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!
Summer Knitting
I am not a fan. I don’t particularly like working with cotton, linen is good but I’ve been there done that, silk is great but can break the bank, and it’s often too hot and sticky for knitting with animal fibers. I don’t mind knitting out of season but it tends to look a little weird to those around me. Plus, anything I knit can only be worn late at night or it has to wait for cooler months. Not to be a complete downer but I miss winter already and it’s only July!
In order to perk myself out of my summer knitting blues I decided to create something practical for summer. I knit these sampler placemats with the intention of giving them as host/hostess gifts at a summer BBQ (which, by the way, are my favorite part of summer, nothing like a backyard BBQ). Having finished them, I kind of want to keep them. I wanted a bit of fun colour and some different patterns to hold the interest. They are also a ridiculously quick knit as they are made with Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton held doubled on 8mm (US11) needles. One ball per placemat.
There are 4 different stitch patterns and each placemat is knit with a seed stitch border. If your friends are a little more subdued you could go with the undyed organic version of the same yarn. These placemats are a fun and practical little knit, perfect for a gift or to brighten your patio/kitchen table. Although the label says hand wash only, I have machine washed mine and they are a titch smaller but none the worse for wear. Alexa’s Sampler Placemats pattern is available for free here: Placemats Pattern
Maple Leaf Mittens
For those who don’t know, the 2010 Winter Olympics are coming to Vancouver! I’m excited to see my country and my city on the world stage and to be here during the excitement (chaos) of that time. Commuting anywhere will be a nightmare and I’m not really all that big on crowds (a bit of claustrophobia) but I’m excited anyways. I haven’t managed to get any tickets but my lucky mother did. I wanted her to have something to keep her hands warm as she watches speed skaters race around the track and hockey players putting the puck in the net. Not only are the Olympics coming to town but Canada day is coming too. These mittens are slightly unseasonal but this is Vancouver, it still gets cold at night in July.
The flip side
You may be aware of my slight (complete) mitten obsession. I have knit many pairs and even taught a couple of classes on Fair Isle mittens. I decided I would try my hand at designing a patriotic pair of my own. The front features the Canadian Maple Leaf and the palms have some cute red snowflakes on them. I have combined some of my favorite mitten features including the i-chord cast on and the corrugated cuff. Of course, if you desire a shorter mitten, the cuff is optional.
These mittens were made using 2 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Sport in white and one in red. They are super soft and cozy. I used US 4 (3.5mm) needles for the pair pictured here but I used US 3 (3mm) needles for my Mom’s pair (she has much littler hands than I).
To purchase this pattern for $6 please click here. Patterns are emailed in PDF format.
The Great Craft Swap: Check!
In my great desire to check things off my never ending list of crafts to finish/start/create I have completed another long standing project. A while ago (I just checked, it was September of 2008) my lovely mother and I decided to swap projects. I would finish knitting her blanket and she would do the hand sewing of the binding on 2 of my quilts.
The blanket was the first major project I started my mother on. She knew how to knit a bit (she knit me a cute yellow sweater when I was a baby) but I had learned to knit from the books she got me. She went with me to the yarn shop a few years ago when I wanted to start my first sweater and picked out some beautiful self striping yarn in warm browns, reds, and oranges (is it sad that I can’t even remember what kind of yarn it was it was so long ago? I didn’t even know to keep the ball band yet!). She decided she would knit a blanket. I set her up with what I thought was an easy enough pattern. A simple basket weave with a garter stitch border. I did the math, chose the needles, and wrote out the pattern. It seemed simple enough, it was just knitting and purling right? Wrong. The pattern wasn’t difficult but it was an 8 row repeat that was difficult to memorize and hard to identify for a newish knitter. Is it a purl 3, knit 5 row or vice versa? Do I start with a knit 11 or a knit 12 or a knit 8? Thus my mother became slightly frustrated and, as somewhat of a perfectionist, did not wish to continue each time a stitch or two was out of place. This led to a problem because each time she made an error she would need me to fix it. She also couldn’t start in the middle of a row. She would have to go all the way across before she could put it down. These were rather long rows so this also became a bit of a problem.
Seeing that the blanket had been put aside, as had my almost finished quilts, I devised the Great Project Swap. This blanked was clearly a poor choice and had been pushed by the wayside. My quilts were so close but I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it. We swapped. Mom finished my brown quilt in a weekend and I chugged along on the last 7 balls for the knitted blanket.
I had one more problem with the quilt. I had finished the piecing and even sandwiched it but I wasn’t sure how to actually quilt it. My lines are never as exact as I want them to be and my corners do not always meet in a typical quilting perfect fashion. I’m really more interested in blocks of beautiful fabrics in beautiful colours and a simple design. I really love Bella Moon quilt patterns for this. They are great patterns for the ‘non-quilter’-quilter. I was discussing this issue with my mom when she suggested I find someone who quilts for hire.
I inquired at The Cloth Shop (my local quilt shop) and they had a couple of names for me. I sent my quilt out to Jackee and it came back absolutely stunning! She machine quilted it in a free form with lovely green leaves. The quilting matched the fabric and style of the quilt perfectly and I could not have been happier with her work.
Quite reasonably priced too! Since the actual quilting is not my favorite part it was great to have someone with expertise give it that finishing touch. I gave my mummy the binding and the quilt and she finished it off. I love it.
