50km

My Slumber Shawl is growing. I’ve faded in the second colour. I think there are about 14 more rows and then I start to fade in the third colour. The shawl has been perfect TV knitting.

While cleaning this morning I found 2 colours of Mrs. Crosby Train Case that I forgot to add to the website.  

Meet Spindrift and Bricks & Mortar. I took pictures outside and they are online.

This is the Cottage Grove Cowl from Blue Sky Fibers. I should have pictured it last week when I talked about Blue Sky Organic Worsted Cotton.

A fun use of the linen stitch combined with both Solid and Printed Organic Cotton (Worsted) makes this piece soft, colorful and seasonless.

Before leaving the store today I put together new colour combinations for Andrea Mowry’s Illuminate.

Photo © Andrea Mowry

There are great posts on Instagram showing Illuminate sweaters in the works as well as finished sweaters. This can give you some colour inspiration.

Every night I say I’m going to bed early and then I get sucked into the Olympics. Maybe tonight? While I’m writing I have the 50km Race Walk on. I hurt thinking about 50km. Imagine walking from Ancaster to Kitchener. Or Ancaster to past Oakville. 

We’ve had dinner, played a few rounds of dominoes, cleaned the kitchen and they are still Race Walking. There are 4km to go and our Canadian, Evan Dunfee, just dropped to 6th place. He was in medal contention until now. He finished 4th at the last Olympics. I’m sitting on pins and needles. 

Fizz

Mary-Anne finished her Sherbet Fizz and it is stunning.

Thanks for mentioning this shawl on your blog recently!  I don’t really knit shawls but when I saw this pattern I knew I had the perfect yarn in my stash - SweetGeorgia Tough Love sock in raspberry - and the perfect person to give it to.  What a wonderful pattern this was, easy to follow, easy to knit, and produces this fantastic lace pattern with hardly any thought. Great Netflix knitting! Thought you might enjoy some photos.  

You can purchase the pattern on Ambah O’Brien’s website. 

Thank you for sharing Mary-Anne. You did a great job. I think you might want to change your mind about knitting shawls.

Sherbet Fizz is a summery confection of shawls that prove to be more-ish knitting, try to stop at just one.  

Choose between small and large in fingering weight or the DK weight version, and knit up a lightweight shawl that will be a delight to throw on for a touch of warmth on cooler days. Simple lace alternating with garter rows keeps it interesting and not too challenging — perfect for a first time lace knitter.

Sherbet Fizz is easily adjustable to make the most of your yardage. 

The pattern includes both charted and written instructions for the lace.

I knit a few rows today but … Dad and Lucy came for breakfast and to help with a few chores. I knit a bit and then napped this afternoon. Then steak dinner. After dinner I had to clean the kitchen and tidy because Terry is coming tomorrow to clean. Yup. We are those people who clean before the house is cleaned.

We will have three new colours of Cocoknits Tape Measures soon - my guess is 3 weeks.

Cocoknits tape measures are now available in Earth Tones: Linen, Clay, and Storm. The metal tape inside measures both inches and cm/mm (78 in / 2 m long), and has a metal tab on the end to keep it from retracting into the body of the tape measure.

Because Cocoknits is committed to avoiding plastic wherever possible, we manufactured it from PLA, a 100% biodegradable plant fiber. The absence of a locking mechanism keeps them 100% plastic-free and reduces the likelihood of breakage.

Each tape measure is packaged in a reusable linen drawstring bag to minimize packaging waste. 

Now some knitting. The Track & Field is on. 

Slumber

Here is my new project. This is the start of Stephen West’s Slumber Shawl.  

I’m using Roan and the colours will fade from left to right. I have two more repeats and then I join in the next colour. The pattern is easy to follow - all you need to know is knit, purl and yarn over. It is knit on 5mm needles so the rows are going quickly.

Photos © Stephen West

Choose four colors of worsted or aran weight yarn and fade them together for this simple top-down shawl. Textured stripes flow into a wavy border that is easy and quick to knit.

You can purchase the pattern on Stephen’s website. 

The rain came down this afternoon.

We had a river running through our backyard. Sunday dinner is steak on the barbecue. There was no barbecuing tonight. Once the construction is finished we won’t have to worry about the weather.

Now back to my knitting and the Olympics. I’m hoping that watching the athletes going fast will make me knit faster.