Day One

Julie Ann forwarded this to me today. She hasn't visited my house but that is how things work in my world.

The November Dream Club yarn and pattern will be in the store tomorrow.

There will be pictures later in the post of the start of my shawl. Just a warning in case you don't want to see. I would suggest that you stop reading now. I've tried to make them far enough down that you won't see them by mistake.

Mr. Melo had me up at 5:30 this morning to go out so I checked my email. The pattern just arrived. I thought about getting up and knitting but then I would be really, really tired right now in the store. 

I started when I got to work. The pattern is very well written and easy to follow. There is a link to a video that Stephen made showing how to get the shawl started. I highly recommend that you watch it. It will make your life easier and everything is explained. 

Beth is at home giving out treats to the kids. She had the coolest visitors. Three high school boys pulling a wagon. They were collecting food for a food drive. They didn't want any chocolate - Beth offered. Just canned goods. 

I'm very happy with the colours. It's time to sign off and get back at it. Very addictive!!

One more sleep

In honour of Stephen West's new shawl pattern I've taken some pictures of the Stephen West garments that we have in the store.

Pattern: Earth and Sky (his first Mystery KAL)
Yarn: 3 skeins of tosh merino light

This was my first KAL. At first I thought that I would have a hard time keeping up with the weekly clues but they are a manageable amount of knitting.

Pattern: Color Craving (his third Mystery KAL)
Yarn: 3 skeins of Mrs. Crosby Satchel

I would love to say that I knit this but Lorraine made it for me.

Pattern: Thendara
Yarn: 2 skeins of tosh pashmina - cove and curiosity

My yarn is wound. It's very hard having it sit here beside me and no pattern to start. Come on Stephen. Hit Send!!

The Hole

Cathy just left with her colours for the Stephen West KAL. It's going to look sharp.

I can't wait to see every one's colour combinations once the knitting starts.

This morning Mr. Canada Post brought in a box from Lynda.

Pattern: Auburn Wave
Yarn: 2 balls of Freia Fingering
Needles: 4.5mm
Alteration to pattern: Lynda did 3 eyelet patterns instead of 4. Then she knit the lace pattern at the end until she ran out of yarn.

Cathy left a very special present on my table. YUMMY!!

After work Beth and I went for a drive. We went to see our hole. It wasn't just a hole.

There are lots of pictures because Mom and Dad are in Myrtle Beach. I think it's killing my dad that he wasn't here to see them start.

Our neighbour's house. They're already in and I'm sure they will be happy when our house gets finished. They also started the house on the other side of them.

Survivor tonight. How do you run out of rice already? I wonder what Jeff is going to make the tribe do to get more. Oh yeah. Game 7 of the World Series too. Knitting time!!

Free Patterns

Classic Elite's Web-Letter just arrived with a pattern for a free sweater. I love it!

Overlap Front Pullover by Susan Mills.

Easy to knit, Chalet makes this pullover exceptionally warm and cozy. Colorblock any way you like, using Chalet's earthy shades and Chateau's vibrant colors. You'll need 3 to 5 hanks each of the fronts and back, and each sleeve requires about 1½ hanks. To knit a solid color version, plan on using 12 (13, 14, 15, 17, 19) hanks.

Ann and Lynda are ready for projects. Lynda's was easy - she is going to make me Exit 0 by Laura Aylor. 

Ann took a bit more thinking. She knits with her knitting needles under her armpits so I need to find projects that are worked on straight needles. I was thinking about what I wanted and then it hit me. I love these cowls but don't have time to knit them. She is going to make one in garter stitch and one with cables.

Designed by Sarah Hatton using our popular yarn Big Wool (wool), you can choose between a simple garter stitch or chunky cable version. Can't decide, then why not knit both!

Download the pattern....

Our house is very bright after Tim's visit last night. All light bulbs are glowing including the one out back that has been out for some time. The other thing he did

We have a new thermostat. Before this we had an old one that wasn't digital. Remember, small things make me happy.

The plan was to go out and visit our hole tonight. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. It is so windy and now the rain has started. We decided that we didn't want to be wet and muddy.

I'm finishing my post and then some paperwork is calling. I want to hurry so that I can watch the baseball game. Come on Royals!!

Prizes!!

What are the prizes going to be for our next KAL?

The first name drawn will win

A set of Knitter's Pride Dreamz Interchangeable Needles.

The second name drawn will win a $50 gift certificate to the store.

It grew a bit over the weekend. I'm working with colour C and D right now. I want to get going because I can't wait to see D (the denim/purple) with A (the pink/mauve).

We almost missed Homeland last night. Beth remembered at 8:58 to tape it. We really need to tape the episodes and sit and watch them all at once. You get through the episode and are on the edge of your seat until the next week.

It's light bulb night at our house. Our cousin is an electrician so we are trading dinner for work. Changing regular bulbs isn't bad but when you start with pot lights it can get tricky. And neither Beth or I like to stand on a ladder.


A happy email came through when I got to work this morning.

Just to let you know, we have begun building your new home! 

I guess that means we better get our house listed :)

Spectra

Look what I found today. I was going through my bags of yarn and unfinished projects.

Pattern: Spectra by Stephen West 
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock and tosh merino

Spectra is a simple lightweight scarf featuring two fingering weight yarns. Short row shaping creates a dramatically curved edge that coils and playfully drapes. Basic intarsia technique entwines two strands of yarn, creating seamless wedges that resemble a rainbow or color wheel. You won’t want to stop knitting as the colors unfold!

The scarf was finished but I hadn't blocked it. It's lying out in my bathtub drying right now. When dry I will sew in the ends.

I was curious as to when I knit the shawl. I posted on December 27, 2011 that the knitting was finished. Not good. Almost three years to block a project.

