At the Cottage

It is beautiful up north. The cottage is on Paint Lake.

My drive was uneventful and I arrived around noon. I had a nap and then rested. Cottage life. The cottage is a cottage. Rustic and comfortable. Lots of windows overlooking the lake, lots of paneling. Not a house on the lake. It reminds me of my grandfather’s cottage. Very inviting. Very cozy. Clean. 

The dogs are loving it here. Who wouldn’t like to play in the water all day long? Unfortunately Lucy had too much fun. We think she tore her ACL on Monday afternoon after they got here. She let out a cry and now she is limping like before surgery. Beth talked to the clinic that did her surgery and Lucy sees the vet on Wednesday. They sent a prescription for medication to a vet clinic in Huntsville so she is comfortable. She is still eating and her tail wags like crazy. She loves to lie on the dock. I was upset on Monday but now that I’ve seen her I know she’s okay. 

There was a bit of knitting last night while we were playing dominoes.

Breakfast is finished and the kitchen is clean so now it’s time to knit by the lake.

New patterns. New colours.

Ambah O’Brien has a new pattern today. Meet the Kentia Wrap. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

Kentia Wrap is a project to enjoy mosaic knitting, a technique that really is so much simpler than it looks. Unlike stranded colourwork, only one colour is worked per row, and stitches are slipped to create texture and pattern. Take it further by playing with colour in your project. Use this project to have a colourful knitting adventure.

Alternating sections of mosaic and slip stitch are worked through this project. The mosaic sections are most effective with highly contrasting colours. In my sample, I chose a light MC contrasting with dark CC. The reverse will also provide the desirable contrast. In the slip stitch section, I chose a subtle contrast of light CC with the light MC. The slip stitch section will be effective with either a strong contrast or, as mine is, a subtle contrast between the colours. 

Play further with colour by incorporating a fade with your CC or a striking array of colours. Alternately, keep it simple and sophisticated with a single CC. 

If you visited us for LYS Day you might have seen Wannietta’s finished Kentia. She was a test knitter.

Wannietta’s daughter Amanda modeled the beautiful shawl.

Wannietta used a skein of SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock and two Party of Five kits. The colours are gorgeous.

I just sent an order in to Blue Sky Fibers. This is the Lexington Cowl (pattern free on Ravelry) and it is knit with Metalico. Until this season Metalico was only available in natural colours.

The shine of silk combined with the warmth of baby alpaca makes this a luxurious cowl. Knit in the round with a simple linen stitch and three beautiful colors, this is the perfect weekend project.

Uses 2 braids each of the 3 colors.

We have 4 new colours coming very soon.

A new natural colour.

The three dyed colours are used for the Lexington Cowl.

Organic Cotton and Printed Organic Cotton are going to be back in stock next week as well.

I’m finishing my laundry and packing to leave early in the morning. I know that I am going to arrive at the cottage and get grief for the size of my suitcase. It has my sheets, towel and knitting. There is a lot of yarn packed. Just in case. Imagine running out of yarn. There aren’t a lot of clothes.

Yikes, I almost forgot to wind skeins. That will be job # 1. 

Personal Knitting Camp

My sleeve is growing faster than I thought it would so I cast on for the body of Spark to take up north with me. This gives me long rows to knit while I’m away. If there is time 😘. 

When you are joining in the round do you have a hard time making sure that the stitches aren’t twisted? I cast on my stitches and then work the first row without joining - like I am knitting back and forth. When I get back to the beginning of the row I join my work. There is a small gap that I sew up when finished but it is a lot easier to see that the stitches are all going in the same direction.

Don’t forget that I will be away from Friday to Monday. If you want to pick something up before I go your order needs to be in by 10:30 tomorrow morning and I will hustle to have it ready for your to pick it up by 1:30.

I am going to be sitting by the lake for the weekend. Kind of like my own personal Knitting Camp.

I’m afraid that Boscoe will come home and want to sit on the table.

Blogger has a new format and it isn’t going how I want it to go. These yarn pictures were supposed to be near the top of my post but I’m not in the mood to fuss with things.

This is the picture that I wanted yesterday for my post on Butterfly. This combination would be stunning.

This is our Botanic Shawl knit with Crazy and Le Petit Lambswool.

Here are colour combinations with the new colour of Crazy that finally arrived.

Now it’s time to do some chores around the house. Then a bit of knitting before bed.

Uneek

Mr. Canpar brought in a big box of brand new colours from Urth Yarns.

There are 5 brand new Uneek Sock Kits. Two balls of yarn that match perfectly and will make one pair of socks. I took pictures of each kit outside so that you can see the actual balls of yarn.

There are new colours of Uneek Fingering. I put together combinations for Butterfly which has always been one of our most popular shawls.

Uneek 3022 with Hedgehog Sock Wish (above) and SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock Stealth Mode (below).

You can purchase the pattern for Butterfly on Ravelry.

This short row shawl looks lovely in either a long transition mutli-colorway or in placed color OR with bits and pieces from your STASH. 

Instructions are expressed in a new and unique method which I developed and that most American knitters are familiar with. The instructions let you know when you are on the right side or wrong side and gives extensive stitch counts. For some, it takes away a lot of the confusion sometimes found in other expressions of short rows. 

There is a lot of counting and this is very important. It is not a great project to knit while only partially focused in the short row sections. But there is also a lot of plain, garter knitting employed. For every short row section, there are rows in between that are more simple to execute. 

A few pattern notes:  

Pre-reading of this pattern can cause confusion. If it does not make sense when doing this, try casting on and only reading a bit ahead to see if it starts to make sense as you work. 

Uneek Fingering 3024 with Glacier and Pumpkin.

I thought I took a picture of 3024 with purple but it isn’t on my phone. Trust me - it looks great with purple.

Uneek Fingering 3025 with Stealth Mode and Glacier.

Take a look on Ravelry for great pattern suggestions for Uneek Fingering.

Kerstin sent me a picture of her latest shawl. It is gorgeous!! Kerstin did a beautiful job. The more I see the shawl the more I love it.

I bought the back to basics Passegiata Wrap kit in March and have only just gotten around to knitting it. It was so much fun to watch the colours unfold.  

I have knit a number of shawls over the past few years and, although I like them, I find that I don’t wear them very often. That will not be the case with my Passegiata wrap. I love it and I know it will get a lot of use. It’s beautiful to look at and it’s a functional and easy to wear wrap. Thanks for stocking this gorgeous yarn!

Boscoe is enjoying his time at the cottage.