Happy Easter

I hope that you and your family are having a Happy Easter. Beth and I made our desserts for Easter dinner and will be heading out to Aunt Rene's in a bit.

Last night I cast off the Linen Stitch Scarf. I really like how the colours played out.

After a bath in Yuzu Soak it is lying out to dry in my bathroom. I don't think it will be dry enough tomorrow for pictures but you never know.

Mr. Melo hates thunder. HATES. Shakes and has to be sitting on top of someone. We have tried rubbing him with dryer sheets (a few customers suggested this) but it doesn't work. Our vet suggested a Thunder Shirt which we picked up in Myrtle Beach. We decided he should have it on a few times before a storm hits and we can't get it on him. He isn't upset while it's on but he isn't happy either.

There was an unfortunate TV problem last week while we were in Myrtle Beach. We taped the Amazing Race (in Ancaster and Myrtle Beach) but didn't tape the show after it. It didn't start at 8 but sometime after 8:30 so we didn't get the whole episode. This afternoon we tried to watch online but kept getting an error. Beth has it taping tonight - along with the show after just in case. We won't make that mistake again.

I was just getting ready to hit Publish and jumped to Ravelry for a minute. Big Mistake!! Laura Aylor is having a mystery KAL (knit-a-long) for a shawl. I have knit her All the Shades of Truth (twice) and we have Derecho hanging in the store. I really like her patterns. Easy to follow and look great when done.

Here is the link to Ravelry. If you are thinking about joining then do it quick. The pattern is just $3 until April 4.

There are 526 skeins of tosh merino light arriving tomorrow. I think that I will have fun going through boxes and coming up with colour combinations.

Don't forget that Spring/Summer hours start in the store tomorrow. We are closed on Mondays until September.

Casting Off

I'm in the home stretch on my Linen Stitch scarf-the cast off is almost finished. I wanted a picture before I left for the day so it's still on the needle.

I think I could have added two more rows (I hate having yarn left over) but I was afraid that I might have calculated wrong and would run out part way through one of the rows. That would have been worse than having left over yarn. :)

It's actually more of a shawl than a scarf which isn't a bad thing. I'm going to have fun picking shawl pins to go with it next week.

All ends are sewn in. DONE.

Pattern: The Lonely Tree Shawl (free on Ravelry)
I added in an extra chart (Chart D) which isn't on the pattern but you can download here.

Yarn: 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces Haymarket in the colour Daley

Needles: 5.5mm

It was a beautiful day in Ancaster today. The sun was shining (as you can see from my pictures) and it felt like spring. Beth called to say she was going grocery shopping and what did I want for dinner. Steak and baked potatoes on the barbecue won. Dinner was great but now I need a nap. But I can't because I want to get the scarf cast off and pull Eos (my white cotton sweater) out of the bag. It's only 4 weeks today until the Frolic.

Another Finished Project

Beth and I had fun at One of a Kind last night. We were being good (no purchases) until we passed a booth that sells leather purses. I have bought from Matteo Mio before and we stopped to see what they had. Beth saw this bag first and proclaimed that I needed it.

The leather is amazing with a purple, brown, reddish tone to it.

The next stop was at Creations d'Octobre. We have three houses hanging on the dining room wall in Myrtle Beach and picked up two more for the side wall.

At Christmas a customer gave me the cutest card from a company called Little Big Words. When I was reading the show brochure I saw that they were there. Kelli had some great cards (we came home with 8) and she is going to custom make me Sheep Thank You cards.

Today has been busy so far which is why I'm late posting. I was up early for church and have been going the rest of the day. No nap which is a bit sad. The back yard is now clean for the dogs to play and they were happy to be outside most of the day in the beautiful weather. Criminal Minds, CSI and Grey's Anatomy kept me company while I worked on the linen stitch scarf. Five rows to go.

I also blocked The Lonely Tree Shawl. This is before it's bath. The leaves are a bit bunched and should be lying flat.

Yuzu Soak again today. My kitchen smells really good.

I laid it out on the porch and with the sun it dried in record time. So fast that I didn't get it pinned out with my blocking wires. I will take a look at it tomorrow and might block it again if I think it needs it.

The yarn blocks beautifully. My leaves are flat now.

If you are looking for a worsted/aran weight yarn for a project I would highly recommend Haymarket. 

All done except for a few ends to sew in. 

College basketball is on and I'm going to try and get a few rows of my scarf done. I said it would be finished this week and I'm going to make it.

One of a Kind

Beth and I are heading to Toronto tonight for One of a Kind. The two of us together at that show are never a good thing. We're leaving right after work so I need to get my post done before heading home.

Mr. Canada Post came in with a box of books this morning that included a great spring magazine.

Celebrate the beauty of knitting with the Spring 2013 issue of knit.wear. We're focusing on stitch, line, and color with a new way to shape intarsia, a deconstruction of handkerchief hems, and 25 elemental knits to make right now.

See all the garments...

Here are the new colours for spring that are coming in the madelinetosh shipment. The 31 boxes are supposed to arrive at the storage unit on Monday. I will be there to meet them and start going through the boxes and bringing yarn home.

