Mom's February Lady's Sweater

It's done! And I can finally blog about it. I still haven't seen it on my Mom as she picked it up while I was out. But I'm pleased with how it turned out. I knit it in Cascades 220 Heathers. My hands are shot to hell now but the end result is quite good. On to projects that aren't knit with wool!

Babies!

Little people in knit wear! (and a mommy with no knit wear...which now that I think about it is just wrong...)

This past November the world welcomed miss Allison. Miss Emily got a baby sister. Aren't they cute?! When Miss Emily was born I had just started knitting and so Granny Tan knit her baby sweater. Now I'm a more experienced knitter but I have never done a sweater so I thought tackling the heartbreakingly cute baby kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting would be a safe bet. It's a great knit. I'm thinking this would be cute in an adult size...

I don't know why the pic is on its side. It's not like that on my computer. I didn't take it sideways. This is a blogger issue. I could spend hours trying to fix it but just turn your head. It'll be way easier. I've let it go, you should too.

This is Miss Emily's hat. The yarn is soooo cute. It's Sirdar baby tiny tots bubbles. And like the sweater, I made them both big enough that they'll be able to wear them for a while.


See I've been knitting, really I have. I have one other secret project on the go and another wedding gift. I'll share later

Hand Spun Wrap

I wasn't feeling well a couple of weekends ago so I thought it was the perfect time to start my wrap out of the hand spun i've worked on during the last 2 annual spinning retreats.... As I was knitting it I realized how really bad I was at spinning. Some of the yarn was so tightly spun and then there were bits that were barely spun. And I think I should have used bigger needles.

It ended up more of a shoulder cape than a wrap but it is warm.

And the "not feeling well" that inspired me to start this wrap ended up being a full blown flu that lasted for about a week and a half. Next year - Flu Shot!!

A scarf and a purse

I hit a great sale after Christmas of Patons SWS yarn. It inspired me to attempt the stripped scarf spoken of so highly by the yarn harlot. It really is fun to watch the colours come together. Two different balls of stripped yarn, 2 rows each, 1X1 rib.... who would have thought! See, you don't have to use the very expensive Noro yarn, you have options!

I'm heading to Quebec next weekend for Carnival so I thought I'd knit something for the occasion. Granny Tan had given me this yarn that she had dyed and spun with some silver. It was probably enough for hat and mitts but since it's wool and I'm allgeric, I opted for a felted bag.
I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Perfect for strolling around inside the old city walls in Quebec City! I can't wait. See the silver flecks, that was the silver thread Granny Tan had plied with the wool. Very cool.

Post Christmas Summary

I hope everyone had a good holiday season. Mine seemed too short. And since I now sit in front of a computer every day for work, I didn't feel like looking at one over the holidays. I did knit but I didn't even get pics of everything I did. I was in a a "get 'er out" kind of mood. I did get a few pics.

I did a fingerless glove, snood and leg warmer set for my niece.

I knit another snood and fingerless gloves for my sister-in-law. Thing about the fingerless gloves.. they can be used on really cold days over you gloves or mittens to give you an extra layer of warmth. It's -22 Celsius here today with the wind chill. I wore my fingerless gloves over my mittens and I was toasty!

I also knit my great aunt another pair of cable booties because rumor has it the last pair I knit for her are almost worn out. It's a light colour for a slipper type sock but it was all I had on hand, the colour is pretty and I know they are nice and warm with this yarn (knitpicks wool of the Andes)

I also knit my mom a wrap, my step brother felted slipper socks and his wife a snood. I think that's it. It was a pretty short list this year. Next year I'm trying to convince everyone to take the money you spend on gifts for others and buy things for yourself that you really want. I am also starting to try and stock pile some FO items so I can be ready but we'll see how that works out.

I was determined I would knit something for myself over the holidays. I had this baby llama wool that was soooo soft. I don't think I'm allergic to llama so I knit myself a hat. I had a bit leftover so I made a headband too.

The pattern is out of a new book I got for Christmas, One Skein Wonders. I love books like this because how often to you pick up a skein or two of some yarn you really love without a project in mind? I do it all the time.

I have some great things on the go so hopefully I'll get a little more diligent about taking pics and sharing. So stay tuned!

Christmas is coming?!

This work thing is seriously impeding my ability to knit... Although right now I'm waiting for the polish on one finger to dry and can't knit (don't ask, it involves a top coat of polish, routing through my circulars and a smudged nail which is why my nails are never painted anymore. I used to be so well coiffed. Now I'm just happy if I'm clean most days.) so I thought I would blog. I have one item ready for Christmas.

