Three down-eight to go

Today was a great day for knitting.  I am on a mission to get my shawl done ASAP.

Beth and the dogs are staying at mom and dad's tonight.  Our driveway was sealed today and we don't want the dogs walking on the driveway to get to the house.  Just what I need-dogs with black paws walking on the hardwood or worse the beige carpet.  She is going to have Chinese food for dinner and I need to think what I am craving.

Canada Day tomorrow.  Have a great day.  Will there be a golf game in my near future?

Family of deer

I have no knitting to show.  Yesterday was a busy day.  Church in the morning and a game of golf in the afternoon.  It was a beautiful day until the 10th hole when it started to spit.  We decided to keep going and it was a good thing.  The rain didn't come down hard until we were putting the clubs in the car.  My game wasn't good but we had fun.

Beth is a member at Dundas Valley and there are many trees on the course.  There are also many deer.  When we were on the 17th tee there was a mother with two babies.  I tried to get pictures but they kept running around.  When we thought they had gone I put my tee in the ground and took a practice swing.  Just as I was ready to hit the ball Beth screamed at me to stop.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong.  One of the deer was standing right in front of me.  It looked like he was going to come up and have me pet him.

As you know I like pictures-here are the new flags hanging on the front of the store.

Have a great night-I am going to knit now.

Couldn't stop myself

I am watching the news right now-can't believe what is going on in Toronto.  Burning police cars?  Smashing windows?  Is this really necessary?

Well, I did it.  Yesterday afternoon the yarn was calling me and I just couldn't stop myself.  Here is the Malthese Shawl.  I worked back and forth until there were enough stitches to start working in the round.

I got a lot of knitting done last night while watching the coverage and made it to joining in the round.

Here is Phil filled with my yarn.  It looks very inviting.

There is one small problem with what I have done but I won't be ripping it out.  In the first flower at the bottom I didn't carry the flower colour from edge to edge and I think I should have.  I think when the knitting is all done and the ends are sewn in it will look okay.

When I look at pictures on Ravelry it looks like the shawl is 10-11 flowers deep.  I have 2 done-how long are 11 going to take when I am increasing two stitches every row?

Thanks Baby "H"

I was just scrolling back through my blog while talking to someone on the phone about the new Christel Seyfarth kits and realized that I forgot to show you one of the shawls that we have the kit for.  This is Bon Bon.

Here is a close up. The colours are very close to the Malthese shawl but with an easier chart to follow-once you have the circles placed you really don't need to follow the chart at all.

We have a new yarn in the store called Cupcake.

This cuddly baby yarn has a chenille like texture with a silky twist of colour throughout.

The yarn is slightly thicker than a double knitting which makes it a perfect choice for snuggly baby blankets.

The pattern book for Cupcake did not have an easy blanket so I wrote a pattern for one.  Ann whipped it up for me but I needed a baby for the picture.  Emma brought Baby "H" in today so that I could have a cute picture of the blanket.  Now I can't choose which picture to put on the pattern (which is free when you buy the yarn).

The yarn can be machine washed and dried.

I seriously want this kid (and his older brother)!!!

Need your opinion

It is Friday night and I am upstairs working on my Mac.  I downloaded the new iPhone update tonight from my laptop and this erased my iTunes library on my phone.  My full library is on the big computer which brought me upstairs.  Unfortunately I don't have the latest iTunes so I am waiting for it to download.  While waiting I thought I would start another blog post.

Do you have an iPhone or iPod Touch?  If you do and are on Ravelry join the iPhone or iPod groups.  There is so much information there and many helpful people.  I learned many things browsing the iPhone group tonight like how to download pdfs into iBooks.  Now I have many of my patterns that are stored in my Ravelry library on my iPad.  (I think I have mentioned every Apple product now!!)

I must say that my blog looks really good on the big screen up here.

In two weeks we should be receiving a shipment of Kauni with patterns.  This jacket is done with two colours in garter stitch.  Two rows one colour and two rows the next.  Simple but effective.

At the show I was able to see all the colours of Kauni.  Before I was just ordering from swatches on the internet.  This cute three button cardigan pattern will be coming as well.

So iTunes has finally downloaded and my songs are syncing to my phone.  I don't know why I didn't narrow down the number of songs.  Right now song 200 of 1000 is downloading.  This is going to take a bit.  I promised myself a Y&R marathon-I'm going to get a few episodes in while waiting for my phone.  Why wait for the phone you ask?  It is my alarm clock.  Without it I might sleep in and miss opening the store.  Without it I will have a terrible night sleep making sure that I don't sleep in.  Why do I have to wait until 10pm to do things like this??

