Yarn Whisperer

Finally a chance to update the progress my recent knittings... I have had a rough time at work and have dragged a tired butt home, with only enough energy to nap and knit a bit. Not much interest in blogging, or computer time, beyond the mandatory email responses. My co-worker had emergency surgery and will be out for 3 - 4 weeks, so I have been working all my job and all hers too, and I find this quite draining by the end of the day.

Knitting has been the stress relief that keeps me on track and here are the latest photos.

First the finished raglan cotton Esprit pullover....

A snug fit due to the lycra content and the seed rib stitch. This one is my design and the pattern will get posted (I promise) by the weekend.

Then there is the Fleece Artist Mo Jacket, which I started less than a week ago and got the fronts and back and collar and most of one sleeve done already. Really quick on 6mm needles. The pattern is from the label attached to the Mo Jacket kit. Easy, easy, easy!

The last photo is the new yarn from Noro, Yuzen. I purchased 5 skeins of this wool/silk yarn when I visited the Creative Festival on Sunday in Toronto. I went with a sewing friend, who has dabbled but not quite caught the knitting bug. When I expressed my love of yarn and forced her to touch the Noro and Colinette and hand painted silks and bamboo, and described sweaters and scarves and coats, all made by me in the past from these treasures... that was when she dubbed me the Yarn Whisperer... an upgrade from the previous Knitting Doctor designation??!

News, Updates, Catching up, Overdue...

Local news: Shaw festival knitted vest. Check this article that if found on Ravelry, about the local theatre and a lovely lady who works with wardrobe there, and who I met at the fabulous (although too brief in existance) Serendity Yarns (we miss you). Thought some of you might be interested. The knitter used fingering weight yarn, and the actor is not a small man by any means, and she even steeked, although they do not use the term in the piece.

I have several projects on the go, and none completed, so here they are in their various states of done-ness...

The seed-rib raglan cotton stretch in a deep aqua colour... back done and front almost to shaping. It is a snug, stretchy fit and a colour I love.

The Noro Silver Thaw coat. Double breasted with seed stitch lower half and stocking upper, and seed stitch edging. Easy, fast and fabulously Noro.

The placemats from Debbie Bliss' Premier Issue. A beautiful book full of classic Bliss. Lots of ideas and wonderful photos and inspiration. The placemats are from 3 worsted weight stash yarn held together and it looks great. I will make one more at least, depending how deep my stash goes in these yarns! Pattern will follow for the raglan pullover.....

Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter's Fair

This Saturday is the annual Knitters Fair in KW.... This is a huge event with JUST knitting, and draws vendors from all around Ontario. Check out the list here.

I will be there Saturday afternoon, and spend the rest of the weekend visiting my daughter at her house in Waterloo, where she lives while attending the University of Waterloo (6th year of 7 in the process of becoming a Doctor of Optometry). I will bring the camera and gather names and websites and of course, fabulous yarn bargains while there, so look for a post Sunday night or Monday.

These are the bits of knitting I am working on now. The Peacock Cotton is Esprit from Ram, and has a nice stretch, so I am making a fitted raglan pullover from that, the close up shows the seed stitch rib pattern, but the colour is truer in the larger piece photo.

The other is the Noro Silver thaw cardigan, with seed stitch lower half and stocking stitch upper... Lovely dusty greys and greens.

Noro Blossom Turtleneck

Although Ihave had less knitting time, what with wrok, golf and impending visitors (thus laundering sheets and towels, cleaning bathrooms and dusting guest rooms, shopping for extraordinary food stuff and wines - all to appear a naturally good host). I did start the next stash project, a wooly turtleneck from the Noro Blossom picked up in the tent sale at Needle Emporium last month.... The start went well and as I imagined in the mind and drawings of the design a few weeks ago. The back is like this...

and I have begun the front in the same 5 panel stripe. The larger three panels are from the burgundy Blossom, and the 2 smaller ones are purple. I managed to grab 10 balls of burgundy mix and 3 of the purple. More than enough for a long sleeve pullover with a large loose turtleneck. Hard to imagine wearing it now, but no doubt we will find ourselves cold again one day in a few months and I will turn to this with a cozy sigh. Right now the colours are very energizing and I knit with joy. I have always found satisfaction in the unfolding of the Noro colours. How can anyone not love this?

Write your own book....

I came across this amazing website.... http://www.blurb.com/ .... that allows you to create your own book... about anything, any size, with photos and text, whatever you would like, and print a copy to be mailed to you! It's really worth a look. You can see what other folks have come up with, and you can download the book making software and fiddle with it. It is very easy.

