Covet

Kim Hargreaves has a new book and it should be arriving next week.

A collection of twelve, classic women's designs including elegant cardigans, relaxed sweaters and cosy longline jackets.

Someone thinks that she owns the yarn store.

Dad and Beth brought Big Blue so Lynn and I can start packing it tomorrow for Camp. We have
-garments
-door prizes and goodie bags
-Camp games
-enough stock to set up a mini yarn shop
-mannequins
-grid for displaying yarn and garments
-class notes and samples

Now I have one more class swatch to knit. Nothing like putting it off until the last minute.

Done

Not my sweater. I knit fast but not that fast. I just finished the last colour work row. The construction of this sweater is interesting. There were short rows before the colour work and now the pattern asks for more short rows. The pattern suggests a You Tube video for German short rows that I followed for the first set. I'd love to say that I can remember how to do them but my mind is a bit full of Camp and I need to watch the video again.

Beata of Hedgehog Fibres fame has a new cardigan pattern.

Simple top down stockinette cardigan, that let’s you get creative with your yarns! Find an awesome combination of colours that makes you happy! 

This is achieved by starting with two strands of Colour A, then you will drop one strand of A and replace it with one strand of B. After that, two strands of Colour B and so on. There is no striping with this technique and marling creates a softer transition. 

Pattern: Le Pouf (free on Ravelry)
Yarn: Hedgehog Sock

Here is the weather forecast for Camp. It's definitely going to be sweater weather. Now I need to figure out which sweaters are coming with me. 

Paradise Valley

We get our Shawl Cuffs from Knox Mountain Knit Co. They make amazing cuffs but did you know that they also design shawls?

This is Paradise Valley (pattern purchased on Ravelry) knit with three colours of worsted weight yarn.

Winding its way through high mountain peaks and deep valleys, the Okanagan Connector travels through the plains-like rangeland of the Thomson Plateau before plunging steeply through Paradise Valley, where travellers get their first glimpse of the awe-inspiring beauty of Okanagan Lake. 

Paradise Valley is a three colour, top down, triangle shawl with squishy texture, contrasting stripes, and a cabled tree motif inspired by the subalpine forests of the Thompson Plateau.

I've been working on Newleaf. If it is going to be finished for the Woodstock Fleece Festival I need to keep plugging away. The yoke is almost finished. Six more rows.

We finally had a really good Thursday night football game last night. Too good. I had to stay up until the end which means I'm heading to bed early tonight.

Minikins

Alex finished a hat for the store and did an awesome job. The colours turned out amazing. The stitch pattern is Brioche which makes the hat totally reversible.

Pattern: Harlow (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: 2 Freia Minikins - 1 Dirty Hippie and 1 Squid Ink

Alex knit the medium and made one change. She did the length one inch shorter before starting the decreases for the top.

From Andrea Mowry, the designer

When I cast on this hat, my intention was to design my ideal, go-to hat pattern. A perfect jumping off point for beginner briochers to try on their newly acquired skills - this hat is great for any gender or age, and the color possibilities are infinite! We all need a dependable hat pattern right?? This is the pattern I know I can depend on for stash busting, wardrobe enhancing, or a quick gift for someone I love!

I just asked Alex if the pattern is well written. Her answer was 'If you read it'. Alex has knit the hat twice before. While knitting mine she realized that her previous two have a small mistake - she started the decreases and assumed she knew what she was doing so she happily knit along. There is supposed to be two rows between the decrease rows but Alex only did one on her other two hats. Not a big difference but mine has more slouch than hers.

It was a much nicer day so my friend came outside for pictures of Lynda's shawl. I'm very happy with the colours I chose.

I'm Lucy sitting tonight.

She started on the main floor and then moved to the landing.

I keep checking on her to make sure she is okay. She's so quiet. I'm her #3 person behind dad and Beth. So far she hasn't missed either of them. It could be the fact that I made hamburgers on the barbecue for dinner. It's her favourite meal.

Meet Me at Midnight

Wannietta has been busy. Wow. Her Carlina looks amazing.

A box from Lynda arrived this morning. The shawl is beautiful! I will get more pictures tomorrow. It was so windy that my friends wouldn't go outside today.

Pattern: Meet Me at Midnight (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: The Fibre Co. Lore

Like the perfectly aligned hands of a clock at midnight, the exquisite center spine stitches of Meet Me at Midnight are designed to beautifully meet in the middle. (Be sure to check out those edge stitches too, which are are equally divine!) These features, combined with fun and surprisingly simple to knit bands of mosaic and texture will make this knitting project one you’ll not want to put down. 

Meet Me at Midnight is an elongated triangular shawl, knit flat, from the top down. Its gorgeous mosaic pattern is surprisingly simple to knit, using just one color per row to create stunning results.

I'm writing quickly because it is a crazy TV evening. The first night of Survivor and The Masked Singer along with the finale of Big Brother.

Survivor is almost over and Beth has agreed to pause for a few minutes so that I can add one more picture. Here is the start of Linientreu. I cast on with double pointed needles and did one row when I decided to switch to a 40cm circular. I just switched back to the double points. From now on I will start each triangle on the circular.

