Happy Halloween

Dad and Beth set up outside and I was in the house with the dogs which gave me lots of time to knit. I’m almost finished my first colours.

My next balls are wound and ready.

Dad and Beth were very busy. They gave out 200 little bags of candy and then they gave away extra candy that we didn’t bag up. There are still kids walking around our neighbourhood an hour after dad and Beth packed it in.

I have a few more rows in me before bed. I really want to get to my next colours.

This afternoon.

Breakfast at dad’s.

New Patterns

Kate Atherley has a new pattern called the Susana Capelet.

The capelet is worked in the round from the top down, using circular yoke shaping.

The pattern is available on Ravelry. 

Actually Kate has two new patterns.

This is the Gracias Capelet - pattern purchased on Ravelry.

Brian Smith has a new shawl pattern knit in fingering weight yarn. There are 3 colours in the shawl. One colour uses 2 skeins and you need one skein of each of the other two colours.

This kite shaped shawl uses two stitch patterns in a striking yarn. Stocking stitch with a garter row and grid stitch. Large enough to wrap yourself in on a chilly day!

You can purchase the pattern for Gridlock on Ravelry. 

Beth was busy carving this afternoon. This is the little pumpkin. There is a much bigger pumpkin that she is going to carve tonight with dad.

Pumpkin carving is done. Dad and Beth had a good time.

Beth couldn’t find her pumpkin carving tools so they used kitchen knives. They are already planning for next year. Beth is going to get better tools so they can do more intricate patterns.

Thank goodness for a covered deck with really good lighting and heaters.

Now it’s knitting time. Lynn and I had a great day in the store but boy am I tired. A few rows and then bed.

Sorry Stephen

We received our first donations of hats, mitts, shawls, cowls and baby blankets. A gentleman brought in a big garbage bag full of items that his wife had knit before she passed away. We will be delivering these to Mission Services soon. The gentleman was telling Lynn his story and she got so caught up that she forgot to ask his name. She was so upset that she didn’t get it. Thank you to him for thinking about bringing them to us and thank you to his wife for all her hours of work.

Lynn has a new project. She is using Cascade 220 Heathers to make The Douglas Cardi. This is her project to wear at Camp next year. She swatched early this week and cast on last night. The dark grey will be her bands. 

Photo © Andrea Mowry

Photo © Joji Locatelli 

We received a happy email from Madelinetosh this afternoon - Tosh Merino Light for The Frank Shawl is on it’s way. We should see the yarn early next week. The kits are online and you can preorder.

I have been knitting away on my Inclinations Shawl. The colours are starting to change which is when the fun starts. It’s very hard to put down. This is what Andrea said about the shawl

This shawl is all about texture, squish and the movement of color. Watching the colors move and change was mesmerizing, and I finished the shawl long before I was ready to, because I just could not set it down!

I need to apologize to Stephen West. I’ll get back to you next week.

Tuesday Shirts

This shawl is all about texture, squish and the movement of color. Watching the colors move and change was mesmerizing, and I finished the shawl long before I was ready to, because I just could not set it down! You can absolutely play with different color options, and I share some ideas in the pattern, but don’t be afraid to make it your own! Knit it in 1 color or 6! Use up some stash, colorblock or stripe! It is knit flat, sideways, with increasing along one edge to create an asymmetrical triangle.

You can purchase the pattern on Andrea’s website. 

Photos © Andrea Mowry

I laid out a few sets of Malabrigo Rios for Andrea’s shawl.

These will be going online tomorrow afternoon but if you can’t wait email me and I will send you an invoice for them. I was supposed to leave the store hours ago but…. It’s time to put the computer away for a bit and have some fun. Yup, I’m casting on.

I was able to start after dinner. This is the start of the Purples kit. The pattern is easy to remember which makes for mindless knitting. Perfect for watching the World Series.

Photos © Svetlana Gordon

Colors of the Wind is a pattern by Svetlana Gordon (purchased on Ravelry) that is knit in Zauberball Cotton. We finally have the colours in stock.

Beth owns a lot of plaid shirts and dad always comments how good they look. Beth ordered them matching plaid and declared them their Tuesday shirts. Dad didn’t make it into the office today. I am sure everyone will laugh when they see them next week.

We started on the Halloween bags tonight.

We made 60 and have 140 to go. We are going to set up a table at the end of the driveway so kids aren’t knocking on the door and getting the dogs upset.

Now a few rows before bed.

Inclinations

Andrea’s new shawl pattern is coming out tomorrow. It is called The Inclinations Shawl.

Photo © Andrea Mowry

This picture is from Andrea’s Instagram page.

You can see a sneak peek on her latest YouTube video. The shawl is at around 33 minutes.

These are the colours that Andrea used. Kits are available on the website.

I put these colourways together from a small picture I saw a few weeks ago. Once I purchase the pattern tomorrow there could be more options.

We have a brand new colour of Zauberball Crazy. This is 2475 Background Noise. There were more colours in the box and we will update our stock tomorrow.

We also received a box of Addi needles. I’ll get those online tomorrow as well.

I was knitting on my Shawlography last night when Beth asked which section I was on. I said Clue #2 and she remarked that I am way behind. She thought that I should take an afternoon and catch up. That was the plan today until I fell into the website rabbit hole. I have a new app which lets us do some neat things from our end that will save Lynn and I time. It will save us time soon - right now it’s going to take a bit of work but I’m excited about the future.

I’m going to crawl out of my rabbit hole and knit for a bit.

What to wear

Diana came in today with a new sample. Lynn took off her sweater (and braved the cold) to show the shawl.

This is Octopus Garden.

The shawl is knit with 2 colours of Noro Ito. We used 21 and 13. 

One of NORO's most colorful creations, Ito provides an ever-changing color spectrum as you knit. We dare you to count the number of colors you can find in each ball of Ito!

You and your friends could knit the shawl using the same colours and they will look totally different because the starting colour of every ball is varied.

Here is a link to Ravelry so that you can see the shawl knit in different colours. The pattern is a free download from Biscotte - here is the link to their website. Add the pattern to your cart and hit checkout. It will be emailed to you right away.

My last Shift has been blocked. Now to sew the seam.

There is going to be another Shift in the near future because a brand new colour of Dyed in the Wool is coming this week. Absolute Zero. 

The hardest part about being open again is figuring out what to wear to work. For the past 18 months Lynn and I could come to work in whatever we wanted. The dress code was very casual. There was no sense wearing good clothes (which includes hand knit sweaters) when we weren’t seeing customers. Now I have to look at the weather and figure out which handknit to put on. It makes me realize that I want to finish some projects that are on the needles at home. A few are very close to being finished. We have one other problem - we have knit the same sweaters and a couple times we came to work matching.

Beth emailed me this morning with the caption - we need a bigger couch.

Beth worked from home yesterday afternoon and had all three dogs. Lucy wasn’t happy because her dad left her. When I got home this is how I found them. Watching for dad.