February—that’s manageable, right? Well, maybe if I hadn’t read of others’ plans to knit a pair for the entrelac challenge and decided to try one too. Yep, that’s three pairs. Well, three and a half. Plus two squares for the afghan. And I’d really like to finish up my Garter Stitch Jacket. And work on Muir. And I can’t ignore Kethry.

Surely I wouldn't get into any more trouble.

Ahem.

Tuesday night I listened to the latest Stash and Burn podcast and they talked about Vest-uary. Very interesting but I had no intention of knitting a vest in February. Really.

Then yesterday afternoon I was having lunch with a friend in a neighbouring town and stopped by to say hello to the manager of the sister store of where I used to work. You know, the yarn store? She had a beautiful vest made up as a shop model and when I saw that the yarn came in green I fell. Hard.

It must have been a sign that I was supposed to participate in Vest-uary, right? Well, that’s what I’m telling myself.

Okay, so maybe I've bitten off a littel more than I can chew but you can't blame a girl for trying. There's always March, right? Wait—don’t answer that.

On another note, on this day in 1937 a baby girl was born in a small town in Manitoba. She grew up to be a very wise, generous, courageous, and talented woman. Lucky for me, she just happens to be my mother. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Return to Blogland

2009-01-26T15:21:00.000-08:00

When I last posted two weeks ago I fully intended to blog again before now but life had its own plans. In addition to dealing with some private family matters, I've had to contend with the not quite unexpected demise of my old but faithful computer. I’d seen the signs but did not anticipate that its end would come so swiftly, without warning. One minute I was emptying my recycle bin and the next thing I knew my computer was repeatedly trying, unsuccessfully, to restart. Thankfully, none of my files were lost in the tragedy and my computer guru even transferred them to my new hard drive for me. When I turned on the new computer a few days later it was almost as though nothing had happened—he’d even put the same photo on my desktop.

I wish everything could be resolved so easily. These past couple of weeks I have felt worried and unsettled and I know there is more of the same to come. Like many others, I find comfort in my knitting but sometimes I wish it would occupy the mind as much as it occupies the hands. On the bright side, I have managed to get quite a bit done, including the Rocky Mountain socks.

Cross one WIP/UFO off my list.

And with any luck, I will soon be able to cross off another. I’ve made some good progress on Muir, a shawl I began a year ago.

Like all lace, it doesn’t look like much in the making but I assure you it will be lovely when it’s blocked.

I have a few more things to show you but they will have to wait for another day. Stay tuned.

Let Me Tell You 'Bout the Birds and the Bees...

2009-01-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

…and the flowers and the trees.

First, the birds…

Here’s the scene I woke up to this morning.

Next, the bees and the trees…

The first block of the Great American Aran Afghan (heretofore known as the GAAA).

Designed by Judy Sumner, the “kisses and hugs, spiders and bugs” theme was inspired by a birthday card from her granddaughters. I knit the whole thing before I realized that I was supposed to choose the placement of the bugs before I began and work their heads and bodies into the design at the appropriate spots (the wings are added afterwards). That meant ripping back and reknitting about half the square, not exactly an auspicious beginning to this project. After I’d blocked it I decided the spider would look better suspended from the web but thought that a line embroidered in worsted weight would look too heavy. Jessica had the brilliant idea of using laceweight and the yarn I had just received in my Year of Lace shipment was perfect for it. It's hard to see in this picture but trust me, it looks good. I am planning to feature a new block every two weeks throughout the year as a way of keeping me motivated.

Now, for the flowers…

I was feeling a bit down last night and Cameron bought these to cheer me up. I don’t have anything to say about the moon up above but that’s what I call “Love”.