In the shipment of Kauni will be some more Christel Seyfarth kits.  I am sitting on the fence about the Mongolian jacket.  I think it is beautiful but not sure if others will.

And then the kit that I am really unsure about.  The Flower Power Coat is absolutely beautiful.  It was knit up at the show and the colours are fantastic.  I am hoping to have the finished coat on display at the Knitter's Fair and Knitting Camp.  Would you knit this coat?

700 songs have now downloaded so the end is in sight.  Have a good night!!

I see a new project in the near future

The kits from Christel Seyfarth have arrived.  I tried to open one kit so that I could read the pattern and the packaging broke on me-not sure if I did it intentionally.  Now I might have to start the kit.  :)  Here are the colours...

...for the Malthese Shawl.

There isn't anything tricky in the pattern.  The nice thing about her shawls is that the edging is done double-this helps it to hang better.  You can also bury all your ends when sewing down the under piece.

The shawl starts at the bottom point-increasing every row.  You work back and forth until there are enough stitches to join in the round.  Then you cast on extra stitches for the steeks and start work around and around-no purling.  When you reach the required length you switch to the top border pattern.  Now comes the fun-cutting the steeks.  THIS IS NOT HARD!!  The first time I cut steeks I went down the street to East Side Marios, had a drink and then came home to cut.  The stitches will not unravel on you.  Stitches like to unravel down, not side to side.  Also the yarn is a Shetland wool so there are little fibers that catch which makes unravelling difficult.  After you have cut you pick up along the edges to do the side borders.  Piece of cake.

I took a picture of the new Spud and Chloe Outer to try and show the true colour of the yarn.  Now that I am seeing this on the screen I am not sure if it is coming out any less pink than yesterdays picture.

I have been very busy lately writing newsletters-eight in the past week.  For the store there is newsletter called Shawl Yarn Alert.  This newsletter hasn't been sent out in over two months but that is about to change.  There will be one going out on Tuesday morning and another is written to go out the following week.

The Boxes Drape Vest from Jane Slicer-Smith is progressing.  I need to work four more rows and then I will be at the second armhole.  From here I start decreasing making the rows go faster.  I'm hoping to have a Y&R marathon tonight and get some serious knitting done.

Sheep

While at TNNA I spent some time in the KnitWhits booth.  Tina always does interesting designs and she loves to use Noro Yarns.  This is the Ayako Jacket.  Fantastic.  An email came from Tina last night with information about the jacket.
Ayako Jacket

Shown here in worsted weight yarn (Noro Silk Garden colour 282), this flattering design shows off the magic of ever popular self-striping yarn. This pattern is written in 6 sizes from XS to XXL and is simple enough for a new knitter but different enough to keep an experienced knitter's interest.

Can't wait for the pattern to get here-this looks like a fun one to knit.

Here is the back neck of my Jane Slicer-Smith vest.  After doing six rows with short row shaping you then cast off 10 stitches that are cast back on the next row.  Six more rows of short rows and then back to working full rows.  This lets you fold the collar down and have it sit nicely.

I placed an order in January with Lantern Moon and it finally arrived.

We now have the Sheep Tape Measure in Beige..

..and brown.

Temptation

I have been working on a newsletter and the website at the same time.  The newsletter is something I work on and then need to jump to something else.  I then go back to the newsletter and after rereading it change things.  This will go on for a few days until I am happy with the results.

On the website I have added
Norah Gaughan Volume 7
Berroco Book #298-Blackstone Tweed and Blackstone Tweed Chunky
Blackstone Tweed - new colours are added but I am waiting for Korey to update the shade cards
Blackstone Tweed Chunky - the yarn has been added and I am waiting for Korey to put the shade cards up  (I called Korey yesterday to get him moving and his grandmother just passed away so I couldn't push the issue-hopefully next week.)

In the new Berroco booklet #298 there is a great scarf knit in Blackstone Tweed.  More leaves-I love it.  All of a sudden I am really into long scarves that can be wrapped around a few times.  The jacket is knit in Blackstone Tweed Chunky.

Many knitters want to work in the round so that they don't have to sew when finished.  When I was adding Reid (also from book #298) onto the website I read that the sweater and sleeves are knit in the round and then joined to do the neck in the round.  Not your traditional 'knit in the round' sweater.

