Delinquent Blogger Returns... footage at 6 (Heather)

Yes, it seems I took a little impromptu blog break. I didn't completely abandon knitting, and I did my best to check up on the blogs every so often, but I didn't have much to say, and in my defense, it was a busy busy month. I am still trying to catch my breath!

I did not finish Salina, nor am I likely to finish the Greek Pullover by June 12th, since I haven't started it. I did finish Evie, so that will have to count as my May sweater:



Evie!
Pattern: Debbie Bliss Stella/Pure Cotton (This is a great book! I already want to knit three more designs)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Stella Colour 15, 7 balls
Comments: a very quick knit, very simple, but with interest. The bulky yarn really makes the knitting zip along, but the yarn is not unpleasantly heavy. The wet-blocking really evened out the stitches and gave the fabric more drape. This was a sample project commissioned by Needles and Pins.

She is already holding court in the window at Needles and Pins. I have to say, it was a really easy, fun, and quick project! It only took a while because I had other things on my plate and knitting projects oddly don't progress very fast when you don't touch them for a week or more.

I am pledging to do better by Amaya.




This is my next store project, and I am loving it even more than Evie! The yarn is Rowan's new Bamboo Tape, and it is absolutely luscious. The feel of silk, but the tape gives it nice elasticity. This wool adherent has found her match!



The pattern is Amaya, from the Bamboo Tape Collection. At first glance it looks as simple as Evie, but there is some really elegant shaping and a neat neck treatment!



I had the back completely finished in less than two days of knitting... I could have laid it out for you to see the shape, but I wanted to portray the luxurious drape for you. It feels like you could pour it through your fingers. And since it is a tape, there is no splittiness. If my addi catches on the yarn, it doesn't catch. I think I am in love! I have the front done except for one side of the v-neck, and then the finishing (which includes the fancy next twist). I think I can have it done before June 12th, and therefore might fulfill my three sweaters in three months vow after all!

On an unrelated note: what the heck are these?



They came with Mike's new dress shirt, and similar ones came with his last shirt. I am really curious, and I feel like I ought to know, but I am clueless! Any help?

Distractions (Heather)

Rachel's comment on my last post made me laugh because I had indeed gone out and found more buttons... I want to keep those ten together for when I need them. We went to a little button store on Queen St. West (just buttons! the whole store!) and picked out these little gems. I had some grey abalone ones picked out, but they didn't have the smallest size in stock. These are slightly irridescent and slightly irregular and I am quite taken with them.



I bought an extra because I have a way of losing wee things.

I had some sewing to do last weekend, and instead of lending me her sewing machine like she had offered to, my aunt gave me a very early birthday present:



I have played around with scraps of sheet that I had lying around, and it works like a dream! I mean, I am no sewing machine expert by any measure, but I plugged it in, followed the simple threading instructions, and it sewed a seam. Compared to the ones I have tried before, this is nothing less than a miracle for me.

So now, what was a dull feeling that I would like to start sewing/quilting has turned into a raging itch. I decided that I couldn't wait for next week to get started, so I dragged my very good sport of a spouse to Fabricland.

Now, I work in a yarn store. I kind of expected that happy feeling of being around yarn to apply to shopping for fabric. Now, the only problem I have with yarn shopping is choosing from among all the wonderful ideas I have, choosing from all the yarns I want to take home. Instead, we wandered around, looking at everything, not really feeling excited about anything we saw. I asked for help twice, but was greeting with complete indifference. I figured out how to pick out a pattern (it's done in a different way than I have seen before), but the woman at the patterns desk was not very pleased to have been interrupted. We were about to leave altogether when I saw a neat flimsy sheer fabric. I had just so happened to bring along a pattern that Rosemary made for me last year, and one of the alternates is a lined skirt! I took the bolt and my pattern to the cutting desk, which happened to be manned by the only saleswoman who seemed inclined to provide customer service! She read the pattern requirements for me, she helped me pick out an appropriate lining (the blue... she and Mike outvoted me for it), and of course she cut my fabric.



Then of course we were met with more disdain and disinterest when we went to pay, but thank heavens for the cutting table lady! Honestly. If someone came into the yarn store and wanted nothing but a yarn suggestion, I would damn well help them. And do so encouragingly. Not the best of introductions to the world of sewing, that's all I'm saying. But now I have what I need, so I will give it a shot.

Still working away on Evie... there is really not that much left to do, this is a really quick knit, but I have been really busy this week with this and that, and have barely picked up the needles. I will finish the knitting tonight, block and sew tomorrow, then it's time for the DKC Knitter's Frolic! If you are going to the show, come on by and find us as Needles and Pins!

Imagine Some Clever Title Here (Heather)

So much for a knitting slump! Suddenly I am working on two very intriguing projects. I am obsessed with both of them, but for very different reasons.

Salina is a long-time knitting crush of mine. I have been smitten by Rowan Felted Tweed since I first laid eyes on it, but this is the first time I have actually knit with it. I am constantly charmed by the colour and texture of the yarn, and continually surprised that a yarn of such a fine gauge (23 sts/4 inches) is knitting up so quickly and efficiently. I honestly thought that the first sleeve would take forever and a day, but it knit up in a little over a day. I cast on for the second sleeve today and I am already nearing the sleeve cap (and getting a little twitchy). Must. Keep. Momentum. I also joined the Salina-along. There are some fantastic sweaters emerging over there! Also, how much does this colour rock?



The project I am working on for Needles and Pins is coming along nicely too! The Stella is dreamy, the colour is very invigorating. I am a real sucker for lime. I am making quite good time on it, I am past the armholes on the first piece. I did expect this to be a very fast knit, considering the gauge of 17 sts/4 inches, but I did not reckon for the slower knitting from a silk/cotton blend. Instead of letting my sts resolve themselves like I do with a wool yarn, I am taking more care forming each stitch. Adriana says that she didn't encounter this at all, so it might just be me. Frankly, since it is a pleasure to knit, I don't mind spending a little more time on it.



Also, the book (Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton/Stella) the pattern is from? Fantastic. I can think of at least four or five other garments I would knit in a heartbeat. And the fact that the book is divided between Pure Cotton and Stella. The gauge seems fairly interchangeable, so anyone buying the book for either yarn would have quite the array of options.



All in all, the knitting is pretty darn fun right now!

Camera Shy (Heather)

So it's April 12th. End of the first sweater deadline, and you are just going to have to take my word for it that the Central Park Hoodie is done! In the bustle of packing up on Easter Sunday we left the cord for the digital camera at Mom and Dad's. We went and picked up a replacement at Staples, but discovered that our camera "only" takes a special brand of ($50) cord. Rather than open the new cord and chance it, we are taking it back. Mom was kind enough to mail our cord to us, and we now know to keep it very close!

In the meantime, you will have to use your imagination!



Knitwear just doesn't scan well. Have any of you ever seen Koigu flash like this?? I like it, I just hope the other skein does the same. I am almost up to the wrist decreases on the second gauntlet, but I have to wind the next ball before I can get back to it.

Instead, I have been working on a new project!



This is Evie, a design in the Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton/Stella book. I am knitting it for my home LYS (where I worked for two years) in London Ontario, Needles and Pins. So far I have successfully swatched and knit five inches or so for a front (or a back... they are identical). The Stella is so soft and squooshy! I am really enjoying this knit; I am a big Debbie Bliss fan.

I am working on a swatch for the next sweater, but since Evie is using my 4mm needles, I am swatching for Salina instead of Greek Pullover. And Adriana was kind enough to point me to a Salina-along!