Almost finished

There aren’t many rows left on my Pressed Flowers. I’ll be sad when it’s finished but there could be another one soon. 

Today’s post is all over the place. I woke up this morning with a migraine and took one of my very powerful migraine pills. The headache is gone but I walk through a haze the rest of the day. I could move things around but....

This is one of my Passeggiata Wraps (pattern purchased on Ravelry) that is knit with a Freia Minikin Palette Pack. This kit is Neutral Zone.

The shawl is absolutely stunning.

The shawl is knit with 9 Minikins. If you don’t want to knit a kit you can put together your own colourway - more on that further down my post.

And here it is knit with the Jewels kit.

I was in the store for about 15 minutes today - just long enough to look at the Freia. Here are some Minikins. 

Chaparral (a brand new colour)

Oyster

Coral Reef

I put together 9 Minikins for a Passeggiata Wrap. 

Across the top - Chaparral, Nautilus, fossil

Second row - Pt. Reyes, Oyster, Sulfur Springs

Bottom row - Whisper, Vintage, Sandbar

Tomorrow I will try and put together something bright. It’s hard to compete with the Jewels kit but I’m going to try.

Photo © Rosemary (Romi) Hill

The yarn for Romi’s Leaves in a Stream was in the box.

Shawl Balls - Cloud and Coral Reef 

This is another possibility - Squid Ink and Lipstick.

Our baby girl is good except that she tore her other ACL last week. She has been limping but she’s still eating so we know she’s okay. Getting an appointment to see the surgeon has been hard. Because of her size she can only go to a few clinics. The first appointment we could get was in June. Yesterday morning she wouldn’t walk at all. Our vet gave her pain meds and she was better last night - walking a bit. After a lot of phone calls we got her into Mississauga this morning. They were ready to do surgery but had to cancel because of 3 emergency surgeries. Now we’re on the waiting list. We must be patient.

The shawl that started it all!

Sometimes you need a really easy, no thinking project. When I was looking on Ravelry today, Stephen West’s Boneyard Shawl was on the front page of patterns. 

Photos © Stephen West

The pattern is free on Ravelry.

This simple triangular shawl begins at the top center and increases toward the border. You can knit this shawl with any yarn weight and continue the shape to make it as large as you wish. Three skeins of West Wool Tandem is enough to knit the DK weight version or two skeins of West Wool Bicycle will make a thinner fingering weight version. Boneyard Shawl was my first Westknits design published in 2009 named after the Boneyard Arts Festival in Urbana, Illinois. It was the shawl that started it all! Once you knit the Boneyard Shawl, you can experiment with stripes and textures as you venture into the woolly world of Westknits shawl knitting.

You can knit the shawl in any thickness of yarn. Hand dyed. Solid. Two colours. You can make the shawl as big as you want. Just keep knitting if you want it bigger.

How do you know which size needles to use? Knit a swatch and block it. If you like the fabric then that’s the needle. If you want it a bit tighter then go down to a smaller needle. A bit looser and go to a larger needle.

When you are on the pattern page for the Boneyard Shawl you can click on YARN IDEAS at the top of the page and it will show you all the different yarns that people have used. 

There are almost 9,500 projects on Ravelry. You know it’s a great pattern.

I don’t know how it happened but I ended up with Dream State at home - there will be another Nightshift in my future. Not the near future but sometime this summer.

From the top

Neveruary

Wololo

Castaway

Close Call

The Family Jewels

Good Omen

While I was eating dinner I did a bit of shopping. Atenti has new bags. These won’t be arriving for a bit - at least a month but I had to share.

We have two new Hope Baskets coming.

A roomy stand-alone project bag. Top rolls down for easy access. Wide opening and two handles. Fully lined in water repellent taffeta. Inside are three pockets. 12" tall x 8" wide x 8" deep

This is the Flora Overnighter

An immaculate embroidered floral design. Perfect for a weekend away, a knitter's project bag, an airline carry-on or a diaper bag, our roomy Overnighters have double straps, a 25" zippered opening and a full water resistant lining. Inside are a zippered pocket and a divided pocket with a cell phone slot.

The Flora Sophia

An immaculate embroidered floral design. Opening to a 10" diameter circle with a metal snap frame closure, the Sophia bag shows off a fully lined water resistant taffeta interior. Inside are a zippered pocket and an open divided pocket with a cell phone slot. Double 13” straps (5"drop). This purse has feet.

It’s time to sign off because the bags weren’t the only shopping I did. Fall Noro has been ordered. These won’t be here until July so I’ll save that for another day. Before I break my credit card I’m going to knit.

We love colour

The box from Spincycle arrived this morning. The three colours of Dream State are awesome and are available on the website.

Close Call

Wololo

Castaway.

This is Miss Me in Dyed in the Wool.

I have been busy starting dinner and writing and didn’t look outside. The snow has started. 😢

We have more pretty yarn coming later this week. A big box from Freia Fibers. 

These little kits contain the yarn and pattern for the scrumptious Sidestep Two-Color Brioche Cowl. This cozy cowl is made with two-color brioche in alternating gradient yarns and a stepped columnar pattern. Brioche adds an element of squishiness making this an exceptionally soft and cozy cowl when worked in our US Merino minikins. Note: Though this is not a difficult project, some familiarity with brioche is required for this pattern. Designed by Tina Whitmore

There will be lots of loose Minikins as well. 

I used Minikins to make Painting Waves. When the shipment arrives I will put together some combinations for the shawl. I have a few ideas in my head. It wouldn’t take much to convince me to knit this again. 

Photos © Rosemary (Romi) Hill

Shawl Balls are in the box including the colours that Romi used for Leaves in a Stream.

Now to finish dinner and then finish a newsletter.

I almost hit Publish when I remembered something. We sent out a sale newsletter last night. This goes to everyone who has signed up to receive marketing emails. You need to create an account on the website and then click ‘accepts marketing’.

There was a mix up between myself and sweetgeorgia. We received Superwash DK instead of Tough Love Sock. I have put the yarn on sale for a great price. You are purchasing the full bag of 4 skeins. I haven’t opened the bags and I didn’t take any for myself. If you purchase two bags of the same colour the lots will match. You can find the yarn here.

Nightshift kits in Uneek Worsted are on sale as well.

Now to finish the regular newsletter.

Lilac Scent

Svetlana Gordon has a new pattern called Lilac Scent. I’m always happy to see her latest design. This shawl is worked with a Zauberball 100 that isn’t on the website but I know we have some in the store. I will try and find it and add it to the website.

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

Photos © Svetlana Gordon

 

Another option for the shawl is Freia Shawl Balls. We have great colours in stock with more colours coming by the end of the month.

Brian Smith has a new pattern that is knit with 2 skeins of fingering weight yarn.

This pretty shawl is worked bottom up and outwards. After constructing a centre square which has a simple lace pattern amongst garter stitch. The right and left wings are worked from either side of the square. These have a row of intermmitent eyelets. 

Photos © Brian Smith

You can purchase the pattern for Whisper on Ravelry.

You never know how much you are attached to your cell phone until you can’t use it. Yes, we are with Rogers. There were a few times today when I needed to talk to Beth and she needed to talk to me. Nothing really significant but it was annoying that we couldn’t get each other. I feel for anyone who needed their phone for something important.