Waterton

First of all, let me say that I did wash and soak my owls sweater, which made a huge difference. It's still prickly and not what I would have chosen for next to the skin wear, but not unwearable.


The puppy likes it too.

The fit is, like I said, almost perfect. I would have liked a turtleneck but rejected the idea when I realized how itchy it was.



I think I've decided not to add owl eyes.
The boys would both like to have an owl sweater of their own, so it looks like I'll be knitting more of these which will be great.

This weekend marked our 12th anniversary so we headed out to Waterton National Park, which is in southern Alberta across the US border from Glacier National Park.


Our first stop was the Prince of Wales hotel:




It's a "vintage" place and Ian was delighted with it. He really wanted to ride the antiquated elevator, which requires an operator, but as we were not staying there he didn't get to try it.

Our hotel had a bunch of chalet-style buildings which looked more interesting from the outside than they were on the inside. Each room was named after an animal or bird. Guess what ours was? "Great Horned Owl", of course.

We headed out to explore and ended up on the beach. I spent time honing my rock-skipping skills, and told the boys not to go in the water.



I do wonder why I said that, as they then had a great time getting soaked.





Benny found some flowers to give me. Someone had picked them and thrown them in the water, and Benny "rescued" them.



I suppose someone picked them and then was told it's illegal to pick flowers in a National Park. I made sure Benny understood he couldn't get me any more.

The next morning we went to the Zum Cafe for breakfast.





Ian was pretty excited about all the license plates and desperately wanted one to take home. Hot chocolate was the only treat in the offing, though.





We wandered down the main street and found some pretty things.





We spent some more time at the beach, and this time only one boy was really interested in getting wet.



"It's just the same temperature as the Elbow River," he said. Yes, I know. It couldn't be much colder than a glacier-fed stream, otherwise it'd be frozen.

Ian built a little lake.



We had a good time and I only wish we could have stayed a little longer and done more.



Ian began school this week, but hopefully we'll get out somewhere for another weekend before winter locks in.

A Hooting Good Time

For my birthday on the first, I thought I'd set aside any startitis guilt and cast on something simple and chunky to balance out all the lace. I thought I'd just start a sleeve as a gauge swatch, and a couple of hours later my ball of yarn was gone and I had a sleeve. This was such a novelty that I was entirely compelled to knit a second sleeve the next day. In fact it went so fast that this is the only picture of the work in progress that I have.

The dog is our newest family addition, and despite the fact she's only been around for a couple of months she know that chewing yarn or mouthing fiber means instant death. (Ok, it means she can't sit on my lap which for her seems to be just as bad.) So we cuddle in with knitting and she snuggles while I spin, even though silk turns out to be her favorite flavor. (shudder).

I have, however, discovered that the training is not yet complete:

(Why my Chia-Goo needles? Why not the cheap, splintery Wal-Mart ones?)

At any rate, my sweater was getting along so well I was sure there would be serious repercussions as the Universe was clearly out of balance. However, I washed the sleeve and blocked it, and it came out just right. The measurements and gauge came together like something out of a story book, and the chart gave me no grief. I added a few rows before the owls since some people had mentioned that they needed more armpit space, got through the owls, and decided to try it on to see if it was all coming together right.

It fit perfectly and I knew I didn't need to change a thing. Except, well. Except it itches.

This is a totally gorgeous sweater. I love it and it fits me perfectly. And I can hardly stand to have it on.

Ravelry project link

I'm going to try a Eucalan wash, and a hair conditioner wash, and any other wash anyone might think would help. But really, even if nothing helps, I'll be brave. I'll buy a long-sleeved undershirt and wear this sweater on the coldest, most miserable nights of winter, and hope that the Universe is satisfied by providing me with a lovely warm sweater that I can't wear and won't sabotage my next project...

I'm heading out to find some buttons for the owl eyes, and once those are on and the sweater doesn't make me want to rip off my own skin, I'll have some pictures of it on me. It's really stunning.

Knitting and Spinning

It has been forever and a day since I blogged properly, and believe me it was a busy year and a bit. I chose knitting over blogging when I had any time. I'd love to share what I've been up to.

In the middle of July, I took a great shawl design class from Miriam Felton, and knit through about half of this in the class:

I pondered a name for a while, wanting to reference the octagonal shape and the diamonds, and while listening to Narnia with the kids, and the name Octesian struck me as fitting. Now I am working on a laceweight version which is taking forever and a day, but when it is done I will have a pattern and will have someone test-knit it.

I used the lovely Zephyr laceweight, 50% merino, 50% silk. It knits up like a dream and is super soft.

