A bittersweet end

Well, I'm officially out of Sock Wars now. I went for a skate today and came home to a parcel from San Fran containing my death socks : (



It's not so bad really because the socks are great; they are fun, stripey socks and they fit beautifully. They're also a merino/bamboo blend so they're super soft. I've got happy feet! The package also contained belgian chocolate so I shall console myself with a nice treat tonight.

I managed two kills so I'm pleased with my effort. Now I'm free to work on my Olympic socks, a challenging Cookie A. pattern called Vilai from Sock Innovation. I've done and undone the same 4 rows over and over but I think I've got it now!

Winterlude

I spent the weekend in our beautiful capital city (Ottawa for non-canadians) and took in the sights and sounds of Winterlude.

I was surprised to find a couple of cozy trees:



These festooned trees were apparently part of an installation by arts collective Spins & Needles.


Marvelous ice sculptures were everywhere:


And I enjoyed an evening skate on the Rideau Canal.


Also spent a day at the incredible Canadian Museum of Civilization. Wish I'd had longer than a weekend to explore this wonderful city!

Kayla Shrug

I made this Kayla Shrug last fall and then stuffed it away in my closet because I didn't think it worked on me. It's an Americo Original pattern and I made it out of their Pima Cotton as the pattern suggests.


Turns out it looks great on my sister so I was happy to give it to her rather than have it go to waste. I couldn't bare to think that my 18+ inches of 1x1 ribbing for the top would be in vain. I hate 1x1 ribbing!

The shrug has a unique construction and, as I knit it, it took me a while to figure out how the whole thing was supposed to work on an actual body. But it does, and the cotton gives it a nice drape.


I hope my sister enjoys it. It's a frustrating aspect of knitting; you can spend hours working on something that doesn't fit you well in the end. I'm working on a new sweater now. Here's hoping!

Cambodia Knits

At the last meeting of the Around the Bay Knitting Guild, we had a special guest speaker talk to us about an inspiring enterprise. Monika told us about Cambodia Knits, which she started last year with the goal of providing an employment alternative to marginalized communities. You can read all about Cambodia Knits here. It's an interesting business model that teaches people how to knit, and then allows them to work from home at their own pace.

We watched a slideshow while Monika told us about Cambodia's culture and history, and some of the challenges people who live there face. She explained her motivation for starting CK and how she went about doing it. We also got to check out some of the goods and I purchased an adorable little elephant finger puppet. I just love him.


Sock Wars update: I'm still in the game. I sent out death socks last week and so far haven't received any!

Sock Wars!

I've been doing so much report writing at work that when I come home and try to write a blog entry, I stare at the screen and my mind goes blank. But I've got it in me to do a little post today because I'm so excited to be participating in the upcoming Sock Wars V!


Each participating knitter is an assassin and must knit a pair of socks as quickly as possible and send them to their target before they receive death socks in the mail from their own assassin. I won't go into all the rules but you can check them out here. Over 200 knitters from all over the world are participating!

I'm totally expecting to be out in the first round but the great thing is, no matter when you're out of the game, you end with a new pair of socks. The overall winners get a whole whack of sock yarn.

I've received my dossier with info on my target: size 11 feet, dammit, I'm used to knitting for my own size 6. I've swatched and I'm looking forward to some extreme knitting! Now I just wait for the pattern to be posted at 8 pm tomorrow. Wish me luck....

Countdown to Christmas!

It's December 1st and I have a new pair of mittens, reminiscent of candy canes, to help celebrate the holiday season.

The pattern is Herringbone Mittens by Elli Stubenrauch (ravelry link here). I used Cascade 220 for mitts that could stand up to some wear and tear. The stranded colourwork means the resulting fabric is double thick so these should be nice and warm.

I have unusually small hands so I downsized the mitts by using 2.75 mm needles for the cuffs and 3.5 mm for the rest. The advantage of having small hands and feet is that it takes less time to knit mitts and socks, and saves on yarn!