So of course I thought, how nice would it be to place some of my patterns in a bound book? They already look kind of cool on the website, all professional and shiny and beautiful, and I have really enjoyed seeing the patterns together here on this medium, but a real book? It was irresistable. So I downloaded the software and plunged right in. The fact that the patterns were already digitally stored allowed me to cut and paste and then move them around and insert photos all over the pages. It was an addictive process. I decided to make it like my favourite knitting magazines, where they have all the pattern photos, with short descriptions and pattern page references further along in the book. So the end result is 15 original Chris Knits patterns, followed by full pattern instructions and step by step photos when useful. A 58 page soft cover book, in colour with beautiful photos, and instructions. You can preview the end result HERE, and can even order your own copy if you are so inclined.


This photo shows the computer as you are deciding the page layout and editing the text and photos. You can easily do and redo the layout until you really like it, and in the end, you upload the whole lot back to Blurb and create your book page there and order a copy to print (or several)... it will take 2 - 4 weeks to get the books, and I will let you know how nice they turn out when they arrive.....

Tuesday Night Knitting...

What a lovely day, hot and sunny on the golf course, and shot a respectable 88. Then dinner and knitting with my posse. I have been very good and continue to work on the projects I have started instead of jumping into 2 or 3 new ones with my recent tent sale purchases! Here is the quilt wrap shawl, about 80% complete... and here is the new cotton, lap blanket or single bedspread or queen size blanket... the end result will depend on how fed up I get with this modern log cabin design!
It is garter stitch and worked in blocks that build from picking up one edge and knitting out from there, really easy and kind of mindless. I can do this while sitting on my backyard deck and reading my ebook. I only pause to press the page turn button. The ebook is great because there is no problem of pages turning in the wind or the book blowing or tilting off my knee! Fabulous.

Biking on a Summer Day

We were shut out of our usual golf game, a big tournament was scheduled on our course... so we popped the bikes in the backof the Pickup and off we went to the Niagara Parkway Recreational Trail. It is a paved trail that runs along the Niagara Parkway, from Fort Erie, past Niagara Falls and ends at Niagara-on-the-Lake. We parked near Queenston and rode the bikes along the trail into the town of NOTL. Here is a picture of Rick:

And here is a picture of me:

The day was lovely and we locked the bikes and wandered the town looking at all the tourists with their ice creams and cameras. We then stopped for our own ice cream and took it to the part at the mouth of the river. This is where the Niagara river spills out to Lake Ontario, and across the river is Fort Niagara on the USA side:And from the other angle, a 45 degree turn to the left, and zooming across Lake Ontario, was this photo of Toronto. Visible are the office towers and the tall CN tower.
And the last photo is the Quilt Wrap, now about 5 feet long and just over half done! Still enjoying this fuzzy project, although it sheds a bit while knitting, so I change into old T's and shorts before I knit, then have to change again if I am going out again. It looks like I have a shedding multi-coloured cat if I don't change my clothes!

Blankets on a Hot Day

I have my usual summer doldrums, where my passion for knitting wooly things wain, and my indifference towards little knitted tank tops and such causes me to rethink my projects. I am working on a new design for a boat neck tank, but it will be done start to finish in about 3 days, so meanwhile I plan a bigger project. I have never made a full size knitted blanket. I have made lots of quilts. I like quilts and the effort it takes to make them is worth the results. Here are two that I have made in the past... one for a single bed that used to be in my sewing / guest room. See the sewing machines on it? It now sits on the end of the guest queensize bed. The other is a star and log cabin squares quilt that I made twice. Both were queen size and I think are quite stricking with the tan, burgundy and black theme.

So what to do with a knitted blanket? I search Ravelry and discovered some lovely finished projects, and also the major danger in blanket knitting... the dreaded 'hibernation' blanket... ones that get started, but never manage to get finished. Is it boredom? Or just the sheer volume of knitting. I think it is like quilting. You need to steel yourself for a long haul and revel in the accomplishment of one quarter, one half, etc.

I have ordered some funky dyed cotton from Elann. I have two colours and 10 balls of each colour, and a new Addi Turbo circular in 3.5mm to inspire me, on the way by mail. The vague idea right now will be some form of Moderne Log Cabin Blanket, from Mason Dixon Knitting. I will swatch it when it gets here to see if I like the look of it in garter stitch....

Quilts take about 100 hours of labour to make, could knitted blankets be that much more?

Stay tuned as I test my stamina.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Wasn't it just days ago I was whining about the cold, totally sick to death of long pants and sweaters when it is spring fer gosh sakes... Now it has gone from chilly to blistering hot and we have had the air conditioning on since Friday. I finished my silk hoody and I love it, but can't bear to wear it long enough to snap a photo that would accompany the pattern, so be patient. I will have it on the blog in 2 to 3 days when the heatwave breaks! Meanwhile, I shot 2 great games of golf last week, an 81 and an 88! (both lower than the temperature outside!) I missed Thursday for work and Saturday for a visit to Waterloo to see baby-girl at her new store location.