I forgot something in yesterday's post. If you are going to do the Westknits KAL, please share pictures in our Ravelry group. I love pictures!

I'm trying to write while flipping between the baseball and football games. It isn't going well. The best solution is to sign off and sit on the couch with my knitting :)

Thunder Cowl

Ravelry is a very bad place to go :) While looking at patterns today I found the Thunder Cowl.

Two skeins of Malabrigo Mecha came home with me. It's been a long week so I deserve another project.

The Color Play Mohair Wrap is growing. Not quick enough but I should get to the next colour soon.

We didn't watch The Amazing Race last night so that is on the agenda for tonight. Plus two episodes of How to Get Away With Murder. I'm still deciding if I like the show. It's one of those shows where you know you don't really enjoy it but you keep watching because it has to get better. Plus I want to know who committed the murder. There is also a baseball game. Go Royals!!

Margaret sent me a picture last week (sorry Margaret for not posting this sooner) of her finished Auburn Wave. This was for our September KAL. I've created another 'Auburn Wave Monster' - we can't stop making the same shawl

The first time round I used leftover yarn so this time I decided to do another Auburn wave with yarn specifically selected for this project. I choose Zen's serenity glitter sock in the colour "party girl".  I am very happy with the choice. I finished it just in time. The ends are sewn in but it needs blocking (and apparently my turtleneck could use a pressing now that it has been brought out from summer storage).

Are you going to take part in our next KAL?

Exploration Station is Stephen West's new Mystery KAL starting on October 31. We're going to do this as a store KAL too. Some of you don't like doing Mystery KALs and that's okay. Pick any Stephen West pattern and knit along with us.

A little tip from Stephen for picking colours.

Make sure color A looks very different from all 3 contrasting colors. You can take a photo of all 4 colors and give them a black & white filter. If you see color A contrasting against the other 3 colors in a black & white photo, then you will definitely have high contrast. 

Here are my colours.

Want to see the colours that other people are using? Go to the Westknits KAL group on Ravelry. This is the Yarn Thread link... There are a lot of posts so here is a trick to get just the yarn pictures. At the top of the page click on Images. Right now there are about 640. This might help you to decide what you like and what you don't like :)

Flowers

The aquarium is finished so Beth has moved onto flowers. She is going to do a piece to hang on the wall. Lots of colour. Cathy's suggestion was a zoo. Great suggestion but we weren't sure how to display the animals. Another small problem - Beth likes lots of colour. Zoo animals are mostly earth tones.

Not the best picture. Pot lights aren't your friend when you want to take a picture. It was a long day in the store (a great day but I'm tired) so I'm going with this for now. You get the idea. She'll get more finished over the weekend and I'll get a better picture outside in natural light.

Dream in Color

Mr. UPS delivered a box from Dream in Color this afternoon. There were 4 special skeins in the box. The October Dream Club colour is back in stock.

One skein will make this cowl.

The mini skeins of Classy are back in stock too. 

I'm going to have fun making kits tomorrow.

Cathy was in the store today so that I could do paperwork at home. Actually, I was supposed to be resting but that didn't happen. I have to leave Cathy chores (she doesn't sit very well) so I asked her to straighten the Taiyo Sock Yarn. Then I remembered that we have a great scarf knit in the Noro yarn.

A cotton and wool blend fingering weight yarn that comes with generous 457 yards of yarn in each 100 gram skein. Ideal for modular knitting, socks and lace projects.

Pattern: Drop City (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: 2 balls of Taiyo Sock

The yarn is also updated on the website... All the colours and amounts that we have in stock. There are lots of great colours to choose from.

There is another major job happening at home right now.

At TNNA (the trade show that I go to twice a year to purchase yarn and accessories for the store) in May the Yarn Group did a scavenger hunt on the show floor called The Quest. We're going to be doing The Quest again in January. Beth and I are in charge. We are also setting up the Yarn Group Lounge. What to do in the Lounge? Food? Speakers? Furniture? Posters? Garments? There are many decisions to be made.

No one can say that life is boring at my house.

Finally my knitting

Here are some pictures of my current knitting. It's been a while since I've shared my work. When you work on many things at once, it doesn't seem like anything is growing.

Another Color Play Mohair Wrap in Kidsilk Haze Stripe from Rowan. These are brand new colours that should be arriving in November.

Another Auburn Wave. This one is in tosh merino light.

No friend today to help me model. They have gone on a trip to Toronto for the weekend. Trendsetter Yarns is coming from California to have a booth at the Creative Festival. Barry has borrowed some of my friends as well as my grid. If you are at the show, stop by the booth and say HI to everyone.

Survivor tonight. Who is going home? The teams are switching up. This should be interesting. 

Scarf. Swatching. Sinuses.

A double strand of soft and squishy Chateau combined with a lofty fishermen's rib stitch, make for an exceptionally cozy scarf. And, while exact gauge is not crucial to the success of this project, try not to be tighter than the specified gauge—a looser stitch will create a cushier scarf.

The Fishermen's Rib Scarf from Classic Elite Yarns. The pattern is free in today's Web-Letter. Download the pattern... 

Swatching is important. Actually pretty much mandatory if you're knitting a sweater, cardigan or vest. I know that you don't want to but it is necessary to make sure that your garment comes out the proper size. The number one reason why a garment doesn't fit is because the knitter didn't do a swatch.

Here is a little tip from Knitter's Pride.

Read more on their blog...

I had nightmares about going to the dentist today. Root canal? Pull the tooth? There were many things running through my head. So many that I had Beth drive me in case I wasn't able to drive home. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my tooth. My dentist poked and prodded. Tried cold. Hot. Sensory pulses. X-rays. Nothing. He thinks that I have a really good sinus infection. Now I need to get into see my doctor. Ugh!

The World Series starts tonight. Go Royals!!