I went to the park with my birdhouse ornament to take pictures, and happened upon a tree covered in decorations which I took advantage of for some photos. Thanks to whatever little elf trimmed the tree!

I hope we get some cold, snowy weather soon so I can make proper use of the mitts. Apparently it's going to be a mild winter though :(

Here's hoping for a white Christmas...

Mystery Socks Revealed!

I finished my Mystery Socks last weekend!


Finishing these socks was not without drama and heaps of frustration. Everything was going fine at first. I finished my first sock quickly and without trouble. I knit most of the leg on the second sock and was almost ready to turn the heel. I decided to show off my remarkably quick progress to my husband.

My husband is a perfectionist. He admires and compliments my handiwork, but almost always finds some little thing and asks innocently something like '...is there meant to be that hole there?'. This time however, it was not a little tiny mistake that he had noticed. Instead, I had forgotten an entire section at the beginning of my second sock.

This is what I was supposed to have, which I had managed to do the first time around:


And this is what I had on my second sock:


There was no way I was going to rip out all my hard work, I would sooner throw the entire thing in the garbage, so I had the bright idea that I would knit up the missing section and then undo the cast on edge and kitchener stitch the two together. Well, it looked terrible. If it had been all stockinette I would have been fine, but this just did not work. After much brooding and whining and lying in a heap I went for a walk (it was a beautiful day) which lifted my mood and I decided I would have to lose that section altogether. This meant undoing the first section on the first sock from the cast on edge so that they would match. If you've ever done that you know it is no easy task. The stitches don't just pull out easily and quickly as they do if you rip back from the other direction. After much tedium, I finally have a new pair of socks.

Here's the back:

And the side:

I vow to pay more attention to what I'm doing from now on!

Lavalette - a fall shawl

I've got a new shawl for fall. It's Lavelette by Kirsten Kapur. So lovely and quick to knit too. Only took me 5 evenings (quick for me anyways).


I've been wearing it around my neck as a scarf but it would also be cozy around the shoulders while sitting and knitting.

I need to block it again, as you can see the edges are curling.


The pattern is available from Kirsten's blog, Through the Loops. It's free, but she suggests donating to Alzeimer's and dementia research (link provided on her blog) which I was happy to do.


I used Spud and Chloe Fine Sock (80% merino, 20% silk) which is squishy and springy (my two highly technical terms for describing yarn I like!).


Kirsten also designed the Mystery Socks I've been working on. I'm nearly finished and will post those soon.

Fall (or stashing season)

We've had some rainy, cold, windy weather here and I've got handknits on the brain. I mostly concentrated on sewing during the summer but with the leaves turning, the mercury plummeting, and Christmas 62 days away, I find myself poring over patterns and hankering for hanks.

I visited The Needle Emporium in Ancaster to pick up some new yarns. The shop is like a candy store, so jam-packed with yarn I felt giddy. Once I managed to compose myself, I bought some lovely autumnal yarns.

First up, this delicate Silky Alpaca Lace by Classic Elite Yarns (70% alpaca, 30% silk).

I bought the other yarns with a purpose in mind, but this FeltedTweed by Rowan (50% merino wool, 25% alpaca, 25% viscose) was a total impulse buy. I LOVE it. I will probably make myself a nice wrap with this.

Good old Cascade 220 The Heathers (100% wool) will combine with some 220 already in my stash to become a new pair of mitts for me.

I hope to design a cowl using this super bulky Big Wool by Rowan (100% merino wool).


Bought any new yarn lately? What projects have you got lined up?

Socktoberfest!

Socktoberfest is a month-long celebration of socks and I'm celebrating by joining the Through the Loops Mystery Sock Knit-along!

Every week during October, Kirsten of Through the Loops will post a new clue in a free sock pattern; first the cuff, then the leg, the heel, etc. You don't know what the sock will look like until you've knit it! It's exciting to see the pattern emerge as I knit.

I thought I'd use a nice fall colour for my socks. I'm using Spud & Chloe Fine Sock in Clementine which is 80% superwash wool and 20% silk.