I have been working on the quilt wrap and still love the feel of it, although the thought of wearing the mohair in this heat is slowing me down.

And I finished the stainless steel scarf....I just need to lightly felt the middle part -it has merino wool knit with the silk-wrapped stainless steel.

Thursday Night after Knitting Night.

Here is the photo of an almost finished hoody sweatshirt in Tweed Seta silk from Ram. The Addi Turbos hold the hood stitches that have been picked up from the neckline and knitted up to the top of the head. A few increases along the back of the head create a gentle curve to the back of the hood, and a few decreases at the same center line will curve it back in before binding off all stitches and sewing the top of head seam. I am thinking the classic pouch will still be knit and added in place at the end, as I still have lots of yarn. This yarn goes on forever.

Here is a photo of Susan's latest quilt. The colours pop even more than the photo shows and it is made of many, many, many small squares, all colourful prints in an amazing design. Susan brought it to show the StCG&CC Knitters last night. I love it when our talents spill over past the yarn to other mediums. She does exquisite quilting, does our Susan! Last night we discussed felting techniques, yarn shop sales dates, wedding showers (one last weekend, one in 2 weeks), assorted family doings, and possibility of a 5 day fibre tour (or knitting camp as I want to call it...) That one is still up for further discussion.

Serious Detour....

I was well on my way to finishing the silk hoody, probably less than a week, when this came in the mail. Well, it called to me, I just had to make the first square to see how it looked, and to get a handle on the patterning. It looked so nice and felt so fuzzy and mohairy soft, that I thought, one more square, to see the next group of colours together... then just one more... then just one more....

So you can see how the detour happened and how I am in mohair heaven, instead of focused on finishing the silk (which is lovely, but it's not eye candy!). I looked up the project on Ravelry and read a few (too many to read all) of the entries and comments from fellow Quilt Wrap knitters. One wisely suggested sewing in the ends as you finish each block, and I took a half hour last night to do so for the 5 blocks done so far. I agree it is more managable to do it in small bits, rather than the massive job if all were left to the end.

Sunday Ramblings

Picked up a great, funny book in Maui at Borders. Always an advantage to shop US stores as books have the US and CAN prices carved into the covers and for some reason, publishers still put a 30% surcharge on the CAN price, even though the Canadian Loonie and the US greenback are mostly par.... curious. So I buy books whenever I am in the US.

This book, Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair, was found in the Knitting Books section at Borders, and had me laughing all the way through. Laurie Perry (aka Crazy Aunt Purl) has a charming ditty about the unravelling of her marriage and the subsequent discovery of knitting and her new life as a single girl in California. Worth a read, and worth checking out her website. There are also a bunch of knitting patterns in the back of the book, from some easy scarves and hats, to a really cute devil baby blanket (perfect for the baby shower you would like to shake up) and some great purses.

I have been plugging away at the silk hoody and have the front, back and one sleeve done. I still need the second sleeve, hood and perhaps a front pouch if I choose to do an authentic hoody...

Found this lovely cartoon out there on the world wide web and it sums up my life.... the only thing I may add would be that a clean house is also a sign of a seriously low stash....

Swatch and Cosmo

I found some yarn that may be perfect for the Interweave Knits Roped Shell... Some fine superwash merino and some hand dyed (by me) yarn. So I swatched it and it is close, so it may work.... I like the way the hand dyed makes the lines all different colours. It looks very different from the colour in the yarns of the pattern.

I spent most of Monday visiting my daughter at her house in Waterloo (where she goes to University), and she has a summer houseguest, Cosmo. He is a conure and such entertainment! He loves to climb on shoulders and preen and cuddle. He's eating cheese on Robin's shoulder. He loves attention and squalks really loudly if he wants something. Still, how cute is this...

Long Weekend -Day Two- Really, Really, Really Close

Second day of the long weekend, and we teed off at 8am. I was having a great front nine, several bogies, two pars and a birdie... nice start, and in a good rhythm. It was cool and windy but the pace of the walk was keeping me warm... until the sky opened and threw some rain in the mix. Reluctantly, we bailed, and took our damp butts home. The rest of the day was rainy on and off, a complete write-off of all things outdoors.

So the knitting resumed and late afternoon finds me a few inches from DONE. If things go well I should be able to post this pattern here on Monday or Tuesday.... stay tuned!

I also ran out and got a few groceries, and picked up the latest Interweave.

Love, Love, Love the tank top on the cover! I have a feeling it will find its way into my closet :) It has a clever cabled edging that really looks great. I have to check my stash to see if there is some yarn waiting and wishing to be this.

Long weekend-day one....