It's Tribal Council time and Beth is asking/begging/pleading/yelling at me to hurry.

A new project

Mr. Canada Post brought in a big box from Freia Fibres this morning that included Minikins. These are so cute. We have different colour combinations of 9 packs that include the pattern for the Brimfield Scarf.

Tina who owns Freia Fibres is travelling right now and took a 9 pack with her to make a stunning shawl.

I borrowed these pictures from Tina's blog. The pattern is called Linientreu and you can purchase it on Ravelry.

Tina is using a 9 pack with a Yarn Bomb. We don't have the Ebony that she is using but we have great colours. You can also use any fingering weight for the outline.

From the designer Ute Nawratil

I designed ‘Linientreu’ with the intention to find an alternative way to use yarns with short gradients (I can never resist to buy those!) without getting too many horizontal stripes. 

’Linientreu’ (’In Line’) is a semicircular shawl, alternating equilateral triangles and simple garter stitch rows. The triangle modules are joined by knitting (no sewing necessary!) The right triangles at the border edge result from short rows. 

You can use any yarn with short gradients.

Of course I bought the pattern. For the contrast colour (Tina is using the Ebony) you only need 205m. That gives you lots of options. I think I might be casting on tonight. Just the first triangle. Just to try out the new yarn.

You know when you pack for a trip and you always pack too much? That is my Camp packing. We might need __________. I'm sure we will need ________. Beth and I are trying to get everything in the van so that we only take one vehicle. I'm fairly sure we've surpassed the van's capacity. Lynn is going to Camp and has offered the trunk of her car but I think we've surpassed that as well. We have four boxes of garments. Four boxes of door prizes. Our suppliers are very generous. Two boxes for the goodie bags. Beth and I will assemble them at Camp on Wednesday evening. This saves on space but not enough. I'm going to ship up two large boxes of kits for the mini yarn shop. I think that will give us enough room. I'm taking a few things out as well. We might not need ________.

She's Home

Miss Lucy is home and it was so good to see her. We know that dad takes very good care of her but it's still nice to see her in person and know she's doing well.

It's just over a week until we leave for Knitting Camp. The store will be open and Cathy will be looking after everything in Ancaster.

Quite a few knitters come on their own so we want to make sure they feel welcome and part of the group. On Thursday evening we divide everyone into teams and play games. Beth and I have been working on these and we've come up with some new ones. 

I've been sharing pictures of our current knitting projects for the Woodstock Fleece Festival. Sarah, Wannietta and I are using fingering weight. If you want to try colour work on slightly larger needles, take a look at Humulus.

Sarah used Woolstok and Dream State for hers.

Humulus is worked seamlessly from the top down. First some Short Rows are worked back and forth to create a higher back neck and then the round- yoke is worked top down to sleeve separation. Some last short-rows are worked to finish the yoke shaping right before sleeve stitches are placed on hold, then the body is worked in rounds down to the hem. Sleeves are worked top down to the cuffs last.

Now it's back to working on Game Night.

Field Guides

Stephen West has a new book out. We don't have copies yet but we should have them by the middle of October.

photos ©Stephen West

This is Westfjords Wanderer. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry if you can't wait for the book.

Embrace your love for color with this luscious marled shawl. Hold two strands of yarn of yarn together throughout the entire project to blend the colors. Begin by knitting a long band of short row wedges that form a wide wavy shape. Pick up stitches and gradually decrease toward the top center of the shawl. The garter and stockinette stitches are very easy to knit so you can focus on painting with colors. This large canvas is ideal for mixing leftover bits of yarn with single skeins. I knit this marled shawl while visiting a friend up in the Westfjords of Iceland. Colorful garter stitch rows make the perfect travel knitting projects to keep you company while wandering and exploring new areas.

I am very tempted to start but not until my sweater is finished.

I follow the Weather Network on Twitter and they tweeted yesterday that the International Space Station was going over Southern Ontario tonight. Beth remembered in the nick of time and we saw it go over. From the time we could see it from the back deck until we couldn't see it out the front door took around 7 minutes. It was trucking!

We have all Mason-Dixon Knitting Field Guides in stock. Most have been added to the website as well.

Little books that explore the big world of knitting. It’s the series that is captivating knitters all over. Start your collection now.

Now back to my sweater and football, baseball and Big Brother. 

More Colour Work

Leanne was in today with her new sweater. It is gorgeous. The pictures were quick because it was way too hot to be wearing a sweater. Can you believe it's almost the end of September?

Pattern: Papa (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed

Leanne followed the pattern for needle size and number of stitches. The only adjustment was to add rows to the length. The inside of Leanne's sweater is beautiful too. Much neater than my sweaters.

Wannietta's Carlina looks amazing. I love the orange.

Sarah is camping this weekend and has her Carlina with her. A totally different look and equally beautiful. I can't wait to see the sweaters side by side.

I'm falling behind on my sweater. At least I'm not in last. That's Lynn but she's off next week so she should catch up to me.

Dad and Lucy are home from Myrtle Beach. We really missed our baby. Ok, we missed dad too😘. We had pizza Saturday and they just left. I'm going to knit a few rows and then bed. Lynn and I had a busy day in the store.