Mom and dad are leaving for Myrtle Beach on Friday so we are having family dinner tonight.  They are driving a new vehicle (Ford Edge just like me) but don't have a clue on how to work some of the great features.  I will be giving them a lesson tonight.  I am also packing some things for them to take.  Beth and I are going in July for a few days and it will make my luggage much lighter if they take my golf shoes.  Yes, two pairs.  I can't wear the black/white shoes with brown pants!!

Did you feel the earthquake today?  I received an email from Dawn saying that her apartment in Toronto was shaking.  Then Beth called to say that weird things were happening-it felt like an earthquake hit her building.  She was working on the computer and her chair was shaking.  I was talking on the phone while this was going on and didn't feel a thing.  Nothing.  I thought they were nuts until I read people on Twitter talking about the earthquake.

While this was all going on Mr. UPS came by again.  This time there were two boxes from Blue Sky Alpacas.  The new colours from BSA and Spud & Chloe have arrived.  Seriously.  People are really trying to tempt me!!

I showed a great scarf a few weeks ago-leaves done in Spud & Chloe Outer.

This is a new colour of Outer called Rocket.  In real life it isn't this pink-more watermelon.  A really beautiful colour.

Then there is Grape Jelly-the new colour in Sweater.  Anything in purple and I want it.  This is a beautiful, dark purple that will look great in a cardigan for me.

When I was at the Yarn Market News Conference a year ago there was a seminar on blogging.  We were told that a blog post should only be two paragraphs long.  I am way past that with lots more to say so I going to end this post and start on a post for tomorrow.  Why is there so much to say some days and absolutely nothing on others??

Another rainy day in Southern Ontario

I am glad that there wasn't a golf game planned for today!!

Here is a picture from the side door of the store during the worst of the rain.  Not a happy looking day.

Mr. UPS just came in with two boxes from Berroco.  The full line of Blackstone Tweed Chunky is here along with all the magazines for fall (including Norah Gaughan Volume 7).

I have been going through my 'favourite' list on Ravelry to see what I am going to knit with the chunky.  I am leaning towards Juliet or Abigail.  I just can't stop myself!!!

It has been a long time since my last newsletter so I am trying to get one written and out tomorrow.  We should be announcing the dates of the Tent Sale in the newsletter.  I am just waiting for St. John's to confirm that the dates are okay.

Thanks to everyone who had suggestions for getting the stains out of my shirts.  Beth and Bev emailed me a suggestion-get tie-dyed shirts in food colours and then the stains won't show.  Thanks guys!!

It is now early evening and the sun is shining.  Here is the plant that sits on our front porch.

Very colourful and you know that I like to have colourful pictures on my blog.  Beth and I dutifully water the plant every day to keep it looking pretty.

By the way, I didn't bring any of the new Berroco Blackstone Tweed Chunky yarn home.  I am going to continue on with my Jane Slicer-Smith vest tonight while watching Hell's Kitchen and Deadliest Catch.

Welcome Summer

I am outside writing on my iPad while barbecuing steaks. Summer!!

Before I could start dinner I had to run to the grocery store because Beth forgot potatoes. I got to the store and slapped myself in the forehead. Those darn bags. I forgot them again. Beth normally does the shopping and always forgets them and I laugh at her. She was laughing tonight.

I need your help. How do you get stains out of white t-shirts? I love to wear white but am a sloppy eater and always drop something on me. In NY Bev took a Tide To Go pen to one of my shirts. It made a mess and now the stain won't come out. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Here is a sneak preview of Rowan 48.  The magazine is being launched on July 15 and we should have it the following week.

Sofia Wrap designed by Kaffe Fassett and knit in Kidsilk Aura.

Lidiya designed by Kaffe Fassett and knit in Felted Tweed.

I am going to keep the rest a secret for now.  I liked the pictures when I ordered my yarn and when I saw the garments in Columbus my excitement grew.

Fall Debbie Bliss

After work last night Beth and I went to Toronto to have a farewell dinner with Oliver at Bev's house.  We had a great night with lots of laughs but I was very tired when we got home.  I thought that there would be time to do a blog post before leaving for Toronto but we had to rush.  There 403 going east was closed so we had to come up with a new route.  We ended up taking the Linc to the Red Hill Creek Expressway and then back over the Skyway Bridge to get back to the 407.  We were afraid this route would add a lot of time to the trip but it only added about 15 minutes-not bad.

I saw Debbie Bliss in Columbus and her designs for the upcoming season look great.

Here are the covers of her new books coming out this fall.

Snow Queen.  The book features Como, Fez and Alpaca Silk Aran.

Glen is a new chunky yarn for fall.  30% merino, 30% fine alpaca and 40% acrylic.  Super soft fibre with subtle tonal shading.

