Christmas is coming...

I have been a busy gal. I've been exploring weaving on a borrowed loom. Mostly yarns from my stash - sportweight and made a couple of scarves. I'm very happy with them. They take a couple of evenings, plus time to wind warp, warp the loom, and finishing, including twisting the fringe (which is quite a thrill).

Halcyon yarn is having a Win your Wishlist contest through Dec. 12th.
Here's mine - mostly weaving yarns and equipment for my new love. Any jeweltones for yarns and laceweight (since I don't have a lot of lacweight knitting yarns).

Of course, I still am slogging away at my old love...Water and Stone Cardi. I unknit and re-knit about 2-3 cable repeats, and ended up dropping ends down and picking them back up in cable pattern to fix the hiccup. Now, I've split for the armholes, and I've knit 1.5" of 3". Pretty much very slow going.

My tree is up and sparkling, and I am also interested to explore a bit of painting over the Christmas holidays..Also, doing some destashing on Ravelry...hope to have a page up here shortly.

mid-October

Two weekends ago, I went over to Vancouver for Knit City. Class with the Yarn Harlot on Knitting for Speed and Efficiency was a lot of fun. I think I will try out the lever knitting technique.

I bought some yarn (pics to come later) from Sweet Georgia 2 Skeins Trinity Worsted (MCN base) in Mulberry a lovely red-purple...surprising ? haha, and also a couple of bulky skeins of Superwash Skein - 1 in mulberry (can't resist the colorway...) and Deep Cove (a lovely dark teal) which I really love.

Also visited with a friend, and tried to do some shopping with my mom, and had some good food there. It was a beautiful clear day both going over and coming back on Harbour Air - these were my 2 free tickets from a year ago.. What a treat!

For knitting, I'm in a bit of a funk. One one hand, brimming with ideas, but not as motivated to knit them, and not motivated to knit anything on my queue. So...last weekend, I started weaving again. I am borrowing (likely buying) a loom from a friend at the Handweaver's and Spinners Guild. It's a table loom (up to 15" wide) with a stand. I dug into my stash, picked out a pattern, and made a simple scarf in a couple of evenings. Well, not a plain weave, but an arrow-like chevron design, and some waves. Yarn is Verdant Gryphon Bugga in Wales (Dark Gray-brown with blue in it) as the warp, and VG Bugga Eye of Newt (pink, orange, and black). I also added some in VG Bugga Blue Stick Insect (which is a brilliant turquoise, and navy blue) for some watery-like bits.

I sprung for a Tassimo coffee machine with the Sears points I'd been accumulating..yum!

In yarny news,  my Tri'Coterie Luxury Yarn club arrived. It's a camel-silk blend - red and black together, with a shawl pattern, solid perfume (roses), and a beading needle.

pics to come.

October

My brain is somewhat fried these days..i've been enjoying life and have overscheduled myself just a bit too much. Work is going well, and I'm enjoying that very much.

I've been doing some swatching and playing with yarns, and I volunteered to do a newsletter for my guild, so that's been keeping me busy. I started socks with a Tri'Coterie Sock Gold Dust yarn called The Girl who was on Fire, after the Hunger Games theme. I wanted to make socks like these..

 

but my feet are narrower and smaller, so i'm getting a striping look on the toe up - i'm not sure i'll keep this. I'm wondering too if I'm getting a bit of lost mojo...or just was too tired the last few weeks.

 

September

Capricious is done and blocked and looks great on me..now, just to get some photos.
The weather has been cool in the mornings and evening, but nice hot summer weather during the day. Arms might be a bit snug again so I might have to re-block those with towels inside. The i-cord edge still rolls a bit even after blocking, but I don't have my silk pins handy, that was just from soaking and laying out.

My mind is brimming with ideas, so I've started to just wind yarn to play a bit for the next little while. I want to just knit for me (which I've been doing the whole way along) but also to just knit some of my own ideas rather than knitting ideas from others. I might revisit this..but for now, it's what I want to do.

As someone in my group mentioned as well..I've gone away from the churn of 12 projects in 2012..I think it was actually 14 in 2014..which means you either push yourself to be crazy and put a lot of strain on your hands and arms by trying to knit faster, or you end up knitting a lot of simple projects like hats and shawls..or you have way too much time on your hands and you're doing knitting to the exclusivity of all else.

I volunteered to take care of the newsletter for my guild - Victoria Handweavers and Spinners Guild.
There was a bit of finagling to get my formatting to work in Word, but it was fun to put together. Also busy with the home stuff that occurs for me in fall. I'm settling in again as well to my life and just being flexible around events and spending time where I like.

I also started dreaming about travel again - I'd like to go to Italy in the next 3 years...and perhaps France..someday a Mediterranean cruise.

Capricious shots - cabling detail and contiguous sleeves

Early Pics:

with close-ups of the contiguous sleeve and cabling - I'm alternating between twists at 7 Rows and 9 Rows.

I've completed one sleeve, and I'm more than half way through the second, and the hem is done on the body with the i-cord edge (substituted for the garter in the pattern).

August Days.

Mid-August and the weather is still deliciously warm. There were a few less than 70s days, but the weather seems to have bounced back now.

Capricious is humming along..I like the contiguous sleeves, but the pattern is exceptionally long and over-written - 13 pages with the chart, and copyright info, and no schematic. Pics are available, but it's best to look at finished projects on Ravelry to check out what the cardi looks like. I followed another raveler's lead by doing an i-cord edging instead of the garter. I think it'll make it look a bit more elegant. I also added some rows to the front edging to bridge the gap a little better, so about 8 Rows total. I had already added the i-cord edging to the hem all the way around when I realized I hadn't picked up and done the fronts, so there was small piece where I had to pick up and join the i-cord to make it continuous. I really like the look, and I think it will look great once blocked.

