Category: knitting

  • Amelia!

    So busy. Just enough time to blog a little before I head out for the day!

    amelia!

    My Amelia pattern is up in Winter Knitty! I knit this one back in September and even wore it at Rhinebeck (without buttons – see?) so people there got a bit of a sneak peak! (Sorry I never sent the pattern to you cassie – oops.)

    I love, love, love the Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted I used for this pattern (and would certainly be amenable if someone wanted to send me some more to design with…not that I think I’m entitled!) – it’s so soft and squishy, especially the garter stitch cuffs. The stitch definition is awesome so the bits of twisted ribbing really pop!

    amelia!

    Natalie, who works with me at lettuce knit, is an awesome model, no? It was totally freezing out and she was willing to stand through quite a few snaps. Also she is super cute. (Her hat is Princess Diana’s memorial tartan, or something.)

    I’m stalling out on the Christmas present thing, although my grandfather’s vest is very nearly done. I’m just finding it really tough to motivate myself to pick up stitches and stuff! Instead I cast on for a new Lucy in the Sky for myself, out of some nearly-black Dream in Color. I really want to get it knit over the holidays…

    …so that I can have something new to take along on a trip in the new year! A friend and I have gone a little cuckoo-nuts and are planning a long trip basically around the world starting January 18. I’m only going for six weeks while he’s planning to stay a bit longer, but we’re still in the planning stages and looking for places to stay (recommendations for cheap+decent places or couch crashing!) or people to meet up with (because some English-speaking help would be really appreciated) in the following places:

    – Tokyo, Japan (around Jan 18-22)
    – Shanghai and Beijing (to 2/1)
    – Singapore (2/1 = 2/6)

    After that we’ll be headed to India to stay with his family in Chennai (Madras) and Delhi, along with some other internal side-trips. Then I’m coming home with a stop in Europe, either Rome, Amsterdam or maybe Edinburgh to visit Ys again!

    There’s so much to do to plan for this trip! Yikes! It’s seriously freaking me out. But it’s true, no one ever regretted traveling. Whew. Now what kind of knitting do I take for 6 weeks?!

  • big brown blob

    Not much exciting happening around here – I’m trying (although not really hard enough!) to get a bit of Christmas knitting done.

    big brown blob

    This is a plain vest for my grandfather, being worked up in Ultra Alpaca in a nice brown. I’m actually nearly done now, on the second upper front (the body’s knit in one piece). Then just bands and buttons to go. It should be done in time! But knitting something for my grandpa means I should probably knit something for my grandma, right? I knit her a tam a few years ago that she used a lot, so now I’m thinking of maybe knitting her a slightly fancier one. Nothing too slouchy.

    Then there’s weaving to do, designing that I want to get done. I’ve got lots of ideas but somehow the energy just isn’t there! I think I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with everything that I want to get done that I just…don’t do anything. I’ve hardly knit at all this weekend! I’ve been cooking and lots of other stuff, but not really knitting. I’ve got to get back on that.

    Oh, I did knit up this simple hat for the store –

    earflap hat

    I used Fibre Company Terra, which is one of my favourite yarns! It’s too bad the yarn comes in such a small skein though – I had to use 2 to make this hat. It was fun to do a project that turned out well and was so quick! I’ve been making a bunch of easy pattern cards with patterns like this, the simple shawl, wristwarmers, the red shrug, and so on. I’m hoping to soon put out a sheet of available patterns for wholesale, but that’s a ways off right now.

    swirl

    I love that colour. And the swirl!

  • an out of town gig

    On Saturday I hopped a Greyhound and headed out to New Hamburg, ON (halfway between Kitchener and Stratford) to teach a class at Shall We Knit?

    Timing was a bit tight what with the bus getting into Kitchener (very sketchy bus stop, that Sportsworld) at 11:30 and the class starting at 12, but everything worked out. We did a top-down mini sock with a short row heel with Magic Loop. All the students were great, although the conference room we were in was a bit tight for 11 people!

    After the class I wandered about the shop, which is really lovely – bright, lots of beautiful yarn, lots of interesting stuff (“giftware”). I picked up quite a pile of yarn!

    Some Debbie Bliss Chunky Tweed for a sweatercoat:

    debbie bliss chunky tweed

    There wasn’t quite enough of the brown, so I got a bit of blue for a contrast colour.

    Some super duper soft Mirasol bamboo/alpaca for a slouchy hat:

    mirasol q'ina

    And some gorgeous little bits of loveliness – Koigu mill ends! I love the colours all together. I’m thinking either a colourwork cowl or maybe the yoke of a sweater. I do have quite a bit of other bits and pieces of Koigu so there’d be a bunch to choose from!

    koigu mill ends

    One other thing I picked up at the shop, non-yarn:

    V&A vacuum flask

    It’s a V&A printed vacuum flask. I’m not sure what I’ll put in it, probably just water (since that’s what I drink mostly!) although it might be a bit of hassle what with there being two lids, the cup and the vacuum seal. At any rate, it’s awesomely pretty.

    Then I got a ride back to Kitchener to get on the bus and come home. I may not have left the shop with much money after picking up all this yummy yarn, and I may have spent over three hours on various forms of transit that day, but it was really fun. And if Shall We Knit was closer I’d totally shop there!