Lace

Finish up your current project because you are going to want to start something new very soon. Lace Knits, a brand new book by Ann Kingstone, will be arriving at the beginning of June. The patterns are beautiful.

Though at first sight it appears incredibly complicated, you can soon learn to knit stunning lace with the help of this beautiful book. Ann's step-by-step illustrated tutorials and friendly text make mastering lace knitting skills simple, satisfying and fun. For speedy results the pattern collection includes some basic items that make ideal first lace projects.

Wessenden

Knit this ladies accessory shawl from Lace Knits. Designed by Ann Kingstone using our ever popular yarn Kidsilk Haze (mohair and silk), this triangular shawl is knitted from the top to the bottom in one piece, after row 5 each row then involves 4 sections; a half triangle, 2 full triangles and a half triangle.

Netheroyd

Knit this accessory shawl from Lace Knits. Designed by Ann Kingstone using the luxury yarn Rowan Finest (extra fine merino wool, cashmere and royal alpaca), this unfitted shawl has a garter stitch edge and feather and fan border.

Lascelles

Knit this ladies cardigan from Lace Knits. Designed by Ann Kingstone using our ever popular yarn Kidsilk Haze (mohair and silk), the upper body of this cardigan is plain with a empire waist and the skirt section has a pretty lace pattern.

Ainley

Knit this pretty ladies cardigan from Lace Knits. Designed by Ann Kingstone using our lovely softly spun yarn Kid Classic (lambswool and mohair), this round neck cardigan has a striking flower motif and contrasting garter stitch edgings. 

Follow Your Arrow dried a bit quicker than I thought it would. So fast that I didn't get the points pinned out. It will come home for the weekend and I'll re-Soak it. The big problem is that my blocking wires and pins are packed somewhere. I'll be scrounging through the basement tonight.

Soaked

Follow Your Arrow has been cast off and soaked.

Yuzu. It’s the scent you've been waiting for. It’s so lovely it’s a bit silly. Pucker up and give your laundry some love with a kiss of tart citrus + crushed eucalyptus.

The kitchen smelled so good last night.

After those chores I had to decide which project I wanted to resurrect. Small problem. It was after 9pm. Is that a good hour to be bringing out something and figuring out where I am in the pattern? I had a few Offhand Design bags to go through before I found Ley Lines #2. Can it be finished in time for TNNA too???

It's almost finished

I have about 200 stitches left to cast off. The shawl would have been finished earlier today but I had to rip back 400 stitches last night. I was watching Love it or List it and didn't pay attention. UGH! 

I'm using Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off and my edge is very loose. After blocking I might need to take it out and tighten it up.

I like to watch Ysolda's video before doing the cast off just to make sure I'm doing it right. Here is a link to the short video - 40 seconds and you are on your way. There is also a longer video if you haven't used the cast off before. It is amazing how stretchy it is. This bind off is great for the neck of a sweater. I remember the first sweater I knit. An Icelandic sweater in Lopi. I finished the ribbing on the neck and cast off. When I tried to put it on it wouldn't go over my head because I pulled the cast off so tight. Where was Jeny then? Her cast off will work great for the neck of a sweater - especially if the cast off is being folded to the inside and sewn down.

Mr. CanPar brought us new knitting bags today. 

Decodelire is a French company who design the most gorgeous, funky and practical designer bags and accessories for all ages.

A medium sized knitting bag with a clear outside pocket. Includes inside pocket and zipper closure. Measures: 35 x 12 x 28cm

The cost - $25.00

A large knitting tote with an outside clear pocket- perfect for storing your pattern in! Includes an inside pocket and has a zipper closure. Measures: 36 x 13 x 36cm.

This bag is $27.00.

It's time to head home. Can you believe how cold it is outside? I could have worn a sweater today. And not a light one. My phone says that it is 10C right now but I might be tempted to call it a liar. It feels way colder. A good night to curl up with your knitting.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all the mothers out there had a great day. Mine was a busy - I had a lot of moms to talk to. I took mom #1 cake, ice cream and flowers this afternoon. I'm not sure how much cake my mom got, my dad grabbed it from me when I walked in the door :)

When I got home I talked to the other mothers (Jane, Cathy and Bev).

Row 18 is finished. Six rows to go.

The number of stitches is growing so it's taking longer than I had in my head. It will be finished this week. In time to block and wear when I go to TNNA. I always go with lots of luggage (thank goodness this is a driving trip - I can take as much as I want). Knitwear takes up a lot of room. And I need something different for every day.

Lots of Knitting

Here is Follow Your Arrow at 10:30 this morning. I put it on a 60" needle so that I can spread it out and show the pattern. There were 7 rows to go on Clue #4.

My work area today. The door sill going into the house was dented before we took possession and the door company was coming today to fix it. I was there before 11am. The time of their call. Anytime between 11 and 4. Thank you very much. One chair. No TV. No Internet. No fridge.

At 3:30 pm I had finished Clue #4 and was 3 rows into Clue #5. Still no door company. They finally showed up at 4:05. And the new door sill was also dented. I sat there all day for nothing. The quiet was nice. The knitting was good. I made it through a few episodes of Elementary. This is not how I wanted to spend my day. I should have been working.

