The Reverb Shawl

My knitting is growing. Not fast but I'm plugging away. The darn rows are getting longer :)

While I was outside taking pictures, I took out Exploration Station. I'm not sure if I ever showed a finished picture after the ends were sewn in and it was blocked.

The dates have been set for Knitting Camp 2016.

We will be going to Bayview-Wildwood on Thursday, September 22-Sunday September, 25.

Now I need to work on our instructors.

After work, Beth and I went to Costco to pick up some things for Monday nights dinner. They had dog beds so now we have two. They posed nicely for a picture and now Roko is back on the couch and Melo is lying on the tile floor. Silly dogs.

It's knitting time. Survivor is taping. The baseball game is on. The Leafs are playing. An all round busy evening.

Off the Needles

We have all our samples knit for the Frolic so it's time to start on fall garments and Camp. Diana dropped by this morning with this awesome shawl. I love the colours. And it's one of my favourite yarns.

Pattern: Nahant (free on Knitty.com)

Knit on the bias, it resists curling. Use any weight yarn (just choose the appropriate needle), and make it as wide or as narrow as you like. Length is flexible too.

Yarn: Classic Elite Liberty Wool in the colour 78104

Liberty Wool is a super-soft, washable wool available in solid and printed colors. This yarn's balanced twist will make all stitch combinations pop. 

With all the great qualities of wool and the ease of machine washability, Liberty Wool knits at a gauge that suits many designs and is ideal for children's pieces as well as those for adults.

Number of Balls: the pattern calls for 6 balls but we used 8 for a longer shawl

Look what came off the needles today.

It's in need of a good blocking and someone to sit and sew in a lot of ends. I'm not worried. I have close to a month to completely finish it and my New Year's Resolution for April is done.

Beth started a new project today. I saw the pattern on Ravelry and it's free for another week. She offered to knit it up for the store to show a new colour of Santorini that we received yesterday.

Pattern: Let it go! (get it on Ravelry)
Yarn: 2 balls of Classic Elite Santorini
Needles: 5mm

It's time to sign off and get to my knitting. My wish is to have Ley Lines (the second) finished in time for the Frolic.

A lot of stitches

I forgot how long it takes to do an I-Cord bind off. Especially when there are close to 500 stitches on the needle. If you aren't familiar with the I-Cord bind off, here is a great explanation from Knitty.

I spread the stitches over two circular needles to show how great the shawl is. I highly recommend Exploration Station. The pattern is extremely well written and fun to do. Plus you might learn a new technique.

Now I need to get moving. It's going to take a few days to get these all cast off.

Finishing Projects

The last few days have been spent finishing projects that have been sitting around. Remember my New Year's Resolution? Every month I must finish one. Today I finished two. Pictures tomorrow because they are in need of a mannequin and a bit of blocking.

Here is the next one that is going to be finished.

Pattern: Exploration Station (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: 4 skeins of tosh merino light

This is the Stephen West KAL from October. I am so close to finished. Like four or five rows close. Why has it been sitting in my closet?

This top down semi-circle shawl begins with my favorite Westknits shortcut rows and yarn overs followed by two-color brioche ribbing, slipped stitches, stripes, and finally and beautiful chevron border. Choose 4 colors of yarn and enjoy the playful knitting journey!

Master Chef Canada will be on soon. A bit more knitting then early to bed. For some reason I'm very tired today. It's going to be a busy week so I should start off on a good foot.

Exploration Station

I received two emails over the weekend that I want to share with you.

Carolyn's Exploration Station. I can't believe she finished before me. She started a week late. She ripped it out after the first clue to rearrange her colours. She has 4 children at home, the youngest is a new born. Great job!! Her comment in her email - very true.

It was addictive:)

Jennifer's looks great too. The colours are very happy on this snowy afternoon.

Ten million ends sewn in, blocked, finished!  Somehow I flashed back to the eighties with my color choice. (silver fox, rain water, grasshopper, peony/posy)

Here is mine. Almost there. I'm starting to worry about how all the ends are going to get sewn in. I might have to leave it on the table one day when Cathy is working :)

Beth made a quick stop this morning on the way to the dentist.

Here is my latest Color Play Mohair Wrap. I haven't worked on it because Exploration Station got on the way but I have a reason for showing this picture again.

The new colours of Kidsilk Haze Stripe arrived yesterday. YUMMY!

The new colours were chosen by Kim Hargreaves and are very different than the original Kaffe Fassett colours. I love both colour ranges. My mind is playing with more colour combinations for wrap kits.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope all our friends in the US are having a great Thanksgiving Day. There is no turkey in my near future but I will be enjoying football today :) And knitting. Clue #3 is almost done. Just two more rows and then onto #4.

An order just came in from Lantern Moon. Great Christmas gift ideas. Cat lovers - there is a new tape measure.

 Crocheted stitch markers.

So cute. What a great stocking stuffer.

We also received yarn from Classic Elite - more colours of Fresco. I love Classic Elite Yarns but their colour palettes are huge. There is no way that we can order in 10 skeins of every colour. I would love to but there is a small space issue in the store. They came up with mixed packs of Fresco and we received 2 skeins each in many colours.

Fresco is a smooth and even 3-ply sport weight yarn. The plies are twisted together tightly enough to make a firm, springy yarn, but not so tightly that the yarn loses its lofty, soft hand. The fiber blend—wool (for warmth and strength), alpaca (for loft and sheen), and a bit of angora (to provide a soft halo)—makes a yarn that’s warm, soft, and slightly fuzzy.

Fresco is 60% wool, 30% baby alpaca and 10% angora.

There are many Classic Elite Web-Letters with patterns for Fresco. I love these mittens. You need 2 skeins - 1 of each colour.

Download the pattern...

