Stash Busting

Lynn cast off Kallara this morning (and hopes to block it tonight). The colours look great. Lynn used two skeins of Uschitita.

Go subtle or go bold with this fun shawl. Opt for gentle stripes for a neutral shawl, perfect for any occasion, then knit another in your favourite brights, neons, gradient or speckled hues teamed with a strong solid for a show-stopping accessory.  

Kallara features a slightly asymmetrical, shallow triangular shape with long tapered ends. Sitting comfortably on the shoulders without too much bulk, it’s adaptable enough to be worn as a wrap, shawl, or scarf.

Ambah writes a great pattern that is very easy to follow. For Kallara, you need to know how to cast on, knit, knit in the front and back of a stitch and an easy decrease.

I asked Alex and Lynn to put together colour combinations that they would use to make Kallara. While they were playing in the yarn I decided to put together a few combinations as well.

merino light gin 'n' tonic and purple rain
skinny singles parklife and sage
uschitita black cherry and sugared violets

skinny singles heyday and petrol
skinny singles spell and potluck 1560
merino light found pottery and prairie fire

tosh sock villian and potluck 1430
long dog bounce sock sassenach in the highlands and monster mash
uschitita havanna and skinny single potluck 1490

I'm not going to tell you who chose which. Leave a comment and let me know your guess.

I went to do something and when I got back there was more yarn on the front table. They each put together another combination.

twist light coquette deux and outlander

 

litlg sock chlorophyll and long dog bounce sock coral crush

I finally sent them home. They weren't going to stop. There are so many amazing hand dyed yarns available that it can become all-consuming. The skein in this basket calls your name and then there is another skein over that that grabs you.

This is the perfect project for stash busting. We all have one (or twenty) skeins in our stash that we bought because we loved it but have no clue what we're going to do with it. Pick two different colours and start. Or mix that wild skein with a neutral - black, grey, beige, navy, dark purple (of course purple is a neutral in my world). I bet you can put together at least two combinations with yarn you have at home.

Rearranging for a different look

I love my Bambara Wrap from Ambah O'Brien. It was fun to knit and I would definitely make another one.

Bambara is a generously-sized wrap, knit on the bias with simple shaping and alternating sections of lace and garter. The colours and patterns weave together like the layers of a melody, calling to mind the iconic sound of The Cure’s A Forest. It’s the perfect opportunity to play with colour – use a 3-skein gradient with a coordinating contrast colour, mix speckles and solids in 4 different colours for a fun, bold look, or keep it subtle with neutral solids.

The store sample (above) and my shawl (below) were both knit following Ambah's colour suggestion.

The sample uses a 3 colour speckle gradient with a brighter colour “pop”. C1 is the colour “pop”, C2 is the darkest of the gradient trio, C3 is the lightest colour and C4 is the middle shade of the gradient trio. 

A customer (Connie) was in yesterday and mentioned that she saw one on Ravelry that was knit as a fade. Take a look. I really like the effect.

Speaking of Fade

The colour sequence is backwards for the triangles. You start with 5 (the last colour on the pieces) and then go to 4, 3, 2 and 1. I have just joined in 4.

Connie wanted a Fading Point kit for a friend but she didn't want the centre to be light like Joji's.

To look like Joji's you would do the colours in this order. This is one of the new kits from Mrs. Crosby.

By rearranging the colours you will end up with a totally different look but that isn't a bad thing. I used this finished Fading Point as my inspiration.

You can see many more Fading Point shawls on Instagram. Type #fadingpoint into the search box.

Dad and Lucy came for dinner and to watch the hockey game. I couldn't find Lucy and started upstairs to see what she was into. She was very comfortable. This is a great spot because you can see out the front window and bark at people walking by.

She was all over Beth. 

The outcome of the hockey game was not what we wanted to see. Hopefully Saturday night is better. I'm on a roll with my knitting so we're going to watch a bit more TV. I won't be happy about that tomorrow but it's the price I'm willing to pay.

Joining

I finished the two pieces on Fading Point last night and they are joined.

What a game. Beth was decked out in her Vegas hat, t-shirt and hockey jersey.

When the pieces are finished you leave them on the needles and then knit them together. No sewing - it is so easy. There is a lot of decreasing which makes the rows go fast.

I wish I had this at home last night. When the pattern says "the other piece should have half the stitches on hold" I could have put them on the leather stitch holder. Instead I used spare circular needles. This works fine as long as you remember that the needles aren't necessarily the correct size. You don't want to continue your pattern with the wrong size needles.

Use the Stitch Holder Kit in lieu of scrap yarn whenever you need to hold live stitches. The threaded needles allow you to knit off of your leather cord.The Leather Cord and Needle Stitch Holder Kit contains: 

• two interior-threaded needles made of nickel plated steel 

• three lengths of leather cord  

• one long – for holding sts of sweater body (59"/150 cm)  

• two short – for holding sts of sleeves (29.5"/75 cm)

Classic Elite's latest Web-Letter came out today. What a great summer scarf. Sometimes you want something light to throw on for colour. This is perfect!

Light and airy, this scarf or generously sized wrap is lightning quick to knit and couldn’t be simpler. Just cast on and knit! Wet blocking turns loosely knit garter stitch into an etheral fabric perfect for a summer accessory.Easily customizable, work as written in the pattern or cast on stitches for a width you like and knit to any length.

