An Uninspiring Day (Adriana)

Today was not a good day. Work was very frustrating. I need to get some things sorted out before I can feel better. Here's hoping that they get sorted out tomorrow or I'm going to have a miserable weekend. I am uninspired to blog about anything exciting today so you're going to have to make do with a couple of pictures of yarn porn.


Alchemy Haiku from a swap with Lainevierge (she took some fleece off my hands)


Sunshine Yarn's Gryffindor sock yarn! (bought on Ravelry. I love the destash group) I'm not a big Harry Potter fan but I just couldn't resist this yarn.

That's all for today, folks. Happy almost Friday to everyone.

Yarny Pictures (Adriana)

I've been sick with a nasty flu all week. Not fun. I'm still not fully recovered.
This is literally all the knitting I have managed to do:


It's a swatch in Hempathy for Kate Gilbert's Camellia. I'm hoping to cast on sometime this weekend (if my body starts behaving itself. I wanna be better NOW!!)

Although there's no knitting to show off, I do have some pictures of yarn. I realized today that I have been negligent in photographing recent additions to the stash so I decided to do it today (instead of homework).


This is the good-enough-to-eat Handmaiden Cashmere from B.


Sunshine Yarn in Poppy (also from B)


Sundara Sock Yarn Pine over Gold (thanks so much, B!)


B also sent me one skein of Malabrigo in Amoroso. I managed to get my hands on two more on Ravelry. I'm going to use this to make a Clapotis for my granny.


Also for my granny is this gorgeous skein of Handmaiden Casbah destined to be her Christmas socks (I think I'll do it with contrasting heels and toes to prolong the life of the socks and to make them a little longer.)

Thanks for all the suggestions on yarn dyers in my last post. I'm still having trouble deciding what I want. There are so many gorgeous yarns out there. I promise to report back when I do get some.

I now have 3.5 weeks until school is DONE! (Hopefully forever) Between now and then I have a total of 10 projects to do, and that includes a 4000 word essay. If I don't blog much for the next little while I hope you'll understand.

Yarn to Dye, Yarn to Love (Adriana)

About a month ago B from Karma Kitties dropped me an email asking if I could overdye some yarn she'd bought which looked very different in person than on her monitor. I was happy to help out and told her to send it on over. In exchange for my dyeing services, B was going to send me some yarn from her beautiful and often coveted stash.

The package arrived yesterday but unfortunately not in perfect condition.

At some point in transit the package seems to have exploded. Luckily it's pretty hard to hurt yarn so everything seems just fine, even if covered in papery bit.

Here's a picture of the yarn in it's current state (I can't justify washing yarn when I have readings to do. I promise better pictures later).

To say that B spoiled me is a huge understatement! The yarn on the left is Araucania Nature Wool which needs overdyeing. On the lower right is Malabrigo in Amoroso (I loooove Malabrigo). Above it to the right is Sunshine Yarn superwash merino sock yarn (I've drooled over Dani's lovely yarns for a while now). The light blue/grey yarn at the top is, wait for it... Handmaiden Cashmere! B, you shouldn't have! But the best part, the pièce de résistance, is that unassuming green sock yarn at the top which arrived without a label and so I didn't know what I had at first. That, my friends, would be Sundara sock yarn in Pine over Gold (swoon!). Sundara's yarn is hard to get ahold of for anyone and it's especially a challenge for Canadians when shipping roughly equals the cost of the yarn itself.

B, I don't know how to thank you for these beautiful yarns. I promise to do the best job I can to dye your yarn to a colour you will love.

Something New (Adriana)

Yesterday, while studying for my marketing test, I finished knitting my Granite Shawlette! (I love being able to knit while studying. It makes it much less painful) Unfortunately the ending of the knitting isn't the end of the project since I still had to graft those bad boys together. My relationship with the Kitchener stitch is rocky at the best of times so I decided to look for an alternative. After Ravelrying for a while (you know, looking things up on Ravelry) I came across Lucy Neatby's technique, seen here and here. I was a little skeptical but I decided to give it a try. I did most of it while watching Private Practice last night (which I'm still not sure if I like but it was better than watching the Ontario Election results which seemed to be on most of the other channels)

Without flash, colours most true here. This really is a very clever technique. You follow the lines of the waste yarn (the yellow one) to see how to stitch the two pieces together (That said, I haven't actually taken out the waste yarn so I'm not positive that everything will stay together when I do that)

<
Post-grafting (with flash which makes everything looks so shiny!)


