Long weekends are for knitting

It’s hard to believe September is already one-third over! The long weekend came, and so did the the falling leaves decor and pumpkin spice everything.  This past weekend was exceptionally busy for me at work, as one of our biggest vents, that I’m responsible for co-ordinating, took place.  This meant that I took full advantage of the Labour Day weekend, spending my time knitting, reading, cooking, and very little else.

Just before the long weekend, I finished a pair of fingerless gloves.  The pattern is Cross My Palm by Kate Atherley; it’s a paid pattern, was very fun and fast to make, and would certainly recommend spending the $5 on it!  I received the pattern as part of my Great Toronto Yarn Hop registration, and the yarn, Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino (KPPPM) was another Yarn Hop acquisition. I loved the colours of this skein and am waiting for the weather to get just a touch cooler before getting good use out of these mittens.

Over the long weekend, I also started a hat, one which I’ve been itching to make for months.  The pattern is Grandifolia Head by Vickie Hartog, part of her Grandifolia series of shawls, cowls, and other accessories. I’ve put it off in the past, largely because it has an i-cord cast on, and being frank, I just didn’t have the attention span to work almost 150 rows of an i-cord; over the long weekend I had nothing but time, so cast on I did.  The yarn I’m using is Stitch Please Amethyst Label in their Men in Tights colourway, a vivid and beautiful shade of emerald green. The yarn was bought at the 2016 Knitters Frolic and has sat patiently while I gathered my patience to start.

The picture doesn’t do justice to the colour.

With the days creeping along, as they inevitably do, I will need to switch gears and start thinking of holiday knitting.

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Water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.

I just peeled myself off my living room floor, where I was surrounded by yarn, patterns, and a lack of inspiration.  Last night, I cast off my Doodler shawl and blocked it (pictures are forthcoming; it’s too pretty not to take proper pictures), and despite having a few socks on the go and my Boxy sweater, I was feeling the urge to cast on something new.  What that something would be was the challenge.  My lunch hour was divided between eating and chatting with co-workers and passively searching Ravelry for inspiration.  I kept looking at all my pretty skins, every one would make a lovely shawl, sock, cowl or hat, but not finding the right meld of pattern and yarn.  This has happened on occasion, where I find I’m lacking completely and utterly in inspiration, despite having so much around me with which to find inspiration, and despite my desire to start something knew, of desperately wanting to be knitting. What’s the saying, ‘water everywhere but not a drop to drink’? I completely agree.

I may have found a  pattern and a skein to match.  Let’s see if I make it farth past the cast on. If it’s right, it’ll continue.  We’ll see.

Happy Knitting!

Heat Wave

I’d like to know who is propagating the myth that Canada is a cold country, because for the last week or two, southern Ontario has been hit with a heat wave. Temperatures are in the 30sC and feeling like 40sC (which, thanks to a handy conversion online, I can tell you is high 80s/90s in Fahrenheit). It’s hot. It’s especially hot for someone who doesn’t have air conditioning, and while I was able to fare quite well in the first few days, I very quickly lost the battle in trying to keep my house at a normal, comfortable living temperature.  New fans have been purchased, I relish my time at work with AC, and I’ve gone to a movie or two to escape the heat.  It was also quite lucky that we got a reprieve over the weekend and it cooled off somewhat, but summer has most certainly arrived, and she’s come with a vengeance!

This heat has also affected my knitting behaviours. My Doodler shawl, made with wool blend yarns, had to be put aside because working the the fibres was like a strange form of cruelty to myself.  Instead, I’m gravitating towards cottons. My Boxy sweater has come along with me to a few movies.  It’s knit in the round over what feels like a bazillion stitches, and right now I’m working towards almost a foot and a half in plain stockinette. It’s a perfect movie project, being worked in Berroco’s Weekend.  Also getting some attention as of late is my Sanibel Cowl, worked in Cascade’s Ultra Pima Paints.  I’m so in love with these colours, which is why I bought the skein to begin with.  I also adore how soft Ultra Pima feels, with excellent drape.  I’m looking forward to finishing this project, although I have a feeling wearing it won’t be possible until the first few autumnal days.

So, to that person who goes around asking Canadians if they live in igloos and take their dog sled to work, please, come visit the Greater Toronto Area. Not an igloo in sight, although one would be a welcome relief from the heat.

Happy knitting!

Works in Progress Wednesday

I’m in a weird knitting stage where I want to be knitting, but I have no inspiration.  That hasn’t slowed me down though.

I’m working away at a pair of socks, yarn from the 2018 Knitter’s Frolic.  The speckles are making me super happy, and I love how the colours look together.  The yarn was from Bling Your String, 70g total in their Beach Glass colour.  Socks for my feet never take the full 100g that typically comes in a skein, but I was worried about running out with only 70 grams to work with (20g for the heel/toe and 50g of main colour).  My worry led to my weighing the yarn after completing each section to ensure I’d have enough for sock 2.  I did, and sock 2 is well on its way to completion.

I’m also making a lot of progress with my Doodler, and again, I’m going to gush about the colours working out well together. I just love the multi-coloured speckles anchored by the dark green.  I’m excited to get to the point where the third variegated colour is introduced.

I also started a blissfully simple project – Worsted Boxy by Joji Locatelli.  I bought a lot of cotton/acrylic yarn from Soper Creek (Berocco Weekend – it was a warm morning and I was completely put off by the idea of wool, hence the cotton), and I cast on later that afternoon.  Rounds and rounds of stockinette; I turn my brain off and just knit.

Happy knitting everyone!

On knitting up those pesky left overs

It’s inevitable. You find a pattern, buy the yarn, knit the pattern, and unless you end up playing an epic game of yarn chicken, you’re going to end up with left overs, those few grams of yarn that really, what CAN you do with it? A few weeks ago, these odds and sods were my focus and using them up in creative manners my mission.

Well, first, I took over 100 grams from 5 different sock yarns and turned them into a lovely asymmetrical shawl.  I used the Ex-Boyfriends pattern and now have a shawl in browns, greens and a pop of purple. I felt highly satisfied when it was finished because those were 5 small cakes out of my stash.

Like many knitters, I also have quite a bit of acrylic kicking around. You know the yarn, the stuff you bought before you discovered your Local Yarn Shops and the wonderful and unique skeins they carry. Don’t get me wrong, acrylic has a time and place, but those small remnants were just taking up space and annoying me just enough to find a solution.  Enter my ‘Ugly Slippers.’ I took my favourite slipper pattern, divided up what was left of an orange and yellow into two, and finished off with the red, which I had significantly more of. The colours are out of order for me to call them ‘Jayne Cobb slippers’, but they are rather cunning, dontcha think?

For a final stash busting attempt, I discovered a new kind of torture. I had enough Opal remnants to make a smallish pair of socks, and tempted to try a new method, I bought 40″/100 cm circulars and started a pair of toe up two at a time socks. I. Hate. It. With a passion I didn’t know existed. The almost finished toes were lying on the top of my knitting basket, and we were in an epic showdown. My dilemma was: do I persevere and keep on, hoping that this method will grow on me, or do I face ‘defeat’, realize life’s to short to knit something I’m hating, and re-cast on with a different method, like my 9″ circulars which I LOVE? The desire for movie knitting won out, and I transferred one of the two onto my beloved 9″ circulars… Life’s too short to knit something out hate, right?