It was then that I realized I really had to finish that knitted blanket! I powered through the last 4 balls last weekend and it is finito! I’m glad my mom still has the same colour scheme, it took so long to finish. It is lovely though, and will be used by my mom, dad, and brothers on cool evenings curled up on the couch. The great project swap was a smashing success!
Failure
Sometimes, despite our best knitting efforts, things go horribly wrong. Although I have knit many socks now in many different ways and patterns (although none toe up yet, that’s next), sometimes a project can still turn out a failure. I don’t want to say that I am a failure but it does seem that I have failed to correctly assess the size a sock will need to be if it is knit stranded, instead of just regular.
Let me back this up. I recently bought a great little sock knitting book: Knitting Socks with Hand Dyed Yarn by Carol Sulcoski. I loved this pair of socks with solid heals, toes, and cuffs but with stranded knitting (k1 and k1) for the rest with one semi solid and one variegated yarn. They were lovely! I decided I would knit them in crazy colours, purple and yellow, with purple as the dominant colour.
I was off and running, turned the first heal and was on the home stretch of sock number one when I finally decided to try them on….. This is where the problem began. Although I am sure the sock would fit once it was on my foot, it could not fit over my heal. My sock would not even go on. Not even if I pleaded with it, stretched it mercilessly, or cried. Nothing would get that sock on my foot. I had failed to calculate how much bigger the sock would need to be since stranded knitting just isn’t as stretchy as regular knitting.
I suppose I will frog my unfortunate failure. I can’t decide if I should try something else with this yarn and try the lovely sock pattern again in a different yarn (and a bigger size of course) or if I should give it another go, as originally planned. I definitely want these awesome socks, I just don’t know if I can bear knitting the exact same thing again only bigger. It might be too demoralizing.
On the Needles
Sometimes in my enthusiasm to create I forget how much work projects actually are. I have a Kim sweater by Fleece artist on the go and as much as I love the design and the yarn, 18 inches of stockinette stitch is somewhat lacking in excitement. I have only 9 inches done, and it’s been 3 months. Other projects have come and gone. It is a sad state of affairs. Must keep knitting.
Three Little Lovelies
I picked up these three little lovelies at a local yarn dyer’s studio. Sweet Georgia yarns are hand dyed locally (in Vancouver) and the colours are really something! Vibrant colours in original combinations, there were a lot to choose from. I chose these three skeins of Superwash Sock to indulge in a little sock designing. I like to go bright and exciting with socks at the moment. Why knit socks if they’re not going to be noticed?
I picked up 1 skein of the yellow to give this new yarn a try and I was so pleased at the way it knit up. I was about half way done the foot on the second sock when I ran out of yarn. Designing doesn’t always go the way you want when you start out. This pair is a little to big and a little too tall, I’m lucky I’ve got some pretty large feet. The next pair will be bang on: tighter and shorter.
I’m not sure if I will make a couple of pairs of regular socks or if will mix and match with a little green on the top, heel, and toe and a beautiful pinky middle (and vice versa of course). Either way they will be some really fun socks.
Birds of a Feather
Lately I have noticed a resurgence in the popularity of Cowichan sweaters. I love the vintage quality they have. The browns and taupes with their earthy designs. I was inspired to create something like it for myself. I wanted something a bit lighter so I could wear it more often (it’s rarely cold enough to warrant the original thick sweater around here). So a shrug was just right.
I am also inspired by the charming image of birds. Once I started looking for them began to see them everywhere, stamps, paper, fabric, and of course, in the sky. These birds sit contentedly on a branch looking at each other. They are birds of a feather.
This shrug was knit with 12 skeins of Mirasol Sulka (a lovely combination of wool, alpaca, and silk in a 16 stitch gauge) in truffle (9), cocoa(1), and snow white(2) and was knit on US 9 (5.5mm) needles.
Go to paypal now to purchase this pattern for $5! Patterns are sent via email in PDF format.
PS. Thanks for being my model Anja!
One Happy Customer
Hope everyone had swell holidays. Mine were spent largely knitting furiously. I’m not going to lie, I did not relax enough over my holidays. Between work and all that Christmas jazz (which I usually take great joy in) I have been all worn out. That being said I had some seriously happy and appreciative knitted gift recipients this year. The biggest project I took on this year was a sweater for my darling brother, Eric. I am very proud of my little bro. He was recently sworn in as a police officer and is also a really fun guy. Whenever we hang out I end up laughing so hard I have trouble breathing.
I would normally stay away from knitting a sweater for someone else (my dad is an exception because he loves everything I make no matter what), and stay even further away from knitting a sweater for someone in their 20s but when Eric saw this awesome retro sweater in the new Debbie Bliss knitting magazine he had to have it. I have to say, I thought it was pretty great myself. The colors are my favorite 70′s orange and brown and the snowflakes make it really retro chic. Eric didn’t just ask once either, every time I saw him for a couple of weeks he would ask ‘How is my sweater coming?’. My mummy very generously offered to bankroll the project so I decided to take it on. Risks be damned, it also fits my other brother (Jordan), and my dad so if all else fails, someone else will wear it.
I hit a few snags along the way of course, it just wouldn’t be Christmas knitting without a few obstacles. I ordered the yarn (the soft and machine washable Rialto Aran) and I accidentally ordered cream instead of natural. This may not seem like a major set back but I had already knit an entire ball of cream before I figured out where I had gone wrong. So I had to order the natural and play the waiting game. This set me behind by a couple of weeks, which I didn’t really have to spare this season. I did get it done in time though, zipper and all (something new for me). And wonder of wonders, he loved it!