The fireplace is almost finished. The trim kit is on and looks great. Now they need to put in the stones and then we can have fire.

The house is starting to come together and we are hoping to move at the end of May. Thank goodness our townhouse took so long to sell. At least we can stay here while the new house is finished. I would be really upset if we were living there through all the work.

Read the pattern!!!

That title has been used before but if I would take my advice life would be much better.

I finished Clue #3 last night on Follow Your Arrow and started on #4. Ysolda wrote this in the pattern so I was going to choose the easy route and go with Clue B.

Note that 4A is significantly more challenging than 4B but does introduce some variation to the shape of the shawl. If you’re new to following complicated directions you may prefer to stick to option B. 

Beth told me not to be so lazy and do A. A is what I'm working on. Row 1 went fine. No problems with row 2. Then row 3. It said to work until 6 stitches before the marker but I didn't have 6 stitches. I counted and counted and my stitches were fine. I reread row 2 and that was fine. Then after about 15 minutes it hit me. I read row 2 wrong and my markers were in the wrong spot. Arghhh! Now I'm back on track and row 8 is finished.

I'm not sure why I was questioning the pattern. There are 3400 projects on Ravelry. I'm sure if there was a problem with it someone would have made note of it before now. :)

It's official. The Sold Sign went up yesterday. Because we are a townhouse with a condo corporation the buyers have to make sure that the reserve fund is okay and that there aren't any lawsuits against the corporation or Beth and I. The report came back clean and the next chapter can start.

Among the Wildflowers

Meet Plunge. A new colour from madelinetosh for spring. This colour is really calling my name. It's not blue. It's not green. It's not as bright as turquoise. I wouldn't call it teal. Maybe aquamarine?

Rhona came in yesterday wearing Among the Wildflowers. This kerchief is knit in one ball of Classic Elite Bella Lino and the pattern is free. It was so cute and I wasn't thinking - I should have taken of picture of Rhona wearing it. She said that she had been running errands before coming to the store and everywhere she went someone asked if she could make them one. It was so cute that I started knitting one this morning. Rhona's advice - don't bother with the fringes on the back of the neck. Instead add a few more rows before you cast off. My advice. Knit until almost finished. Then from the other end of the ball, cut the yarn for your fringe. Add the fringe that you want and then you know how much yarn you have left to finish the kerchief.

Follow Your Arrow is growing too. I'm almost finished Clue #3.

Maybe when finished I will make Follow Your Arrow 2 using pashmina in Plunge. Now the wheels are turning. And the fingers need to move faster.

SOLD, SOLD, SOLD

I'm back to my knitting. Clue #2 of Follow Your Arrow is done.

So far I am following the A stream. Clue 3 has been started since my pictures and I ended up doing A again.

We had some great news last week. Our townhouse finally sold. It's been a long haul. Getting up every morning and cleaning the house isn't something I wish on my worst enemy. Makeup and hair products away. Bed made with the 10 throw pillows (who thought that was a good idea). Wipe the granite counters and sink. Clean the hardwood. Make sure dirty laundry is in the hampers. The house shone for 6 months. Today not so much. Now we just have to get our new house in order. We've had possession for a month but there are issues. I'm not going to go into them all but we've had the fireplace redone. A wall knocked down and redone. Today we met with the builder about our tile floor. The house has been painted 3 times already and then need to paint it again. Everything will work out. Just not fast enough for me. We don't have to move right away so we are getting the new house in order before the moving truck comes.

Today was a shopping trip to Urban Barn. There was a sale on living room furniture. We bought a special chair for the loft. This is going to cause a fight!

For a snuggle or a snooze, this chair invites and delights, providing a nest-like retreat for one or two. No-sag springs and reinforcement provide extra support while three plump cushions and a toss pillow surround your private sanctuary.

The perfect chair to read or play on the iPad. In quiet. It will fit a human and a dog. Now you see where the fight begins. Which human and which dog?

Now I need to go finish my tax return. Nobody wants to keep the taxman waiting.

Yummy Colours

The Fleece Artist Soft Mitt kits arrived this morning. The dyers at Fleece Artist do an amazing job with their colour combinations.

The first clue is finished and now I'm onto 2A. It's kind of addicting. So much that tonight's post is going to be short because I really want to/need to knit.

Changed my mind

I started on Brickless with my tosh pashmina last week. I love the yarn. I love the pattern. But I don't like the yarn and the pattern together. I think it is my knitting so instead of continuing and hating it I changed patterns. I should have started with this from the beginning. I've been dreaming about knitting it for a long time.

Follow Your Arrow by Ysolda. This isn't a new pattern - it came out in January 2014. I bought the pattern when it was released and should have knit it then. It has intrigued me.

In need of some fun, selfish knitting after the holidays? Get ready for the first mystery knitalong from Ysolda, with a choose your own adventure style twist. There are five clues, and every clue will come with two options either of which builds perfectly from whichever you choose previously. The result is 32 possible combinations – a really mysterious adventure. In addition, it has been designed to work equally well in a solid colour or in stripes of two colours and instructions for both options are included.

Ysolda writes a great pattern that is very easy to follow.

For the first clue I chose A. The good thing about waiting to start is that it isn't a mystery any more. I have looked at finished projects and know the sequences that I like.