Mosaic Knitting

There was a bit of knitting tonight. Thank you The Amazing Race and Big Brother. I'm totally addicted to this cowl. You are only working with one colour per row. And the rows go quickly. How come I haven't done a project with Mosaic Knitting before?

Interweave Knits has a great article explaining Mosaic Knitting.

Don't forget that the sale is running through next Friday. Don't miss out on a chance to purchase Rialto Luxury Sock from Debbie Bliss at a discount. All these patterns take two balls - one each of two different colours.

Pattern: Meadowside (Purchased on Ravelry)

Pattern: Around the Corner (purchased on Ravelry)

Pattern: Cloudline (purchased on Ravelry)

Pattern: Brackenreid (purchased on Ravelry)

Pattern: ZickZack (free on Ravelry)

I was supposed to be in bed early. That didn't happen. Thankfully the 'big guys' don't tee off until around 4am. I told my dad we'd talk to him at 5am. A few hours of golf (and maybe some more knitting) before heading to work.

Around the Corner

Brian Smith has a new shawl pattern out. Brian's patterns are well written and easy to knit.

This asymmetric shawl starts at a corner and increases and decreases create the width and the angle of the stocking stitch pattern. Then working on just one side the pattern moves, “Around the corner”.

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry...

If you can knit and purl then you'll be able to make this shawl.

Stitches used  

Stocking stitch, with a garter ridge every ten rows  

Kfb:Knit into front and back of next stitch  

SSK:Slip two stitches separately knitwise, then put left hand needle through front of loops and knit together  

P2tog:Purl next two stitches together  

K2tog:Knit next two stitches together

The yarn is Debbie Bliss Rialto Luxury Sock. You need two balls - one each of two different colours.

The sample is knit with Wilderness and Beniccasim

There are new colours of Rialto Luxury Sock. 

A beautiful wool blend which comes in rainbow shades with a touch of tweed.

I took them outside (it's beautiful out today) to get pictures of the whole ball. 

15 Abundance

16 Newport

17 Highlight

18 Splendour and 19 Petaport

20 Woodstock

Find Your Fade had a quick bath this morning and it will be blocked tonight. Pineapple Soak was the scent of choice today. The laundry room smells great.

Power Outage

There is a great new pattern that uses Debbie Bliss Rialto Luxury Sock. You can purchase the pattern for Brackenreid on Ravelry.

Brackenreid is a slightly asymmetrical shawl/scarf, worked sideways on the bias, using garter stitch and an eyelet pattern.

Yarn used
Debbie Bliss Rialto luxury sock
1 ball shade New Orleans
1 ball shade Mutek

Debbie Bliss Rialto Luxury Sock is an exquisitely marled single-ply yarn with a gorgeous gradient quality. This smooth, hard-wearing superwash wool and polyamide blend would make fabulous socks, but it works equally well for shawls, cowls, or hats!

Take a look on Ravelry at all the great patterns designed by Brian Smith.

Started knitting when I was 25, but it didn’t last long. Couple of sweaters I think. I remember knitting a sweater for my mother which I thought was fabulous at the time. Looking back it was hideous and my mother was very tactful and gracious when accepting it.

Started again early 2011. Found Ravelry and it renewed my enthusiasm. Spent a few months buying other designers patterns, knitting them and learning as much as I could. There were still one or two disasters, but I can now say that my mother has a few gifts that I know she really likes.

Decided to try my hand at designing. Started with a scarf, then a shawl and truly loved the process of seeing something develop on my needles.

We had some fun in the store today. The winds in and around Ancaster were crazy. At one point today the wind at the Hamilton Airport was 114 km/hour. Just before 2pm the power went out in the store. I stayed until 3:30 and then gave up. I could knit but I couldn't help customers - they couldn't see the yarn. I couldn't ship mail orders. I couldn't blog. Tim's and Starbucks didn't have power so I couldn't get a tea. That's when I locked the door. I've been watching on Twitter and it should be back on around 8pm.

The next season of Survivor starts tonight. My knitting is ready.

New Colours

We thought we were unpacked and then Mr. Canpar brought more boxes today. We are stocked on shopping bags for the store and there was also a big box of Debbie Bliss yarn.

We have new colours of Rialto Luxury Sock from Debbie Bliss. Cathy (above) and Wannietta (to the left) made ZickZack (free pattern on Ravelry) with very different colour combinations. You need 2 balls - 1 of each colour.

A beautiful wool blend which comes in rainbow shades with a touch of tweed.

Yarn Weight: Sock Weight
Blend: 75% Wool 25% Polyamide
Meterage: 400m
Needles: 2.25mm (US) – 3mm (US)
Tension: 30–36 stitches and 40–48 rows to 10cm/4in) square

Meadowside (pattern purchased on Ravelry) is knit with 2 balls as well. One ball each of two different colours.

