Category: knitting

  • happenings

    Want knitting? Skip to the end.

    bean harvest #1

    The beans have really popped! I harvested by first beans today – a good handful of Royal Burgundy and Provider bush beans. I sauteed them briefly in a little olive oil, then sprinkled them with salt and downed them right quick. Yum. About ten minutes from plant to mouth. I love growing things.

    Other stuff in the garden is going crazy too – this is actually two zucchini plants. They’re huge! No fruit yet, but I’m hoping for soon.

    them's big

    I also finally have a couple of teeny tomatoes. Things have been so slow this year, but my tomato plants are starting to outgrow their cages and they look super.

    two tomatoes!

    Two weeks ago or so I planted some rainbow chard in a pot – it’s still very tiny, but it won’t take too long for it to get a whole lot bigger (I hope).

    chard

    On a completely unrelated topic, I’ve got some awesome (lightly worn) shoes for sale that I’m hoping someone out there can use –

    Dansko Mylas - for sale

    Dansko Mylas – brown, women’s size 38. I loved these shoes, but they just didn’t love me and my orthotics. Danskos rule! Click on the photo for more info. I paid $120, asking $65 including shipping to the US or Canada.

    Adbusters Blackspots - for sale

    Adbusters Blackspots – the “World’s Most Ethical Shoes”, apparently – they look similar to Converse Allstars, but with a hemp upper, handdrawn logo and sweet spot, and are built in a union shop in Portugal. They also feel more substantial than Chucks, with a lot more cushioning in the sole.

    Women’s size 7 – they turned out to be a little too small for me, but I’m totally going to buy a bigger pair because they’re really cool and comfy. I paid $90 Canadian, asking $50 USD including shipping. You can tell they’re very lightly worn because the toe caps are still white!

    Email me if you’re interested in either pair – they’re great shoes, and I’m sad that they didn’t work out for me! I have such trouble buying shoes, sigh. Does anyone have recommendations for shoes that work okay with orthotics (preferably with a removable insole) and are somewhat stylish?

    Still with me? Want some eye candy?

    most. expensive. yarn.

    I’m knitting a sample shawl for the store out of Louet Mooi – apparently it’s pronounced “moi”, but I keep thinking “mooey” in my head. It’s bison, bamboo and cashmere, and pretty spendy…but this red colour is gorgeous and it’s working up really nicely!

  • super quick FO!

    I finished the hemp ‘ponchette’! That was fast. Would’ve been faster had I been quicker on weaving in the ends, putting it together, and running it through the wash, but whatever. You know how it is!

    fo: hemp ponchette

    Hemp Ponchette
    Pattern: “Cool Hemp Ponchette” from Hemp for Knitting – [Rav link]
    Yarn: 3 skeins of AllHemp6 Lux in the natural colour. Pattern and yarn are available at lettuce knit!
    Needles: US 8 Denise. It’s been a while since I used Denise needles!
    Time: start to finish, less than two weeks. The knitting itself was super quick.

    I made the rectangular piece a little longer than called for for the smaller size – I went until I ran out of yarn, just a few more repeats. The lace pattern is nice and easily memorizable, and I actually really like the sawtooth edge. At first I was a little confused (bind off? what?) but it was, of course, quickly apparent what the effect was. I knit this up for a store sample, so it needed to be quick, but it’s only a three skein project anyway – very speedy once you’re in the rhythm. Have I mentioned that lately I’m really feeling the garter stitch love? Much like the rest of blogland!

    I threw this in with a load of laundry once it was put together (crochet seam) and the ends woven in, and it machine washed and dried up super nicely! It did generate a lot of fluff in the dryer, so make sure you keep that lint trap clean. It’s SO soft. I definitely want some kind of garment knit out of this yarn.

    The “lux” hemp really is a lot softer and silkier than the regular AllHemp6, which I used for a large project last year (soon to been seen in a book), so I remember how that stuff felt! The Lux is a lot less splitty in the knitting, especially on the larger needles, and feels softer after a wash as well. The drape is incredible! And the colours are rich and fantastic.

    FO parade! There’s another one peeking out in the photo above, but I’ll leave that for another day.

  • box bag, berries and bobbins

    Man, I don’t know where my crafting focus has gone these days. Well, I guess I actually DO know, I’m just impatient to get back on track with all my various projects! I’ve been a little all over the place with all my various crafts (sewing, cooking, gardening, spinning, and you know, the knitting) that I haven’t been able to focus well on any particular one, really.

    I’ve got all sorts of fabric that’s come into the house…

    fabrics

    (knits on the left from Wazoodle, organic cotton and some cotton print on the right from Tonic Living.)

    I’ve been picking cherries from the sour cherry tree in my yard, although I haven’t done anything with them yet – I’m thinking pie:

    sour cherry

    A little bit of knitting, just plugging away on the pink Thermal. I’ve got a very new little cousin that I want to knit stuff for too, but I just haven’t managed to get started yet!

    little thermals

    I’m feeling very scattered and unfocused. I’ve decided that this summer I’m going to try to take it easy on myself, although I know I might have some projects coming up that will make that difficult! I’ll be working in the store a lot more over the summer, between megan taking time off to have her baby, and denny going away on a couple fun trips. But one thing seems to be helping me focus? The Tour de Fleece.

    tour de fleece, july 11

    When I started spinning today I was feeling a bit defeated by the enormous bag of fibre before me, with only one and a half bobbins spun – but I sat at the wheel for a few hours this afternoon, and have managed to up the count to three full bobbins and a bit of a fourth. I’ve got a couple movies recorded on the DVR, and I’m staying in all this weekend, so spinning here I come! I want to spin all the singles before I ply, but since I don’t have quite so many bobbins, I’ll need to wind them off on the ball winder as I go.

    One more thing that I think will help me focus a bit? My new project bag – a super cute box bag by rachel m.! We hung out today and she was lovely enough to gift me one. I think I might start a new pair of socks just to keep them in here.

    box bag, outside!

    One more summer plan – more blogging. I’m working on it, really I am!