The back side (I guess I should take that out before I block it)

I've got to block today so I can wear it to see my shows this weekend!!
I almost forgot, there's something else I have to show you. Look what arrived in the mail yesterday:

Socks that Rock lightweight in Jingle Bell Rock (purchased on Ravelry)
This is my first STR and I love it soooooo much! I have a couple of pattern ideas (this or this) but I want to wait until it's closer to Christmas to work on it.

Dum vivimus, vivamus! (Heather)

Ooops! I didn't intend such a long hiatus. I have been working hard, and I am starting to find that when I get home at night I am all communicated out. I have been working on the odd bit of knitting, though. I carry a travel mug of coffee with me to work every day so my hands are full on the way there, but on the 45 minute ride home and on my lunch breaks, I can knit. Provided, of course, that I get to sit down...



My latest project was the Ballet Lace Scarf out of Fiesta Ballet, a lovely tencel-alpaca blend. Like others, I found it a bit splitty, but manageable and well worth the trouble! You get lots and lots of yardage... the scarf pattern called for 14.5 chart repeats but I found I had nearly half the skein leftover at that point, so I kept going. I forgot to count how many repeats I got from it in the end, and it has already gone to its home at Needles and Pins as a sample, but trust me, it was quite a long scarf in the end. The pattern was easy but interesting, and even for me (a notorious scarf-hater) it really hummed along.



Sorry, but the scarf was blocked completely in the cover of night, so it was hard to photograph. I pinned out each point where the waving column of decreases hit the sides. This gave it a really nice waving effect when it was dry. Why yes, I am in fact pretty smug about it. It made its debut yesterday at the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter's Fair...



Where I was working at the Needles and Pins booth. What a crazy-busy day! Ellen got a fantastic order of Koigu in, and that always inspires a feeding frenzy. I was not immune.



These beauties made their way home with me. I honestly can't decide which ones I love best! I am considering a Syncopated Cap, as I see from Ravelry that some knitters have successfully used Koigu with some gorgeous results. I just hate to break up any two-skein pairs, so we shall see what happens. Maybe some matching gloves?

In the meantime, I cast on for an early fall sweater for me. I picked up this fantastic Handmaiden Cap Sleeve Top kit for a song awhile back, and have been thinking of it ever since.



It is knit with alternating rows of Silk Maiden and Lady Godiva. I tried and tried to take a picture that would show you how freaking soft and deep the colour and texture is, but until you can reach out and feel through the monitor, you are stuck with these pictures instead. Needless to say, I am in love. It is knit in one piece in the round, so it will only make decent commuter-knitting for so long, but I am loving it at the moment!



The textured stitch pattern is simple and quick, but amazingly effective with the soft silk/wool blends.



So firm and pebbly!

And finally, photographic evidence that there is a coherent conspiracy among the squirrels of Toronto to acquire our fibre through any means necessary.



You can look, buddy, but you CAN'T TOUCH!

One Year Older... (Heather)

I celebrated my birthday this weekend... we went out to stay for the long (Canadian) weekend at my parents' place. We caught a play on Sunday!



A Comedy of Errors at the world-famous Stratford Festival (I love how Stratford makes it all but impossible for even the most nervous tourist to get lost. I did about half of my driving lessons there, but I still appreciate the ample signage!). The play was fanTAStic. All Greco-Roman costumes, the backdrop and set design were amazing, and the comedy was perfect! I am not a usual fan of physical comedy, but this production had just the right amount. And, it being Canada Day, we were asked to stand for the national anthem. Mike heard a woman in front of us say 'Just like at the hockey games!'. She wasn't singing, so we guessed she was a visitor from the States. Anyway. If you have any connection with or interest in Classics, go and see the play. Even if you don't, see the play. If you aren't familiar with the plot, it is a mashup of Plautus' Menaechmi and Amphitrio. This production was set in the 50s AD, so there were even some Roman soliders for Mike.

In the theatre lounge:



What may be one of the coolest quilts ever. Each square represents a Shakespearean play. Around the border are 140 swans. Mike and I had a lot of fun guessing each square.



Sorry for the crappy picture. I took a few, but the lighting was dim. Is there anything neater than stumbling upon a Shakespearean quilt square inspired by an Exekias tondo? Which play do you think it is?

I finished seaming Amaya. The seaming was not as bad as I was thinking it would be. I do want to fiddle with the neck twist, though. If you are on Ravelry you can see the AWFUL picture Mike took of me wearing the just-finished garment. For the rest of you, I will get a better picture tonight.