Andes is another new yarn for fall.  65% baby alpaca and 35% mulberry silk in a double knitting weight yarn.

Folk Chic has eight designs in Debbie's signature Cashmerino yarns.

We are currently watching the Italy-New Zealand match at the World Cup.  Come on NZ!!  Then a bit of a break before Nascar and the US Open golf.  I think I see some knitting in the near future.

Dragging out a project

The past few days have been extremely busy.  Not for my store but for Beth's business.  She was holding an Open House yesterday for stores to come and see new products for fall.  It was great to have lunch with yarn shop owners.

Now I can relax for a bit.  Having Oliver visiting from New Zealand was great but it meant entertaining and lots of eating out which translates into not enough sleep.  Which translates into me being grumpy.  Tomorrow will definitely be better.

Ann sent a box to me and in it was Dryad.  Oh my gosh!!  Beautiful!!  Our sample is knit in Berroco Blackstone Tweed, colour Maple Sugar.
You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

There has been no knitting in my life for the past two weeks.  I really want the new yarns to arrive so I can start something new but we are a month away from that happening.  Since I can't start anything new I am going to finish off some projects.  I started this vest quite some time ago and it is ready to come out of the bag.  The pattern is from Jane Slicer-Smith's book Swing, Swagger and Drape.

I am almost at the halfway point and now I want it done quickly.  It will look great hanging in the store.

Here are a couple of pictures from the book.

This version of the vest is knit in aran weight yarn.

This version is knit in double knitting weight yarn.

Many people have designed garments knit sideways but Jane has improved the design.  She has shaping in the front so you don't have too much fabric and there is shaping in the back neck to make the collar sit better.

Just call me 'chauffeur'

Being the chauffeur was my job today.  The drive took a bit longer than usual but there were no incidents.  Our friend Oliver (who runs Naturally Yarns in New Zealand) came back to Canada with us and will be flying back to NZ on Sunday.  Beth and I took him to Swiss Chalet for dinner-a must for a visitor.  Now Beth and Oliver are watching the basketball game as I am typing.

One of the things that excited me at the show were knitting kits from Christel Seyfarth.  Christel is from Denmark and her fair isle designs are amazing.

The Bird Jacket wasn't at the show but the picture looks great so the finished garment will be even better.

All designs are knit in the round and steeked.

This is the Mongolia shawl.  The finished shawl was at the show.  Fabulous.

I have ordered all these kits and hopefully they will arrive in a few weeks.

Here is another picture of the shawl.  It was knit but a different knitter which means a different colour combination.

The Big Poppy Shawl was on display before you entered the show hall.  Wow!!

All the kits come with many balls of different coloured yarns that are divided into background and flower colours.  For the background you lay out the yarns and cut off a given length of the first colour, then the second colour and continue cutting and at the same time wind the colours into a ball.  You have now made your own ball of striping yarn.  When starting to knit the yarns are not actually joined and you will use a spit splice to join them which means no ends to sew in when you are finished.  Remember, I have had a long day so this might sound hard but it is a very easy technique.  :)  You will then make another ball with the flower colours.  All kits are done this way.

This is my favourite kit-the Malthese Shawl in pastel colours.

The pattern calls for steeking and machine sewing.  I haven't read through a pattern but think that Alice Starmore's steeking techniques will work.

Classic Elite

The show is finished and I am sitting in the lobby of the hotel writing while I wait for Bev.  When she gets back from a meeting we are heading out to do some shopping.

Last minute orders were placed this morning.

After the work was done then it was time to say goodbye.

The Classic Elite booth was finally empty so I could take pictures.  Technically we aren't allowed to take any pictures on the show floor but Betsy said I could.

Classic Elite displays their yarn in the most amazing way and it makes you want to buy everything!!

I am currently working in Portland Tweed (Dryad) and love the yarn.  Here is a Portland Tweed cardigan for fall.

Twinkle Soft Chunky is a bulky weight yarn that makes great scarves and hats.

The colour selection is amazing.

This fall Classic Elite is doing a pattern book for garments in Soft Chunky.  As soon as I get the book one of my knitters will be making this vest for the store.  I can already see in hanging in my booth at Knitter's Fair.

Short sleeve cardigans are very in style.  Soft Chunky is knit on huge needles and you can have a finished garment in a week.

Classic Elite also distributes Jil Eaton patterns and yarns.  Can't you see your little one in these bright, fun garments?

Bev is knocking at the door so I need to run.  While we are out Beth is going to nap.  One day of shopping is more than enough for her.