FO: Teal Bud Shawl

This shawl was knit as part of a local knit along – which was a good motivation to get it done in one month!  The theme is Canadian provinces, this was knit as a part of the BC theme.  The pattern is Rosebud Shawl from Tin Can Knits, based in Vancouver.  The yarn is the heavenly Royal Alpaca that I bought last year when a local store closed down.

 

I think this was done on time as it was a fun, engrossing knit.  Shawls made from DK yarn knit up fast, are big, and oh so warm.  I see myself getting a lot of use from this shawl this winter.  The lace pattern was fun, and I find the resulting pattern very pretty.  I love the teal colour.

A Parade of FO’s Begins: First Up Sandshore

I have finally gotten around to taking some photographs of my finished sweaters!  With an eye to the coming winter, low light conditions and few chances of taking photographs I have endeavoured to set up a bit of a studio in the basement.  There is a good light down there, and I have a few extra lamps to give as much light as possible.  The corner of the room by the door gives a nice pale blue backdrop.  Now I just need to work on my poses! 

I had mostly finished Sandshore on our Ontario “vacation” and did the final knitting once we got back.  There were mistakes in the pattern, but just by looking through the other projects it was easy to find the issues and fix them up quickly.  I used Zooey by Juniper Farms, which is a lovely linen cotton blend.  It is not the recommended yarn, but alas that yarn is not very available in this part of Canada, and I didn’t want to have to pay expensive shipping and duties to get it.  Even though I used smaller needles, I got the recommended gauge which was handy.  I knit a large size, as I wanted something really roomy, and this fits perfectly, staying on my shoulders easily.  I haven’t had a chance to wear it more than once or twice, and alas it has now snowed in our northern snowy land.  A month and a half early, and we are woefully unprepared.  Here is hoping that it will melt soon, and I can wear this lovely sweater outside again!

The Worlds Longest Vest: An FO At Last!

That is the serious photo of Mr. J.  Right after that lovely pose I made him do Sears Poses.  Does anyone even remember what Sears poses are?  Are we that old?

Much nicer smile.  There was also a pose with the wheelbarrow, but that was just too manly for publication!  Yes there it is, not only the world’s longest vest, but a long vest that appears to fit very, very well.  Good job me!!  Let’s recap: 19 inches to the underarms, and 10 inches to the shoulders for 29 inches total.  A vest for me would only be 22 inches!  I am glad I opted to top stitch the three diamond patterns, it looks rather good.  Originally I had planned to do only the middle and the left.  The quality of the stitch, especially over the diamonds is not great, but it got better as I went along.

Count myself proud of this project!

A WIP and an FO: Beast and Beauty

First the Beast: Mr. J’s vest is up to the second front neck edge, which is excellent progress and every stitch feels like pulling teeth.  It is so bland and ugh and all I want is self striping rainbow yarn.  Why doesn’t he want a 29 inch self striping rainbow vest?  I hope to be done the second neck front soon, and then will start the sewing of the orange argyle diamonds, which I will pretend is fun.  Then neck and arm ribbing.  The good news is that I am taking all the leftovers out of my stash numbers instead of having to do projects to use up the boring yarn, therefore I am hoping for a huge stash number drop soon!

 

 

And now for beauty!  This is 22 Ruffles, knitted with Fleece Artist merino plus mohair yarn, the balls of yarn are held together as I knit.  The resulting fabric is soft and oh so warm.  This is almost the perfect shawl pattern, the ends are long enough to wrap around your neck and tie, and there is plenty of shawl to go over your nose and chin on really cold days.

I had been trying to think of ways to use the merino/mohair separately in a project, but I just love this fabric and may just knit up my other 2 sets like this.  I think a normal rectangle scarf, and perhaps another one of these shawls for a gift.  I love it!

FO: Aedi With Bragg Creek Lopi Spun

Wow, this sweater is one that I’m really happy with.  From the moment I got this book, Knitting with Icelandic Wool, out of the library and then purchased it, to when I walked by the Heidi Lopi Spun yarn at last years Olds Fibres fair and automatically started putting a sweaters worth in my bag without even thinking, all those instincts were dead on.  This sweater is cosy warm, and it seems to have morphed already to fit me perfectly so that I am very comfortable wearing it.

The original pattern called for three colours, but I made the yoke with just the two colours, and I enjoy the result.  I also did not put a zipper in, but opted for a button band for various reasons.  It is easier, I had a lot of yarn left over, and had thought I needed some more inches to give more ease.

This is where my earlier comment about it morphing to fit me comes from, I had thought this sweater too tight and small, and now it feels like a perfect fit with no pulling anywhere.

I need to get to this farm in Bragg Creek and visit those lovely sheep that gave me this sweater!

FO’s: Single Skeins Had Better Watch Out!

For an unknown reason, I have been ruthlessly hunting down single skeins in my stash and knitting them up into lovely fun items.  Take the leftover chenille from the pig family, I now have 3 little wabbits, the purple one at left has already been gifted to a new little baby.  A blue and green one were finished last night, and just need a quick block before the baby next door is given hers, and the last one is put in the gift box for the next baby on the scene.  If we ever make it down to the States again I am stocking up on this chenille, I just love it for making toys and baby items.