I did manage to cast on Coachella, but that is literally all. It was a pretty knit-free weekend. Lest you think it was completely yarn-less, however:



Mike, being the wonderful husband he is, ventured into Lettuce Knits to buy me a skein of sock yarn... one I had never even mentioned to him! This is Dream in Color Smooshy, the color is In Vino Veritas. I think I am in love. It is a very smooshy yarn, and there is lots of it. I am thinking I will divide it in half somehow and give that toe-up recipe in the summer IK a shot. I seem to remember Mary wanted to do a knitalong. Still up for it?

Go on, Frolic! (Heather)

Saturday was entirely consumed by the Downtown Knit Collective Spring Knitter's Frolic. This was my first year, and I was working in the Needles and Pins booth. This is actually a fantastic way to do a show without spending a fortune, since you only go out into the show proper in short bursts. You get to see everything, but you have a reason to be there besides buying everything you see *ahem*

And you get to see the most amazing knits! I was running the cash when I saw this drift by:



Babette! The blanket that simultaneously makes me want to crochet and quilt. Someday this blanket will be mine. This one was actually coming home to roost, since the kit came from Needles and Pins. Totally drool-worthy. And the baby who was wrapped up in it was pretty adorable too.

It was an incredibly busy day in our booth, just a few short breathers while knitters hit the workshops, but I did get to make a quick shopping run. Since I was feeling committed to not buying yarn (and we were having an Alchemy sale, people!), I knew exactly what I should get.



Palmwood buttons! Bought from the same man who made my walnut buttons. He assured me that they are completely real, despite the opinion of everyone who sees my walnut buttons. He tumbles them in sand to give them that nice finish, no shellac or varnish needed, so they are totally washable. Very very cool. I had a hard time choosing between these and the yew buttons, but these were just too fun to pass up.



I am in love with these buttons. I meant to get the man's card for blogging purposes, but he was busy helping someone else by the time I thought of it. He'll be at the K-W fair, I'm sure.

The DKC Frolic was HUGE! I think it was bigger than the K-W fair, and the venue was gorgeous. It was held in the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, and everything was just picture-perfect. Our room was a bit sauna-like, however, and I came home feeling like I had worked a full day in the jungle. Despite that, what a terrific day!

Some koigu did follow me home...



Mike and I are heading out to London for a few weeks, so I will be back at the yarn store! It's a good thing that fabric wasn't included in my yarn diet, that's all I'm saying.

Stash Flash! (Heather)

Well, Adriana outed me as a yarn pack-rat. But not a repentant one... I come by my stashing tendencies honestly and I really like my stash. In fact, there are very few regrettable items, and for the most part the abundance is inspiring instead of overwhelming. I am on a yarn-diet right now, but not really because of shame but because I really really love the yarns I have bought and want to work with them before I move forward. To each their own, eh?

Instead of flashing you the entire stash (which would eat up my day and yours, as well as give some people heart attacks) I decided to showcase the yarns that have been catching my eye more than others lately... ones that are on the top of my list. Click to make the picture larger!



You've already met the red Felted Tweed and the purple Kid Classic, they will be sweaters before June 12th, if I have my way. The fuzzy blue and green is Fleece Artist Peter Rabbit, which is a delicious angora and has been wanting to be knit up since I bought it. The purple/grey luxury tweed beside it is a lovely alpaca/lambswool blend that needs to be made into something very special, perhaps this coming fall. The grass-green Noro Cash Iroha is at the top of my list for must knits, but I don't quite know what to use it for. I bought the two skeins for a pair of gauntlets, but I am not sure I need another pair at this very moment. At the far end is two skeins of very colourful koigu which I have earmarked for a special project, some Rowan 4 ply cotton that would love to be a summer blouse, and two colourways of Fleece Artist Merino sock yarn. One will be Pomotamus when I give my eager KALers the word, and the other had better be something special too!

So yes... I guess I have my work cut out for me. Which means I ought to be knitting more right now, but as is normal, I hit a slump during the weekend. Things ought to pick up, and I am still well ahead of my deadline for the Central Park Hoodie, though I don't want to tempt fate.

In other news, on my way to make the coffee this morning, I noticed dew on my Pothos vine:



Is this normal? There were other leaves with droplets as well, perfect and tiny. They were gone within an hour.

Plodding (Heather)

Still moving forward, just slowly.