If you're on Ravelry, you can join the KAL group here.

Halloween craft round-up

Halloween's around the corner and there are a ton of great crafts out there to help get you in the spirit. Here are a few of my favourites:





Zombies and Monsters: embroidery patterns for sale at Sublime Stitching
Image: Sublime Stitching







Spooky packing tape transfers: a tutorial from How About Orange...
Image: How About Orange...








Sugar Skull Pincushion: hand and machine embroidery patterns for sale at Urban Threads
Image: Urban Threads








Knitted eyeballs: free pattern from Mary Jane Mucklestone
Image: Mary Jane, Midge and Mink







Polka-dot Pumpkins: an eHow.com tutorial
Image: Lolo-B @ eHow.com








Day of the Dead Dolls: free pattern from Knit1
Image: Knit1









Las Calacas Danzantes: free pattern from The AntiCraft
Image: The AntiCraft

Spooky portraits: a tutorial by Sweet paul
Image: Sweet paul

Summer Wrap-up

It's officially the last weekend of summer so it was apt that I finished something called Falling Leaves Wrap, a lovely lace pattern by Dory Brown.

With the blue colour I chose though I think it also resembles waves, of which there were plenty at the beach yesterday.


My husband wanted to do a lake watch as windy weather at this time of year pushes various jaegers and gulls close to shore as they migrate south from the far north. The beach was a perfect backdrop for some photos of my new wrap.


I used a 100% bamboo fingering yarn from Dye-Version. The bamboo stretched less than a wool would so the wrap is a bit narrow, but it's still sufficient to keep the chill off my shoulders and a nice light wrap for early fall.

I enjoyed this stitch pattern because, as Dory points out, once you've completed one of the 16 row repeats it's easy to see what comes next so you're not likely to lose your place.


The shawl pin is from the River John Needle Company of Nova Scotia.


We were a bit concerned that the beach would be packed, and there were certainly a lot of people there. Funny though, most people don't venture too far from the parking lot so several hundred metres down the beach we had the place nearly to ourselves. But for the wind and surf it was quite tranquil.

And we spotted this Parasitic Jaeger : ) ......

For special delivery to the Shetlands

A good friend of my husband's from back home and his partner have just recently had a baby girl so of course I had to knit something.....



The free pattern is called Five Hour Baby Sweater, although the knitting took me about nine and that doesn't include adding buttons and button loops (guess I'm a slow knitter!).

I ordered fabric covered buttons from Auburn Studios and added i-cord button loops. I love the little buttons. The baby's dad is a birder so I thought them apt : )



I used some Mission Falls 1824 that I had in my stash. I love this stuff. It is so soft, machine washable, and reasonably priced. Perhaps wool is a poor choice seeing as it is just about summer, but from what I know the Shetlands are quite wind swept so I imagine the sweater will still come in handy (I hope!).



I'll be wrapping this sweater with a couple of these bibs and mailing it off across the Atlantic.

Herringbone Rib Socks

I finally finished my Herringbone Rib Socks last weekend (I started them in February!).



It was a long slog. They are not particularly difficult to knit, just time consuming as the stitch pattern involves a lot of passing stitches from one needle to the other and back. I had to keep a cheat sheet of the stitch pattern with me to refer to at all times because it's easy to mix up. I do really like the final herringbone rib though.


The pattern is from the book Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn by Carol J. Sulcoski. The book opens with a brief overview of handpainted yarn and colour and contains lots of beautiful sock patterns from a variety of designers. This particular design is by Kristi Schueler.


The yarn is Diamond Luxury Collection Foot Loose. I believe it's the plum colourway. It's nice a soft and squishy.

These were my first socks knit top down. I've made several pairs of socks but always used toe up and was frankly a little reticent to try turning a heel. But it was no biggie after all and I like the result.


My feet are size 6 US so I knit the smaller size, knitting the foot to the recommended 1.75 inches short of the desired foot length before starting the toe, and they fit well.

There are several more patterns in this book that I can't wait to make.