I worked this morning, not typical of a long weekend, but we missed two saturdays in April, due to the Maui trip and our Saturday Patients were piling up, so there we were this morning - very busy. This usually leads to our noon-thirty tee time at the golf club, but it was windy and cold and drizzly with rain, so home we came. Bad for my golf game, but good for my kitchen floor and bathrooms as they were woefully overdue for a cleaning. The household chores are strained when golf season picks up. After the cleaning I got down to the photos of Maui, and worked a marathon four hours, and completed the whole book! I like to do the album as soon as I can after a trip. The details fade with time and I can document more easily while it is fresh. I should take a picture of the mess I make while doing the albums... Paper and trimmings and stickers and photos spread ALL over my dining room table. I often lose the scissors under the mess. Still, I love it and the results, so hubby learns to ignore the mess and trust that EVENTUALLY I will clear it up.

More photos to share: This flower was on our Lanai (patio).

The bird of paradise was growing by a pool. It took my breath away, so perfect and natural. The flowers in Maui were always catching my eye (and my Canon power shot!)

Final Stretch of Noro Matsuri Pullover.

When the front is done and you stitch up and finish the collar and start the sleeves from the shoulder down, well, it really starts to look and feel like a sweater, not just some knitted fabric. I am liking the look now that the pieces are together, and it feels so nice, all cottony and soft. This is my next free pattern to be posted within the week, so stay tuned....

Here are some of the finger puppets for the month of May. I package them as you can see in small bags of two. This month is one child puppet and one puppy. When I get tired of those, I may try some other pets....

More Maui........ snorkeling, and watching surfers (avoiding crashing into the black lava rocks!)

Two Sweaters

Finally, I catch up with the works in progress. First is a new Noro Yarn called Matsuri. it is a cotton (87%)and wool (13%) mix with the great Noro colours. Mine is 7, a mix of mauves and pinks and aqua. 50 gm balls have 145 metres and work on 4mm needles (US 7).

I decided to work a diagonal stripe throughout the body, and 3 stripes on the sleeve. I have 10 balls and will hope to have enough for a crew neck pullover with long sleeves. Pattern will be posted here in a few days when I have finished. So far it seems light and cottony enough for summer evenings, and early golf games.

The second sweater is a simpler one, worked with only one yarn (above I have 4 balls on the go on each row). I started this one, before I finished the Noro, because I wanted an easy project for the long flights and airport waits involved in travelling to Hawaii. This one is a 100% silk, Tweed Seta from Ram Wools in blue. It knits on 3.75 mm needles, and enjoys a seed stitch, stocking stitch checkerboard pattern, very easy to knit, and adds texture to the already tweedy yarn. I finished the back on the flight to Maui (over 10 hours of flying) and a quarter of the front on the way back (I slept a lot as it was a red-eye flight). This one is a vague plan, but I think it may end up as a hoody, with pouch, sweatshirt style sweater. It is very light weight, but very soft like a favourite old sweatshirt, and the colour will look fabulous with jeans. The pattern will develop as the knitting progresses, in a way it is like a carving or sculpture, the sweater it wants to be will make itself evident to me as I knit.... :)

Sunday Summary

Lots of golf the last few days and I have had little energy to knit, but I will summarize the crafty part of the weekend... I was inspired to make a wood and twine necklace, for the coming summer tank tops and sundresses. It was made by stringing beads and macrame knots (yes I am a child of the 70's, when macrame was BIG in belts and necklaces and I even recall a macrame handbag... I was so cool). I finished the wide cable edging for the Vogue jacket, but haven't buttoned it yet... and I started a sweater with the Silk, from Ram Wools. Only about 4 inches done so far, so no photos yet.

Yarn In the Mail :)

I ordered in some lovely new SILK. It is a house yarn from Ram Wools, called Tweed Seta and is 100% silk. The ball band says 50gm is 93m, but the web site states 153m, and I think that is more accurate. I will find out as I knit how far it goes. Here is a photo of the bag of yummy silkiness, and a quick swatch with stocking stitch and seed stitch. (Just playing around to see how it feels and knits and drapes) I did it on 4 mm needles, as the 5mm suggested looked too large for this yarn.

So some may wonder what the first step to designing a new sweater may be. The swatch gives me the idea of how the yarn will feel. Will it be stiff (hold a tailored structure or cable well) or soft and drapey (better for slouchy sweatshirt style designs). This one seems more the latter... so I start with that idea, then sketch the pattern, then choose the fit (snug, loose, baggy). This one will be a loose fit, and using the gauge, and the measurements (here's where the mathematician in me shows up) calculate the number of stitches to make the measurements happen. Then I cast on and work it up, checking as I go, and sometimes changing my mind on the details. Stay tuned!