Lately I haven't been touching the knitting after sunset, so progress has suffered. I did manage to tear myself away from Clessidra to pick up the stitches for the hood. Upon reading the instructions (I really ought to do this more often) I discover that the hood is a whopping 74 sts wide and is knit straight for 11 inches. This may take longer than I had thought, but I have only just passed the halfway point of my self-imposed deadline, so I have no reason to be anything less than optimistic that I will finish on time.



The red still makes me irrationally happy. It is a bit of a pain to flip the whole thing over each time I get to the end of a row, so I am glad I did not get ahead of myself and attach the sleeves. I need to figure out how I am going to knit the button band... my smaller needles are only 24" long, so there is no way I can pick up the whole way around. I would rather do it that way than in two pieces, but that may not be an option. If you are in the Toronto area and have a longer 3.25mm addi-like circular, perhaps we can work out a temporary custody deal?

Button-wise, it looks like the people have spoken. I will have to content myself with the knowledge that the inside of my buttons is as lovely as the outside.

I did get some work on Clessidra done, of course.



I also got around to googling for a knitalong. You might enjoy checking out the lovely socks in progress over there. One finished sock, as far as I can tell.

Despite all my fairly virtuous stash-knitting, I may have also bent my yarn diet...



I really couldn't resist. I did add a clause to my yarn diet absolving me from weakness as long as it involved a) a great deal, b) a discontinued yarn. This was both. The price was obscenely low, and the yarn (Yorkshire Tweed Chunky in Coast) was discontinued last fall. Extra bonus points for being a yarn that I have never knit with and a yarn that I do not currently have in the stash. Extra extra bonus points for fast, free shipping from England (shipped Friday, at my door Tuesday) and not paying duty!

Above all, this is an absolutely delectable yarn. I have no immediate plans for it, though I do have quite a few patterns that fit. It is a nice bulky yarn that would look good on either me or Mike, so I will revisit this next fall when the air starts to get that telltale edge. Special thanks to my official fibre temptress!

Visual Aids (Heather)

It was a weekend of good photo ops.

We took a trip up North to help a friend move. The upside was that we stayed at the friend's cottage! It was perfect weather: snowy, but clear for both drives.



I have to confess, I had no part in the creation of this snow-wedge-person... I watched from the comfort of a comfy couch beside a crackling fire.

Speaking of which, I finished the third square of the log cabin blanket.



I am planning on formulating some fantastic blocking plan which will miraculously shape each square to the perfect size...

My feet couldn't wait any longer for some trekking socks of their very own, so I cast on a new subway sock.



The knitpicks needles failed me again on the second row. I guess I will have to break down and email them. I hate having to complain, but I really do think they should know. And it isn't really fair to complain about the needles and give a negative opinion of them when they haven't had a chance to explain or make it right.

Before we left for the weekend, I was bummed about my amarylles blooming while I was gone, so my mom suggested I leave them in a cool dark place while I was gone. I did, and they bloomed in the bathtub instead. It doesn't really help that my apartment is never 'cool' by any stretch of imagination, certainly not by my mom's standards (hi mom!). But I didn't miss much, the blooms were in peak condition today!



In other news, I have been yarn-purchase free since December 31st (except for that one skein to finish Birch). It really isn't easy, there are so many gorgeous yarns out there! And sales! And new must-haves!! It has maybe brought some focus to my yarn lust, though. If I was to buy one skein of yarn right now, it would be Fleece Artist Sea Wool. I went to Lettuce Knit on a mission for Adriana and was therefore able to drool in its presence. They ordered 300 skeins in anticipation, and judging from the rich colours and the silky hand of the yarn I can't see that being a mistake. The one niggling point of the Sea Wool is the enclosed pattern: Bordello. From the picture on the outside it looks astonishingly like Jaywalker! I can't comment on how close the written patterns are since I was a queen of self-control and managed not to purchase any today. Any input from informed readers??

But if I am on a yarn diet, what the heck was I doing in Lettuce Knits today??

Being the kind and generous soul that she is, Adriana allowed me to live/buy yarn vicariously through her and snap up some Sweet Georgia laceweight on her behalf before it fades into extinction. The colour is Black Orchid, and if possible, it looks even better in person:




The purple is a vivid lavender/periwinkle, and the monochrome gray/white underneath just sets it off perfectly. I took about twenty pictures trying to get the colours just right, and this was the closest I got. I have got to learn to take pictures before dusk starts to fall.

Closeup!



Yum. If I was on a real diet, this yarn would be a triple chocolate cheesecake with raspberry sauce. Or a medium rare steak cooked by a certain friend's dad (he won over a vegetarian!).