Dr. Zhivago's Sky
-merino light
-sock
-merino dk
-jasper

Astrid Grey
-merino light
-sock
-merino dk
-vintage

Baroque Violet
-merino light
-sock
-merino dk
-vintage

Esoteric
-merino light
-sock
-merino dk
-vintage

Jasper
-merino light
-sock
-merino dk
-vintage

Mala
-merino light
-sock
-merino dk

Sand Dune
-merino light
-sock
-vintage

Laurel
-merino light
-sock
-merino dk
-vintage

Robin Red Breast
-merino light
-sock

Vishnu
-merino light
-sock
-merino dk
-vintage

Whiskey Barrel

-merino light

-sock

-merino dk

-vintage

A bit of a knitting update-my linen stitch scarf is almost done. There are close to 300m on each ball of Rastita so the scarf has almost become a shawl. It is already 12" wide and I still have some yarn left. There is an internal debate going on. It's big enough already. There is a bit of yarn left-keep going. Who will win??

Shalimar

Diana stopped in yesterday afternoon with a shawl for us. I love it. It was hard to put it on a mannequin and not in my bag to take home.

Pattern: Shalimar by Laura Aylor (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: 3 skeins tosh pasmina - we used Mica

Lace and cables combine to create beautiful curves in this lace stole. A luxury blend of yarn makes this a truly opulent knit.

Shalimar is knit all in one piece from end to end with a knotted fringe that is added last.

This pattern includes lace patterning on both sides of the work and simple cables. Charts and written instructions are provided.

The yarns from Dream in Color have a new home at the front of the store.

Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere. The colours are great!

More Smooshy with Cashmere

A customer asked this morning if you can use this yarn for socks. There is 10% nylon so I would say that there is no problem using it for socks. Think how happy your feet will be.

Dream in Color Everlasting Sock

More Everlasting Sock

Now there are lots of colours to choose from if you are thinking of knitting Windward.

As I was writing Mr. Canada Post brought in a box of patterns. These are available for purchase on Ravelry if you don't live close to the store.

Pattern: Penelope by JoJi
Yarn: any worsted weight

A beautiful, modern cardigan, featuring cables and twisted stitches in the lower part of the body. This pattern is virtually seamless. There are only two vertical seams, aprox. 8 inches long each. The rest of the body is worked in one piece.

Pattern: Zephyr Cove by Romi
Yarn: 2 - 100 gram skeins of sock yarn

Shaped asymmetrically, Carson is part of a series of shawls celebrating Romi's new home in beautiful Northern Nevada. Knitters have a terrific time choosing colors for this one!

Pattern: Tower Mill Shawl by Laura Chau
Yarn: 3 skeins madelinetosh dk

The Tower Mill Shawl is a versatile shawl or wide scarf, beginning with an innovative garter stitch border cast on and shaped with short rows for a subtle curve. Tower Mill also incorporates a fun lace and cable pattern reminiscent of windmill sails which flows into the clean ribbed edge.

London Underground
a series of shawls to knit by Toby Roxane Barna

The first collection from Toby Roxane Designs, London Underground features seven shawl patterns in a wide range of yarns, weights ranging from fingering to worsted. Some are perfect for the adventurous beginner who's ready to try lace, while some are well suited to the more advanced knitter who's looking to branch out into different shawl shapes. Many of the shawls feature more than one color, providing a great opportunity to have fun choosing yarns! 

St. John's Wood
One of the great designs in the book. This uses 2 skeins of tosh merino.

Mansion House - also in the book. 580 yards of dk weight yarn. The possibilities are endless!!

If you are a lover of thinner shawls there are some in the book that use fingering weight yarn.

Now it's time to figure out how I'm going to fit everything in the booth for the Knitter's Frolic. We have lots of sample garments (and not enough mannequins) and way too much yarn. :)

New Samples

Mr. Canada Post brought in the box of knitting from Lynda this morning. She did a fabulous job as always.

Pattern: Love and Happiness by Amy Christoffers (purchased on Ravelry)

Yarn: 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces Haymarket

I took some pictures in the store but the cables didn't show so I took a quick picture outside. The cables look amazing!! (It is beautiful out there today-I didn't want to come back inside)

We did the medium size but if I was to do it again we would make the longer one.

Pattern: Windward by Heidi Kirrmaier (purchased on Ravelry)

Yarn: 1.5 skeins of Dream in Color Everlasting Sock

From Heidi

I thought that surely it must be possible to create something that functions as a shawl or scarf without following one of the traditional shapes, but instead is created through the use of ‘building blocks’ that are contiguous and seamlessly joined. I am super pleased with what a wearable and versatile accessory it turned out to be!

The multiple changes in knitting direction of this piece are akin to the maneuvering required when sailing into the wind, or windward.

It can be worn equally well by men or women, wrapped and draped an infinite number of ways, and can be made from a variety of yarns. That said, I think handpainted yarns probably best showcase the difference in texture between the various sections.

I love it and will definitely be knitting one myself.

Mr. UPS finally arrived with our boxes. We were waiting and waiting. Lots of Haymarket.

Also in the box were all five colours of 50 Shades of Grey in Helen's Lace.

It's going home time. Dinner out because we haven't been to the grocery store and then some knitting.