The pattern is free on Ravelry.

Fortuna

Summery shades with a tone-on-tone dye effect. The same wonderful drape and fabulous fiber combination as self-striping Bella Lino.

58% linen, 26% viscose and 16% cotton

Now I'm going back to my shawl. I want need to finish this week so that it can be blocked and ready to take to Cleveland. I have a feeling there could be quite a few Fading Points walking around on the show floor.

Go Knights Go

I'm working at home today. Okay, working and a bit of knitting.

One of my jobs is working on Camp. It's four months away which seems like a long time but it will be here before we know it.

Imagine a weekend away with someone cooking your meals and making your bed. Oh yeah, you also get to knit all weekend!

Fiona Ellis and Beth Casey will be joining us this year to teach amazing workshops.

The website has been updated with all the information you need. Please email me or call the store if you have any questions.

Meals are a big deal at Camp. We eat a lot :) Meals are eaten at long tables and no one will be sitting by themselves. Returning Campers are great about mixing with the newcomers.

Breakfast is a buffet. Eggs of some sort. Bacon. Sometimes we have a chef making omelettes. There is always lots of fruit. Cereal. Oatmeal. Bread and bagels.

Lunch is also a buffet mixing hot and cold foods. There is always 2 or 3 salads. Breads. Cold cuts. Vegetables. There is something for everyone.

For dinner we order off a menu. Here is a sample menu that I pulled from the Bayview Wildwood website. Don't worry about the prices - all meals are included.

The resort is great about food allergies. They are able to prepare vegetarian and vegan meals as well.

Our suppliers are very generous with our goodie bags. These are in addition to the fantastic door prizes.

This year we will be dying sock blanks at Camp. What is a sock blank?

A sock blank is a long, rectangular piece of knitted fabric created by a knitting machine and then dyed.  The edge of the sock blank isn’t cast off — it’s left loose so that you can knit from it. The basic idea behind the sock blank is that you’ll get an amazing yet unpredictable colourway when you knit with it. 

Read this great blog post from SweetGeorgia Yarns on what you can make with hand dyed blanks.

It's the second intermission of the hockey game. I wrote most of my post earlier today and then forgot to finish it. The game is so close that it's hard to knit.

Attention Quilters - there is a quilt show at the Ancaster Fairgrounds this Friday and Saturday. You can find more information on the Hamilton Quilters Guild website. I think I might stop in Friday morning to see the beautiful quilts that will be on display.

Go Knights Go!

Cocoknits

I spent some time this afternoon knitting.

I made it to the lace on the fourth colour. Colour five will be fading in tonight and maybe I can finish this piece tomorrow.

It's just over 2 weeks until I head to Cleveland for TNNA. This is a tradeshow for yarn shop owners to see what is new for the coming season.

I looked at the vendor list and saw that Cocoknits will be there. This led me to their website to see if there is anything new. There is and I hope I can bring it home with me (more about this closer to the show). This lifestyle shot was so pretty that I needed to share it.

I love my Cocoknits Colored Opening Stitch Markers.

You can see a few of them in my knitting.

• These colorful opening stitch markers help you mark rounds, increases, decreases, and stitch patterns. Easily add or move the markers by putting them on your needle, crochet hook, or directly on stitches. These steel markers attach to your Knitter's Keep or any magnet so that you can easily store and retrieve them. Stitch markers accommodate up to US 11 needle. Included are 10 each of 6 muted colors. 

  Please note that the opening stitch markers are painted, not nylon coated, in order to keep them delicate and to prevent them from leaving ladders in your knitting. With extended use the paint may begin to wear off giving them a rustic look, but enough paint should remain on the marker to distinguish each of the colors.

  

  After Beth left the store yesterday she went to Harpers and bought more flowers and planters. We now have pretty flowers on either side of the garage. I want to say that we are finished with planters but I would like a few more at the store. You never know where my travels tomorrow will take me.
  

  

  
  

  

  The garden out back is growing like crazy. The Iris' look amazing! I think I might ask Austin to plant some at the store.
  

  

  Dad and Lucy came for dinner. She made herself right at home. That dog is made for comfort.

Perfectly matching striped socks

Look what we found. Skeins of Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Silk Single. This is the original version of the yarn that was made and dyed in Canada. These are all One Of A Kinds.
75% superwash merino
15% cashmere
10% silk
393 m / 430 yards in a 100gram skein

There is a new sock yarn coming from Urth Yarns. We should see it by mid-June.

The packaging is cute!

These are for the person who likes bright colours socks.

I meant to bring Fading Point with me this morning to try out the new clothesline. I was rushing and it didn't hit me until I got here. I wanted to hang something and get pictures so here is my first Find Your Fade that I knit in Hedgehog Sock.

Why was I rushing? Dad had a truck full of flowers for me. We went to Terra after dinner last night.

Beth came too and potted my window box and big planter.

There was one small problem. We bought too many plants for the big planter. Now Beth is going to use them to make more planters for home. But we don't have enough flowers so we need to go buy more. I think this might become a never ending cycle. Too many and then not enough.

It reminds me of my dad making pancakes. He makes them from a mix where you add water. He won't measure. Just pours in water. Then it's too runny so more mix. Too thick. This keeps going until there is enough to feed 30 people. We don't let him make pancakes very often :)