This cowl is knit in 2 skeins of Fresco. 

You can download the pattern here...

2 skeins will also make this great slouch hat.

Download the pattern...

When I blogged last week about receiving an order from Namaste I forgot to add in that we now have the Harlow bag in Slate Gray.

We're home and the football game is on. I must say that I am enjoying the score of the game. I managed to finish Clue #3 just before leaving the store. One more game to go tonight so I should get a few rows done on Clue #4

Home Again

We had a great time on our mini vacation. We left later than planned on Saturday because we were worried about freezing rain. It never came and the drive was uneventful. We dropped our bags at the hotel and headed to the mall - Somerset Collection.

The first stop was Restoration Hardware. We were hoping to find lights for our house. They didn't have what we wanted but we had fun shopping the store. I made Beth try this cool hat on. The plan was to buy her one but she didn't want to carry it around. We never made it back. Next year.

We spend some time in Pottery Barn. I collect pitchers like this for Myrtle Beach but it might stay here in the new house. The picture is deceiving - it is 15" high. And heavy - I had to carry it to the car. We also bought large baskets. I saw them in Myrtle in the summer but we had no way to get them home. They took up a bit of room in the bed of the truck.

Sunday was Outlet Mall Day. Great Lakes Crossing is huge!! 185 stores. It took some time to see it all.

American Thanksgiving is Thursday. All the stores are gearing up. Look at the hours for the mall. Open on Thursday at 6pm until 10pm on Friday. Yes, open for 28 straight hours.

And a bit of knitting content. This was a display that we saw in Macy's today. Balls and cones of yarn.

Here is Exploration Station so far. There wasn't a lot of time for knitting while we were away.

Hopefully it will be finished this week. It's been a fun, interesting knit without being so hard that you get frustrated.

My Knitting

My friend and I just braved the snow (okay it's barely coming down) to get some pictures.

My Clue #2 is growing. I have 6 more rows of Brioche and then onto the Sassy Slips.

My Color Play Mohair Wrap is growing too. It is my 'I don't want to think but I want to knit' project. There are just a couple more rows of the current colour (1 strand of pink with 1 strand of mauve/denim) and then it will be double strand of the pink shades until I'm out of yarn.

These colours were designed by Kim Hargreaves and are definitely different than the originals done by Kaffe Fassett. I love them both.

Beth is picking up my computer so I don't have to carry it with me tonight so I need to sign off now. Stay warm and knit lots tonight.

New Techniques

Beth started a new project last night.

Pattern: Technicolor Mosaic Cowl (you can purchase the pattern on Ravelry)
Yarn: Classic Elite Liberty wool - black and a new colour that will be coming in the spring of 2015

Shhh! It’s not fairisle! The amazing “Techni-Cowl” is deceptively simple and fun to work in the mosaic knitting technique. A solid color yarn and Noro work together to fantastic technicolor effect. Try two similar shades for more a monochromatic look or two color changers for a really psychedelic knitting experience!

Knitted in the round, the Technicolor Mosaic Cowl has a fluted base that is shaped by changing to a larger needle size for the last couple of pattern repeats. Since Noro does all the color changing, this project has no finishing or multiple ends to sew in. Specific instruction is given on how to follow a simple chart, so this is a great first-time mosaic knitting project! 

I've read about Mosaic knitting but haven't actually tried it. Beth is enjoying it. Her comments about why she likes it better than fair isle knitting
-she doesn't have to worry about tension. When she is carrying colours she is continually asking me if she is pulling the colours too tight
-it is faster than fair isle knitting because you are only using one colour in a row. No dropping the yarn to pick up the other colour.

I'm six rows into Clue #2 on Exploration Station. Once you get going on the Brioche stitch it is very rhythmic. I found that watching the video was good to see where the pattern was going but following the words was better when I started working the pattern. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to knit while watching football today but it hasn't been a problem. The problem is that Beth is knitting too so I'm in charge of the converter. That is cutting into my knitting time.

It's almost time for Homeland. I'm not sure that I should take this upstairs with me. That might be asking too much.

Something else is growing. Beth and dad went out on Saturday. According to my dad the work is good. The lumber is good. The walls are straight.

This is the living room. There will be a window at the end on the left, then the fireplace is the big spot in the middle and there will be a window to the right of the fireplace.

 This is where the stair case will be.

This is the dining area. This will be what we see out of the back of the house. Open land and trees. Never a house. In the next few weeks they will be able to give us the actual date that they think it will be finished.

Exciting and scary at the same time :)

Warm and Cozy

My Mystery KAL is growing. I will add a picture at the end of the post. It's early afternoon so I'm hoping to get the first clue finished before posting. There is a small problem. Beth has decided to join in the KAL and is knitting a hat. I've ripped back rows for her twice now and I have to rip out another row today. She isn't meant to knit at night when she is tired. And it's really cutting into my knitting time.

A free pattern from Rowan for slippers. These are knit and then washed to felt them. They look mighty warm and cozy!

Knit these accessory cosy felted slippers, available as a free pattern to download. Designed by Sarah Hatton using one of our most popular chunky yarns Rowan Big Wool (wool), this is the basic slipper pattern and can be customised to your hearts content. Why not try adding creative embroidery or crochet trims or even pom poms, buttons or bells, the opportunities are endless!!

They can make great Christmas decorations too. It's not too soon to start thinking about decorating :)

Download the pattern...

I thought that I would get the first clue finished this afternoon. I forgot to take into account that the rows are getting longer. A lot longer. And there were some exciting football games. I would stop to watch and then remember that I was supposed to be knitting.

Five wedges are finished. I'll do a few more rows while watching Homeland in a few minutes. It's going to be hard waiting until Friday to get the next clue. I want to know where this is going :) Patience is not in my vocabulary.

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!!