Last fall I added to my personal arsenal of serenity and learned to spin; and this spring I bought a wheel (a Schacht Ladybug) and have been spinning all sorts of fun things since. My present project is some delicious tussah silk:

Despite it's luscious allure I'm finding it difficult to stick with this. It's taking forever since I'm spinning it very fine, and I intend to ply it.

On a final note, I have begun a project which is nothing but sheer folly and the creation of a UFO, but I can't seem to help myself. I enjoy knitting garter stitch so much, that I have begun this, the Blanket of Doom.

With Patons Kroy, on 3mm needles. I think I need a lobotomy. According to my calculations, I'll need 64 - 50g balls of this yarn to finish an afghan. I think in the end I'll make a baby blanket and call it a day. I do love the color changes in this yarn and to be honest I love this pattern, as simple as it is. Here is the link to the pattern on Ravelry, if you would like to make your own Blanket of Doom.

Janet

Well, after quite a long hiatus from blogging, and even longer from designing- or rather, taking notes and writing stuff up- here I am again with another hat pattern. Janet is a very special person and lovely friend, and when I had to go away I decided to knit her a hat. A special hat. So I scoured Ravelry for just the right hat and it... it wasn't there, not quite. I found a stitch pattern I liked and dove in with all my knitterly abandon, even marking down what I was doing with the half-formed notion of... another blog post, another design.

I have sadly not got myself charting software and my hard drive was wiped out so even my Excel is gone- however the urge to post has come over me and I will add a chart as soon as it is ready.

This pattern has not been proofread by anyone other than myself. I believe I got all the kinks out but if you see something wrong, please let me know.

This tam is worked in the round from the brim to the crown. A series of well placed decreases creates a floret at the crown from the lace pattern.

Materials:

-Worsted weight wool or wool blend, about 100 grams

I used "Alpaca Love" by Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller. One ball was enough for gauge swatch and hat, with barely twelve inches left over. I'd suggest getting two balls.

-16 inch circular needles, size 5 (3.75mm) and 7 (4.5mm)

-4 double pointed needles, size 7 (4.5mm)

or size needed to get gauge

-stitch markers

-yarn needle

Gauge:

17 sts and 26 rows to 4 inches (10 cm) in stockinette on size 7 (4.5 mm) needles

Size: To fit adult women's heads. The ribbing will stretch to fit fairly large noggins and big hair; mine is 21 inches around which I've heard is on the small side.

Lace Pattern as worked in the round:

repeat of 12 sts

rnd 1: k1, ssk, k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, k2tog

rnd 2: k1, ssk, k2, yo, k3, yo, k2, k2tog

rnd 3: k1, ssk, k1, yo, k5, yo, k1, k2tog

rnd 4: k1, ssk, yo, k7, yo, k2tog

rnd 5: k1, yo, k3, k2tog, k1, ssk, k3, yo

rnd 6: k2, yo, k2, k2tog, k1, ssk, k2, yo, k1

rnd 7: k3, yo, k1, k2tog, k1, ssk, k1, yo, k2

rnd 8: k4, yo, k2tog, k1, ssk, yo, k3

Cast on 90 sts onto size 5 circular and join, being careful not to twist sts. Place marker for beginning of round. K1,P1 for 8 rounds

Next Round:

change to size 7 circular needle

*k5, m1* repeat 18 times for a total of 108 sts.

Next Round:

begin lace pattern, making 9 repeats around hat.

Work the 8 rows, 4 times for a slouchy tam, 3 times for a less slouchy beret or a smaller head.

This one has four repeats and is fairly slouchy.

Begin crown shaping, switching to dpn's when stitches become too few to fit on circular.

rnd 1: *k1, ssk, k3, yo, k1, yo k3, k2tog, k1, ssk, k7, k2tog, k1, ssk, k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, k2tog* 3 times, placing marker at beginning of each section. (102 sts)

rnd 2: *k1, ssk, k2, yo, k3, yo, k2, k2tog, k1, ssk, k5, k2tog, k1, ssk, k2, yo, k3, yo, k2, k2tog* 3 times (96 sts)

rnd 3: *k1, ssk, k1, yo, k5, yo, k1, k2tog, k1, ssk, k3, k2tog, k1, ssk, k1, yo, k5, yo, k1, k2tog* 3 times (90 sts)

rnd 4: *k1, ssk, yo, k7, yo, k2tog, k1, ssk, k1, k2tog, k1, ssk, yo, k7, yo, k2tog* 3 times (84 sts)

rnd 5: *k4, k2tog, k1, ssk, k4, cdd, k4, k2tog, k1, ssk, k3* 3 times (66 sts)

rnd 6: *k3, k2tog, k1, ssk, k7, k2tog, k1, ssk, k2* 3 times (54 sts)

rnd 7: *k2, k2tog, k1, ssk, k5, k2tog, k1, ssk, k1* 3 times (42 sts)

rnd 8: *k1, k2tog, k1, ssk, k3, k2tog, k1, ssk* 3 times (30 sts)

rnd 9: *k1, k3tog, cdd, k3tog,* 3 times (12 sts)

rnd 10: k12

rnd 11: k2tog 6 times (6 sts)

Cut yarn and thread with yarn needle through six remaining stitches, drawing them closed. Tie off yarn, weave in ends. Block hat to shape

on a plate and enjoy!

