Sheer Summer Beauty

I have swatched, washed and measured my gauge.  Now I am knitting the wonderful Americo Abrazos.  (2 skeins of J239, teal) I am working on 2.25mm needles.  Very tiny. Very fine. Very cool!
You can see how fine and sheer it is.

 You can see I have knit 5 inches in three days....

 Look at the lines of nubby cotton that appear at random in the fabric.

 Here is the tentative sketch of where I am going.  My swatch, after washing, had the stocking stitch edges doing a nice little roll at both ends.  This inspired me to incorporate that feature of this yarn in the bottom edges, and in the back.  It will feature cast off and cast on edges placed up the back to create rolled edge slices.  The front will have stitch increases to make a soft fullness at the neck which should fall in uneven folds.  The whole thing is so sheer, you would need a camisole under anyway.

This one will take quite a while to knit (even for me) so I will post progress as it happens.  I should have it done by the warm weather!

Houses and a Zebra

I finished the water colour paintings that I am donating to the home owners who have graciously opened their homes for this years University Women's House Tour.  The tour raises funds for scholarships for young women in our community.   It takes place May 5, 2013 in the St. Catharines area.  Information HERE.

 I also finished my zebra stool.  I made sturdy felt to cover the counter height stool, and made a cute tail for whimsy.

 Testing the placement for this stool against several different walls....

Newest Pattern Update... Rosy Hoody

I have spent the last two days doing the math.... It takes a lot of time, going over the pattern, working out the numbers, checking them twice (and I apologize if I missed any numbers, I am sure one of you will help me out with an email if the numbers don't quite add up).  This pattern now has six sizes from 34" to 50".  That is the actual finished size if you knit to the exact gauge, so pick your amount of "ease" as you wish.  I like to have 2 - 3 inches of ease on most sweaters, so that they are not too huggy... that's me though.

You can jump HERE to the Rosy Hoody pattern, or find it in the long list to the right.
I would suggest you copy and paste, and print, so that you can circle your set of size numbers... or email and quote the pattern name, and I will send the text copy only in the return email. Unlike many of my older patterns, the yarn here has NOT been discontinued, and you can find it here.

 I have also just finished my latest sweater.  It is another version of the Million Hits Sweater.  This one is from two DK weight yarns that were left over from other projects.  I tested the gauge and it worked.  These are superwash wool, so feel completely different from the silky open knit of the original.

 Perfect for early season golf games.  I am hoping my golf course opens in a week or two, and that this one will be part of my golf wardrobe really soon.

Spring has GOT to be just around the corner....

Ok, it is not quite spring yet.  But it is a day that is chilly, although sunny, and I have so many indoor things to do today.  I started with throwing on some spring clothes, and my new shoes!  Don't I look ready for spring?   In my beautiful new Fluvogs, I made four felted birdhouses!  They will be posted on Etsy, as soon as I finish this post.  Hopefully they will be snapped up and placed in spring gardens right away, ready for new feathered occupants.  You can see the whole spring theme I had today.

 Aspen is on board with the theme, sitting in for the photo on the stairs.

 Green, silk, and curly locks.

 Larger, natural colour, with silk and dangly curly locks.

 Black and grey and yarn and curly locks, this one is tiny.

 Plum and silk and black curly locks... more photos on Etsy.

And here is the green one, in the natural placement, just inside the edge of my evergreen.

After I finished the bird houses, I took out the water colour paints and worked on a house painting.  I have been commissioned to paint 5 small watercolours of the houses that are on the CFUW Annual House Tour this year.  the event is May 5th this year, and if you live in Niagara, please consider attending.  (you can email me for tickets or check the website).

Now, I am done all this work, and will finish sewing up my newest sweater.  It will be photographed and blogged shortly.  I am anxious to cast on my new Americo yarn!

Bird House

So I made a felted bird house.  It was my first one, and it worked out quite well.  But to be sure, I let Aspen do the home inspection.  At first she was not sure.  It felt nice under her feet and the opening looked just right....

 She looked back at me to see if it was safe to enter....

 In she went....

 See how cute I am looking out the opening?

 After a bit of a struggle to get her out of the soft new home, I hung it outside from the tree, just outside my window.  I am hoping to find a new resident there soon, and have a great view of the comings and goings of the new neighbour.

 This is an easy felting project and looks cool hanging from the tree!

Americo and Vogs

My daughter and I took an impulse trip to Toronto today. It was a lovely sunny early spring day (turned out to be a high of 19c!), and we were in the mood for shoes....
We went to Queen Street, and wandered through some shops.  Of course, west of Spadina is the heart of the fabric and yarn district and I could not resist the Americo Shop.  The lovely ladies there were helpful, showing me the new yarns for the season, including Abrazos, a pima cotton and bamboo blend that is fine lace-weight and has over 1000 yards per 100gram skein.  I came out with two in a gorgeous green-gray.  I plan to design a simple sleeveless summer top, so order your yarn now (2 skeins for the summer top).  They will take orders by phone, email or on the website.  I will be posting the pattern in time to knit it for the warm weather!

 Then we wandered through some fabric shops, and ended up at the Fluvog Store.  This was my destination today, as there were some new shoes on the Fluvog website, that looked too fabulous to ignore.  I thought I would try them on, and if they felt anywhere as good as they looked, they were coming home with me! 

 So let me introduce you to John Fluvog's newest model, the Faraday.  For those of you who have not yet discovered the wonder that is Fluvog, beware.... once you go Fluvog, you will be spoiled for any other shoe.  John Fluvog is a Canadian shoe designer, who uses only the best materials and the most creative designs.  Just look at the website and see how artful shoes can be.

And they are incredible comfortable too.  Just a bonus.

Monster Two

I just had to make another.  This one is a bit smaller, and has 11 spikes on the back of his head!  I did a bit more with the mouth and have the teeth inside both lips.  Love him.  Watch for it, though, he will likely be on etsy (hit the photo on the right), along with his bigger brother.

Travelling Felting Show

I packed up my small car and hit the road with my friend Susan.  We were invited to do a felting workshop in Mississauga, about an hour away.  The wonderful group worked together and stayed after hours to learn to felt.  Look at the lovely room we had.  Big tables for everyone.  I brought all the tools and supplies they would need to make a wet felt scarf.  But first we all sat down to a hot dinner together! 

 They had a lot of fun choosing the colour of the scarf, then the colours and textures of the accent designs.   Look at them hard at work.

 In less than three hours, we had a table FULL of one of a kind scarves.

 I am always amazed at the variety and the creativity of students.  Only ONE had EVER done felting before!

 Although they are cold and wet, my students proudly showed off their new scarves.
Awesome ladies!  And thankyou Susan for being a superb assistant!

Monster

I spent the day with this guy.  He is made from hand made felt.  I made the body with all the details (except for the button eyes) in one piece, and the arms and legs are seamless, attached after drying and stuffing.

 He sits nicely on his own.  Curly locks and bobble spots decorate the fabric.

 So cute.

Felting Workshop

I hosted a felting workshop today.  The goal was to work with resists.  Six ladies attended, and three wanted to make hats, two to make bags, and one (a beginner) asked for a simple scarf.  Here is the photo of the projects.

Notice how different each piece is.  All but the scarf worked around a resist, and worked two or three layers (the bags have a flap), and although no one had done anything like this before, you can see the success.  They all left with a finished (if a bit wet) article.
The wine was a small reward for all the hard work.