Category: travel

  • Wool & Wine in the County

    I’m back from the Rosehaven Yarn retreat and I had such an excellent time! Lesley was an amazing host, and everyone was so nice.

    I took the train out to Belleville where Lesley’s husband picked me up, and we made a quick stop at Rosehaven before heading over to the venue, Jackson’s Falls Inn.

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    There were a few too many of us for the inn to accommodate, so I was actually staying down the road a bit at Black River B&B – the room was so luxurious, and I even had a deck looking over the Black River. This city girl even got to see a few stars at night. Big thanks to Meredith for letting me hitch a ride back and forth!

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    The schoolhouse at Jackson’s Falls where meals were (as well as classes) was so cozy! Paul and Lee provided so much good food and were great at handling different food requirements for such a big group.

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    On Saturday afternoon Purlin’ J’s Roving Yarn Co dropped by – it’s a converted fire truck that’s now a yarn truck!

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    The knitters ranged from a lady who has only been knitting for 10 months to an amazing 90-years-young woman who just picked up spinning, got a wheel for Christmas and knit up a handspun shawl! So inspiring. My classes went well I think! I taught Continental & Combined knitting, Entrelac, and two-handed colourwork. The other teacher, Cheryl, taught Brioche, Mosaic and Toe up two socks at once!

    Something kinda freaky – Cheryl has a sister named Laura…and I have a sister named Cheryl! How weird is that?!

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    Nancy sees me taking a photo…

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    I picked up a wee bit of yarn (Quince&Co Tern) and a patch and t-shirt from Purlin’ J, as well as some gorgeous clothes from Cut Loose which Lesley carries in her shop.

    Thanks to Lesley for inviting me to teach, and everyone for being so awesome! I had a fantastic time.

    P.S. This is unrelated, but while I’m thinking of it – my favourite de-pilling tool, Gleener, has given me a coupon code to share with you all! Use code LAURA10 to receive 10% off until December 25, 2015 – it makes a fantastic gift as well.

  • a rainy Friday

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    I started a pair of mitts in the same pattern as my peeries hat, but it was too small even for my tiny wrists! If it had been the same number of stitches in straight stockinette or ribbing it would’ve been fine, but stranded colourwork alwyays decreases the stretchiness and inner circumferences of the piece with all those floats.

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    Here’s a picture of the finished hat that…is kind of terrible. My head isn’t shaped well for this style of hat, plus it’s a medium and I wear a large! (I have big hair AND a big head.) I promise to get MUCH better photos before I release the pattern ;)

    I’m off to the train station shortly to head to Prince Edward County for the Wool & Wine in the County Retreat! Send me some good travel vibes? Despite the amount of travelling it looks like I do, I actually get pretty anxious and nervous about leaving my house, especially on my own! Eeep!

  • September Garden

    The tomatoes are pretty much done, but I planted some more cucumbers and beans back at the beginning of August, and they’re actually doing really well! Beans are so easy and satisfying to grow.

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    I’m hoping this more sheltered space (close to the door) will make the cucumber less enticing to the squirrels – this variety is a ‘patio’ cucumber, which has smaller vines but is supposed to produce ‘masses of fruits’!

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    Some eggplant is finally coming in – I’ve always found eggplant takes the ENTIRE summer to grow, and this year is no exception. We’ll probably only get a few.

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    Some lettuce mix is going a bit crazy. I’m terrible about thinning, but the jumble is just fine for harvesting a few handfuls of baby leaves at a time.
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    Over Labour Day weekend we headed up to Muskoka for a family wedding. The weather was sunny and hot, and the wedding itself was a lovely party! Unfortunately we both suffered from a severe case of cam-nesia and neglected to get any photos while all dressed up.

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    Found a little friend on the strip of beach.

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    I had a lot of good knitting time in the car on this trip, but I’m still buried under mountains of deadline knitting! Looking ahead, the calendar is filling up fast and there’s only few short months before *you-know-what*.

    What are you working on this weekend?