Find my project on Ravelry

Abbreviations:

k: knit

yo: bring yarn over needle

k2tog: knit next two stitches into one

k3tog: knit next three stitches into one

ssk: slip next two stitches knitwise, slip back to left hand needle and knit together

m1: insert needle into the horizontal bar between the next two stitches, pick it up and knit it twisted (to avoid a hole).

cdd: centered double decrease: insert needle into next two stitches as if to knit them together. Slip them onto right hand needle and knit the next stitch. Pass the slipped stitches over the it.

I Think I Believe in Spring

Knitting the leaves on my pretty new socks and the lovely warm air lured me outside to survey my neglected flowerbeds. As I began clearing away leaves, Ian popped his head outside and we had a Tom Sawyer moment. Soon we were doing this:


It was wonderful to see that the bulbs were trying very hard to come up. I saw evidence of crocuses, grape hyacinth, and campanula trying to make some headway. The real winners in the garden are these pushkinia:

I had almost given up hope. It's been nasty.

Always the first up, first to bloom, and the loveliest snowdrop type flowers will be bursting out after a few more warm days.

The sun was shining brightly on them so they look like they're glowing.

I also realized yesterday that I am going to have to work much faster on this navy scarf - I need those needles for the Myrtle Leaf Shawl (ravelry link) from Victorian Lace Today. I expect it to be long and involved, and wonderful.

I Know How To Do That

On Sunday, we were curled up on the couch together, Ian and I, and he was mesmerized watching me knit. He, being a sophisticated eight year old, knows everything there is, and if he doesn't, "my mind tells me". It was no surprise when he stated,
"I know how to do that."

He began wiggling his hands around in a passable imitation of the smooth movements he'd been watching for the last half hour. So I decided the time was ripe to hand him a pair of needles and some yarn. I taught him a basic cast on, and he proceeded to fill the needle with it.



He is catching on pretty quickly and I'm prouder of him than I can even express. And guess what? All he wants to do now is knit. He even sometimes forgets to dress up in his knight costume before he starts.

The scarf in progress:



He, of course, is focused on the day when he will knit his own fish hat. So am I, actually. Somebody else to knit up all my stash.

Busted!

I'm starting my spring clean here a little early, and that means I've got to clear out old stash. I've been knitting & crocheting for 10 years now, and have lived in this home for nearly seven years... so it's long overdue. I cleared out space in my upstairs stash last fall (for new yarn, not using up old yarn of course), when I started my Christmukkah knitting- that is, the stash in the white bins. And a little bit from the box in the closet.

Last night I cleared out the furnace room. I won't miss the yarn, but the part that bothered me was finding four abandoned projects. Three of them were hideous (in my defense, my son picked out the yarn for one. I got tired of putting on my sunglasses to knit) and for one I had run out of yarn. One count of poor planning (and then abandoning the yarn), and three counts of idiocy. That's a little disheartening but they were really, really old projects, and I'm much better at controlling my urge to buy gaudy yarns.

Today I moved my white bins into the furnace room and tried to empty the space in the laundry room... and take a close look at what's in the linen closet... and then there's that little space behind the desk... the long and short of it is, good project or bad project, cute or ugly, I found a gazillion more UFO's (my husband likes to call them yarn orphans) and an ugly truth about myself. I usually don't finish things. (Ok, I do have some wonderful FO's & I remeber giving lots of them as gifts...) And no matter how much I have, I keep on adding, adding, adding until I get to the point where I can't imagine even trying to use up everything I have. I realized this is not just about yarn, it runs much deeper into every nook and cranny of myself... and it's worth repenting of, I think...

Even though the Malabrigo Lace is calling to me from its drawer I think I am going to do some serious stashbusting and that will probably involve many socks, hats and mitts because I also seem to have difficulty buying more than a couple of balls of any one thing at a time. Except, apparently, chenille. Yikes! What do I do with five pounds of chenille in various weights? And when I bought all that cotton, how many dishcloths did I think the world could USE?

I think I can thank Ravelry for being a place where I can keep on top of myself and stay on track with my stash & projects- I finished (almost) all my gift knitting last fall, thanks to my Ravelry page.

er... anyone want some purple chenille? White? Pink? Blue? Teal?....