So, I'm about 66% on this project, and will be finishing up the sleeves. Used 2 full skeins (400 yds) Cephalopodyarns Bugga in Man of War, so far.

I finally went into Origins Bakery (gluten-free) on Friday. I buckled and bought 2 cupcakes - one chocolate with cherries, and one with lemon and blueberries. the lemon one was really good, the other one, was good but not as good as I expected. Also, a loaf of pepita bread which I'm cautiously eating, as I've been avoiding yeast, as well as wheat. It tastes really good, and I broke into my fig jam from the Maison Preserves who sells at the Moss St. Market on Saturdays. Mmmm.. Also, at Origins, I picked up a package of homemade marshmallows..wow, these things are really to die for.

Had some recent  lovely yarn deliveries..but I've misplaced my camera's battery charger, so I will have to hunt for that and post pics when  have them. I think I took some pics earlier of Capricious, so I'll take a look for those, and load what I have.

Almost forgot to write about the fabulous day I had today - I went to Fibrations (local fibre fair in Victoria). A lady was leaving right when I pulled onto the street where the fair was being held, so I snagged a great parking spot, opposite the gate. I only had a half hour to zip in and get some stuff, so I dashed over to Melissa's booth, and snagged a large box bag (pink glasses), and a smaller one of shopping ladies. Then, over to the raffles, and 10 minutes to zip around the rest of the booths. About the only thing that caught my eye was a lady who was making needle felted hangings. she had this gorgeous hanging of a octopus in the sea. If it hadn't sold already, I probably would have snagged it.

Then, over to a lovely massage, which I was on time for, and then, over to my storage unit to do a bit of reorganizing. I found some yarn I'd been searching for, and reorganized another box for my friend Kim who does fundraising. It was really one of those glorious sunny days when you just wish you could sit on your porch and eat ice cream..which I would have done, except I was out and about enjoying the sun. Here's hoping it stays through October.

Larch is finished

My Larch cardi is finished..as a colleague of mine said yesterday,"Great - just in time for the hot weather..." as it was 78F on Tuesday for Canada Day. yep, probably too hot to wear a long-sleeve bugga cardigan. The collar turned out lovely.

and I swatched this yarn - Cephalopodyarns Bugga in Discontinued colorway Man of War.



The yarn really puffs up with washing.

My swatch measures 23st and 32R on US 6 after blocking.
My target gauge is 22st and 28R on US 7 for the pattern Capricious (which is a 3/4 length sleeve cardi with a twisted cable running down the outside of the arms, and contiguous set-in sleeves (first time I'll be trying this technique). I like the material on the US 6 and know it would be way too loose on a US7, so I'm going to try to knit the S2 size. There's no schematic though so that's kind of annoying.

Larch collar

ok, yay..i'm finally (drumroll, please) on the collar of my Larch cardi..the one i've been slowly, diligently, and patiently plodding along on since February (!) yep, lots of changes in my personal life since then. Still in a transformational period pretty much..and I'm holding back a little from my normal yarn splurges. Need to save.

I am on the last few pickups on the front bind-offs, and then, to pick up the entire twisted rib edge for an inch. so very close. Then, to seam.

I've been wearing my other larch quite a bit, since the evenings cool off after the sun goes down.

Second round of csm socks

My second round of CSM socks arrived and they are amazing.

These 2 are from White Birch Fiber Arts - they're her rainbow gradient stripey yarns...

(a) Nothing Says Screw You like a Rainbow:



(b) Does this Rainbow make my black look big?



These are the others from the yarn I sent to redknitz

(c) Verdant Gryphon Eidos in The Morrigan (Universal colorway is Eye of Newt)





She added black from Wandering Cat Yarns for the Heels and Toes, and the color is very striking!

(d) Canon Hand Dyes MCN Jane in valentine 2012 colorway:
“When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew” ~ Hamlet.”
which is a Black with orange, purple and pink stripey..



(e) Wollmeise in Verhext and Verratzt
(redpurple and dark gray together)



(f) Wollmeise in Igor:
(redpurple and gray)



and here



 (g) Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga in Milkweed Beetle
(blue-green teal colorway):



(h) Tri'Coterie Sock MCN In Finnick (Hunger Games colorway series):

June

I've been kind of awol, I know.

I've been superbusy in the last 2 weeks and haven't had time to post.
My other cranked socks are in the mail and I hope to see them soon.
I'm still working on my Larch Cardi - and now, I have the body done, and Sleeve 1 is done.

I've started sleeve 2, and after that, still the collar to do.

My socks arrived ::happy dance::

Woohoo! - My cranked socks arrived...Look at these beauties...

The Wollmeise Pure 100% in Mon Cheri:



This was one of the first skeins I owned..that I convinced a longtime WM-hoar to part with.
The socks are very very comfy..and I'm very pleased with them.

Ribbed body (5 x 1) with a ribbed cuff:





Sanguine Gryphon Eidos in Nuit (Blue Poison Dart Frog equivalent):



One sock is more red-purple, and the other has more green.
The body is plain stockinette; and the cuff is a picot cuff.



Here's a close-up of the feet:



Third pair is Verdant Gryphon Bugga in Blue Stick Insect:





Plain stockinette body and ribbed cuff:





and I re-discovered that my feet are indeed smaller in the eve/late night than morning.
The ribbed socks fit the best, and the others fit better in the morning, and become more loose as the day wears on.