 

 

This skein of Manos became a lovely Sarah’s cowl, I think the yarn and pattern played very nicely together.  I was thinking this would go into the gift box, but now I really love the purple/cream/orange colours, plus the softness of the yarn.  Next winter I may just be grabbing this out of the box!  I had some yarn leftover from this, and already made a little baby hat which still needs a button and a little flower I think.  Then all this yarn will be used up!

 

That does seem like a lot of little projects, but wait there is more!  I finished a bright, eye searing sockhead hat on the way to Lloydminster, Red Deer, and Edmonton recently.  Very good car knitting project, I have a blue one on the go now!  This is some Koigu that was never going to become socks due to the lack of nylon content, and I couldn’t see it as a scarf/shawl or anything else.  The sockhead hat pattern is an excellent way to use up great yarn that can be a bright pop of colour on top of your grey jacket in the spring.  It is light enough weight to be suitable for Calgary spring weather, but not deep winter, rated – 5 oC to 5 oC.

Whew, that is a lot of little things isn’t it!  I should save a few things for next September.

Like a Cry for Help in the Snowy Wilderness FO:Moab Shawl

The first day of spring heralded 7 days in a row of snow and cold.  I finished my shawl, but have yet to wear it outside as I’m still wearing the super bulky extra warm cowls and scarves of deep winter.  The colourway is “Moab”, and once again we can’t go this year.  I’m very sad about that, and vow to go next year instead, I very much miss our spring trips to Moab.  Do you think the colourway is a good catch of the Moab colours?  I think the deep orange before the light orange definitely is, and I just love the turquoise no matter what.  When I’m down I keep searching the Moab real estate sites, and keep picking out what I’d like to buy for when the times comes, if it shall come.  One day.

It is April 1, and I am ready for the snow to go (still a few feet in the yard) and I am definitely ready for the danger driving conditions to be gone until November/December again.  Each morning for 2 weeks has been a nail biter of a drive.  Ice, white-outs, general ickiness.  I want to wear my scarf outside, with my new rubber boots, and get my spring on!

FO: 4th Place Finish

I finished my Olympic sweater, just a few hours late for a 4th place finish, just out of the medals!  In olden days I would have been able to knit all Sunday morning and would have had this done, but this year I played cars instead, did puzzles, painted, and in other words played with my daughter.  I am happy with my bulky sweater, as it is very, very cold in Calgary right now, and I am wearing it a lot just to stay warm.  I extended the cable down the front which pulls the waist of the sweater in nicely, and made longer sleeves so that my forearms would not freeze.  Right now I am all about warmth!

This weekend we headed up to Banff for a mini break and did exactly what I had planned: we stayed inside and went swimming.  When we were not swimming we painted, ate, played, and slept.  Grandpa came along and numerous water colour masterpieces soon decorated the chalet.  I cannot say that I am not still tired, but I can say that I am less tired.  Happy Birthday to me!

FO: Knotty Pine Hat and Continuing the Olympic Dream

Look at the pretty hat, look at the pretty yarn, nice work huh?  It is knitted from MadTosh Cerise colour which I find very complimentary to my skin.  I do like this pattern, I do, and the finish at the top is unique and everything, but I’m really worried it makes me into a cone head.  You can’t quite see it here, but the whole shape of the hat is a triangle, and I’m not sure I like it.  To finish it originally I washed it, and dried it for 20 minutes in the dryer (superwash yarn) and went to work.  Came home, Mr. J had generously decided to do laundry out of the blue, and had thrown said laundry on top of hat (you don’t check the dryer first, of course not) and then this hat got another hour of drying.  I then re-soaked the hat, pulled it out to shape again, and didn’t put it in the dryer this time.  Therefore it is bigger than it’s post dryer state.  I am wearing it around, and seeing if it will grow on me.  I am planning to use this pattern to make matching cowl, which will not be pointy.

We are having our usually Olympic sport pig-out, and loving it.  Figure skating continues today, and I noticed snowboard cross is starting, we all love the cross events.  So exciting!  Fia was busy dancing away to the ice dancers short routine, Mr. J continued his excellent twizzle judging, and I loved all the twenties inspired outfits.  I am cheering for the Canadians, but also the Russian pair, I like them they have the passion of Russian pairs! Bringing the drama back!  I am almost to the neckline of the front, and I am glad I decided to continue the cable all the way down the front, it is very nice I think!  I was really sad for Patrick Chan, I wanted to hug him and knit him a scarf, he was so sad.

FO: Insulate! Hat for Mr. J

Mr. J has a lovely big hat with fake fur and ear flaps for when it is super, super cold, but his old hat he was wearing when it was only semi-cold was very funny looking and old.  I finally made him a replacement, this wonderful Insulate! Dalek pattern.  We are big Dr. Who fans, so this went over well, Fia grabs the “Dalek” hat and wears it around sometimes.  This was leftover Cascade 128 from the Viking hat I made for Hallowe’en, a very soft choice for hats.  And like the designer says in her pattern notes, at first glance this just looks like a nice geometric pattern.  I remembered how I taught myself to knit stranded like this with one hand, which made this a fast knit.  I’m itching for some more colour work now.