These are monkey socks in regia. Granny Tan gave me the yarn and as soon as I saw it I thought to myself "monkey socks"! And so that's what I did. They are lovely.

I just had to go out and rescue my green big. We are having quite the wind/rain storm and I heard it blow around. I was quite cute out there in my jammies fighting the rain with a flashlight as I rolled around the big green cart. My life is sooo glamorous...

I have a rough idea of what I"m doing for Christmas but I haven't formalized a list. I am breaking down and taking some knitting into work to do at lunch time. I have a great aunt who loves the cable bootie and needs a new pair so I'll do those during at work. I have one half done.

I suspect by Christmas I'll be like this.....

(I just had to put a pic of miss emily in!)

Okay I have to give ollie some blog time. miss emily can walk under him when he's standing. Hard to believe he can curl up in such a small ball... maybe I should turn up the heat...

Serenity now...

First clue that I've been somewhere where wool runs free...
Granny Tan's foot.. See how small it is! No wonder she makes lots of socks for herself!

Once again I attended the Maritime Spinners Retreat. This year it was held in beautiful Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia Canada. We stayed at the Gaelic College which was a lot like returning to my youthful roots of dorm living in University... how did I ever survive?! Anyway, it was, as usual, amazing! And I don't even spin! But it's about being with this amazing group of supportive, sharing women. And it's so inspiring. Perfect to give me that little push I need as I head into the Christmas knitting rush. I'm doing the Holiday Kal Cal again this year. It's also a great motivator. Anyone can join so feel free! It's a lot of fun and there are some great prizes.

Okay, back to the retreat. We had our spinning area set up in the Hall of the Clans. The accommodations may not have been top notch but the spinning space was perfect. There was a fire Friday night and Sat. There were about 100 attendees.

Can you believe all the wheels

We had a Celtic harp playing Friday night with wine and cheese. It was a total zen moment for me as we got set up, did some spinning and said hello to the people we met last year. It was so nice to see all the familiar faces. And everyone chats to everyone else even if you aren't a social butterfly which I am not but this group just facilitates camaraderie

For me it was extra special because I got to see the Moncton crew who I don't have the opportunity to go see since I moved to Eastern Passage.

There was a table set up to do some milling. This is a process where after the yarn is spun and woven, a group gets around the table and the sign Gaelic songs and mash the cloth in to the table to sort of felt it. The cloth goes from being stiff and scratchy to being soft. This cloth was spun from one of the participants' donated fleece by the New Brunswick spinners, then woven by the PEI spinners and now that it is milled, it will be donated to the Gaelic college to be made into a cloak or something for their displays.

There was a fleece competition where fleece right off the sheep was voted on for the best. (I stayed in this room as little as possible... man could you smell the sheep!)

There was also a contest for best hand spun skein of yarn which Granny Tan won! And to really bring it all together - the prize was established and donated by Christine Stanley and her husband, Malcolm who I get all my wonderful hand pottery from (this is a spot you really want to check out!) in honour of his mother Audrey Stanley who has been knitting for many, many years and mostly knits for the poor with hats, mitts, scarves and even does bandages for the lepers. Mrs. Stanley just turned 90 and Christine and Malcolm thought this would be a good way to honour her. There was also a prize in her honour for best knitted piece from hand spun yarn. Granny Tan had entered in that category too. Hard to believe Granny Tan has a full time job... and a husband... and is working on her MBA... amongst other things.

The reddish looking skein on the right is what Granny Tan won for. But this is her knit from hand spun item. Note the felted slipper with the pea pods to the right. They were awesome.

This is the bowl Granny Tan won.
Coincidentally, this matches all the pieces I have... Now Tan has a piece just like my stuff!

I got very inspired while I was there. I tried Granny Tan's wheel. It was like trying to shove cotton balls into a meat grinder... Okay, maybe that was just me. It's very different than using a drop spindle which I finally got the hang of. I was watching some people drop spindle at about midnight on Friday night and I think I got more out of that than all my efforts previous. But that's how I learn, I see something and it clicks. And bought more. This is an alpaca/ cashmere/silk blend.
And I spun half of it while at the retreat.

It was a great weekend. And while the accommodations may not have been hotel like, the best part was there was no TV or even a radio. I didn't realize how bombarded we are with information until I came home and heard the news, all of it bad. I think we all need weekends away from the information speedway... It took me two days to re-acclimate! Now that's a retreat!