There was another big box filled with Zara from Filatura di Crosa. Who doesn't love to knit with 100% merino wool from Italy?

The Library Vest (pattern purchased on Ravelry) looks amazing in Zara. Our sample is the finished 43" size and it took 13 balls.

Our friends at Estelle Designs sent a great book and ball winder to go in the gift basket for the Food Drive. There is still another week to make a donation.

The next clue to the Ambah MKAL is out. It is taking a very different direction tonight. From Ambah

Your Hale-Bopp Shawl is going to take on a new direction now.

Don’t be alarmed if you use the rest of MC and CC1 in this clue, it is as it should be….

I’m looking forward to watching these grow.

There’s 2 weeks for Clue 3. Not quite as much knitting as clue two, but I wanted to make sure there was time for folks to catch up in time for Clue 4.

It's time to get knitting.

Lucy and her friends

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran Tonals have arrived.

An addition to the ever popular Cashmerino range in subtle, dusky shades

55% Wool
33% Acrylic
12% Cashmere

 90m on a 50gram ball

The yarn is available in the store and on the website.

 

The yarn is aran weight (18 stitches = 4" on 5mm needles) so there are many, many pattern options. There is a new pattern from Churchmouse that would be perfect.

Saddle Shoulder Men's Pullover

This timeless sweater combines the relaxed ease of a modified drop shoulder with a slightly shaped shoulder line and gently sloped sleeve cap—the saddle tab squares it all up. The classic crew neck has a relaxed fit so it looks handsome over a collared shirt or a tee. And she’ll love its slouchy weekend comfort, too.

Purchase the pattern on Ravelry... 

Lucy is loving Myrtle Beach. There is a full house right now. She has nine people to cuddle with.

She tried to cuddle with Uncle Bob yesterday afternoon. She kept trying but he wasn't in a Lucy mood. He thought he was being smart and said 'Lucy, do you want to go for a walk?' He thought she would go away and sit at the front door. Nope. Lucy went and got her leash and brought it back to him. Everyone laughed really hard and dad took Lucy for her walk.

Meadowside

Last night was a late evening. There was a good hockey game on and I wanted to make it to the next colour on my shawl. I didn't have a copy of the pattern with me and I thought I was making a mistake. I looked on Ravelry and I'm doing the pattern correctly. Thank goodness. Of course I checked to see if there were any new patterns. Meadowside is new and I sent a message to the designer right away. Brian replied and gave me permission to use his pictures.

This top down shawl uses two different coloured balls of Debbie Bliss Rialto Luxury Sock yarn. Starting with a garter tab cast on, striped garter stitch sections separate a simple eyelet pattern.

Pattern: Meadowside (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn used: Debbie Bliss Rialto Luxury sock yarn
1 ball 07 Weather
1 ball 03 New Orleans

The colour possibilities are endless. We're going to have fun with this one.

The weather is beautiful so my friend and I went outside for pictures of my knitting. I wish that you could touch the screen and feel the yarn. It is super soft and has a lot of drape.

My parents are home from Myrtle Beach so we have flags again. Unfortunately the wind is blowing and one is caught. I thought about sitting and waiting for it to come loose but there was work to do.

I'm very afraid to write this but I think we are ready for the Frolic. There are two shipments arriving next week and we'll have to make up a few kits but other than that we're good to go.

Denim

Today's Web-Letter from Classic Elite has an interesting pattern.

Whether for a fashion statement or just to keep your hair out of your eyes, one ball is all it takes to make this summery kerchief in one of Santorini's bright and cheerful color combinations.

Download the pattern...

We have a new book and yarn from Debbie Bliss.

I love denim and this yarn won't disappoint. It is different than the Rowan Denim. This will not shrink and it won't fade.

 

Cotton Denim DK

100% cotton

200m / 218 yards on a 100gram ball

22 stitches = 4" on 4mm needles 

$15.95 a ball

We get asked a lot about cotton stretching. Here are a few tips

-go down a needle size. This will tighten up your knitting to stop the stretching

-machine wash and dry your garment. You wash your store bought cottons - your hand knits should be washed too. I put them in a lingerie bag so that they don't get caught on something in the washing machine. They go in the dryer in the bag as well. I put the dryer on for 20-30 minutes. Then I let it go cold and put it on again. Keep repeating until dry. This has worked very well for all my cotton sweaters. They don't shrink but go back to their original size. 

-if you are worried about the garment shrinking in the wash, knit up a good sized swatch and measure it. Throw it in the washer and dryer and measure again.

Now it's back to packing. We're starting to fill boxes for the Frolic. This way we have a handle on the kits we need to make. It's only 11 more sleeps. Yikes.