Inspiration
I recently returned from a road trip with my charming cousin from Vancouver to Winnipeg. On our two week trip we camped and stayed with hospitable friends and family and had a blast. We a saw a little of our country and the sheer size, variety, and beauty is always inspiring. From the Rocky Mountains
To the Badlands
To the Prairies
It always feels good to take a trip and see some of Canada. I was inspired by some of the wildlife we saw to create another button scarf. I wanted it to reflect the great Canadian moose (although, sadly, the only one we saw was at the Manitoba museum), and I added a maple leaf button to complete the vision.
I used the new Spud and Chloe Outer (2 skeins) in a nice earthy tone called flannel. The yarn is a very soft combination of wool and organic cotton. It knits up super fast on 9mm (US 13) needles.
To purchase this pattern for $5 please click here. The pattern is sent via email in a PDF format.
PS. Thanks for being a great model Jess!
La Push Mittens
So, as I last blogged about, I have been reading the Twilight series, I kind of felt like the last book jumped the shark a bit but they are a fun read none the less. I was looking on Ravelry for a nice vest pattern when I stumbled across some very beautiful mittens. I wasn’t sure what they were doing in the vest category but I was immediately smitten with the long cuffs and the chunky cable (I’m a sucker for a cable, what can I say?). Then I realized they were Bella’s Mittens. From the movie, the part where she goes to La Push. I’m not sure if this makes me like them more or less but I immediately picked up some Malabrigo Chunky and got moving.
The mittens are gorgeous (if I do say so myself) and the yarn is pretty fab too. It’s super soft with a bit more of a spin to it than the Malabrigo worsted. They knit up quite quickly and the pattern was very well written. My cousin and I were on a road trip to Winnipeg and I had a pair and a half done by the time we hit the Peg. Holly, my road trip buddy, is a massive Twilight fan (much more than me I tell myself) and had to have a pair of her own when she saw mine. We picked out the lovely Debbie Bliss Luxury Tweed aran held doubled. Unfortunately I don’t have a pic of that pair yet, but I’m working on it.
My model is my cousin Jill, I asked her to make her best emo face and she nailed it!
Guilty Pleasures in Knitting
So, I’m sure we all have our little quirks that we hide from the world. One of mine (and I am quite quirky so there are many) is that I have recently become a bit smitten with the Twighlight books. I recently finished the Teacher program at UBC and I (and some of my colleagues) started reading them to ‘keep up’. It seemed like all the high schoolers were reading them so we should too. Keeping current and all that. This may have been a solid justification for reading the first one but I can’t really explain the next 3. I must say that I found them to be a nice fun read for the summer. I became a little wrapped up in the vampire/werewolf world of Bella, Edward, and Jacob. Being from the west coast I could also appreciate the climate of Forks, it was nice to read a book where it rained, and not just for effect. I find books of this nature offer a nice break during school.
My indulgence of odd things did not stop there sadly. I came across a Yarn Harlot blog post about some socks inspired by the show Battlestar Gallactica. I don’t watch the show but a few near and dear to me do, religiously. They were somewhat devestated when the series came to an end. I had this lovely pattern in the back of my mind when we got some Dream in Colour Starry in the shop. I was immediately drawn to the sparkly yarn. I am not normally drawn to sparkly or delicate things. i am a relatively unadorned person who dresses rather plainly with few accessories (except the odd fabulous knit) so the fact that this yarn was so alluring came as a bit of a shock. I picked up a skein and the Viper Pilot Socks pattern and here I am. Surrounded by a few guilty pleasures.
