England Experiences - Number 3 - Woolfest

When I was looking around on the Internet planning our trip I was overjoyed to find out we'd be in the right area at the right time for Woolfest!  Happily it turned out to be just as wonderful as I'd hoped.

The two day festival was held at a local agricultural centre.  In case you missed the signs pointing the way you could also follow this big sheep!

Some of these guys came inside 

It was really interesting to see the different breeds up close.

There were quite a few live animal displays as well as loads of vendors selling everything wool related: fleeces, rovings, yarn, felting kits, knitting needles, spinning wheels, felt, etc. etc.  I believe there were also sheep auctions going on but I'd have hard time packing one in my suitcase (not to mention customs!) so I stayed clear of that!

The rooms were decorated with wool bunting (what else?) and I participated in a small way by bringing in a knitted triangle to add to the bunting effort.

While I didn't exactly do as this sign suggests I did bring home my share of wool goodies.

I focused on buying local (or at least British) yarn I can't get here in Canada and was very successful! These three are from different types of sheep: Blue Faced Leister, Swaledale and Herdwick and are undyed.  Very cool!  I really like the Herdwick yarn as that type of sheep is really particular to the Lake District.

 

This was my splurge purchase!

A kit to make Kate Davies Rams & Yowes blanket.  The yarn is all undyed Shetland - isn't that amazing!  There should be enough yarn for a hat as well as the blanket.  I think this will be next winter's project.

First Sweater - Done!

This sweater I started in January is done!  I'm pretty impressed with having it done in three months (I figured I'd give myself a year when I started); the winter is a good time to sit and knit so I had a fair bit done after just one month and before two months were done I had just the sleeves to go!  I almost lost steam doing the sleeves but pressed on (Googled the magic loop method helped) and got it done.

I love the colours. I love the pocket.  I love saying "I knit that".

I really love it from the back!

Just the sleeves to go!

I finished the knitting the body of my sweater!! Once it was off the needles I was so excited to try it on!  (I would have tried it on while it was on the needles if I could.)  It fits great (phew!) and now I just have to knit the sleeves & it's done!  I'm so happy with how it's going and that it is getting done!

One Month Sweater-versary!

In this post I alluded to a sweater I am knitting... well, this weekend marked one month of working on it (my one month "sweater-versary") and I am so pleased at how it is coming along!

When I decided to knit this I was hoping it would be done within a year, I'm well on my way to making that goal!

The pattern is Shellseeker by Heidi Kirrmaier, the yarn is Spud & Chloe sweater in Beluga & Moonlight.

Baby Kina

Over the Christmas holidays I cast on and finished a baby sweater for a friend at work.  The pattern is Baby Kina and it's knit in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.  Lovely yarn to work with!  I chose deep purple which isn't a typical baby girl colour but I think it'll work.

Finishing this little sweater in a week got me motivated to finally cast on for a sweater for me!  Look here for a sneek peek.  Hopefully by this time next year (if not sooner) I'll have it done.

Lately...

I took Betula`Loo on the road and participated in two shows.  

The first was an Open House at a local salon.  Not super successful sales wise.

But I did meet children's author Jean Little!  She was there signing books and we had lots of time to chat.  She is one of my favourite authors so this was a real treat!  That's her on the right, me in the middle, and her sister Pat on the left.

Then I did another craft show at a local-ish school.  Not much to say there, made some sales, not wildly successful...

I finished knitting this hat in yarn from SweetGeorgia that I've been hoarding waiting for the right project for.  I'm impressed I got it done before the winter started...

... because these socks I've been working on since Easter & I just finished them last month!  Sock yarn looks wonderful knit up but oh my, it did take a while!

Last weekend I went to the One of a Kind show in Toronto and picked up some lovely business cards and postcards as well as handmade goodness.  I plan on sharing some of my favourite artisans in the next post.

What have you been doing lately?

Finished : Sampler Scarf

So the scarf that I started knitting in February is done!  Less then 2 months - not bad I'd say!  I picked the yarn to match the hat (that I didn't make) that I'm wearing in the picture. 

I'm calling it my sampler scarf because that's what it is - a sample of different stripes and blocks of colours.  I did make the ends match but the middle is a free for all.

And now it's almost spring (hooray!) but I have a feeling I'll have a couple chances to wear this before putting it away for the summer.

Some Things New

Over the last few days I've tried some new things.  The motivation for this was largely my 29@29 list I wrote on (and for a few weeks after) my last birthday.  I didn't share it here... partly because I finished writing it so long after my birthday and partly because some of the things are just silly and, I don't know why, it feels very personal, too personal to put up for everyone to see.  I have to say though that having goals written down, with an due date, are highly motivating!  

The first thing I tried was a knit & chat night at my local yarn store.  This picture is care of their website and doesn't reflect the current window display of green yarn or the actual interior of the store where the knit & chat occurred so you'll have to use your imagination a bit!  It turned out to be a great experience.  Firstly, a chance to knit without interruptions (other then eating cookies someone had brought I mean), secondly, a great group of ladies with lots of knitting knowledge and fun conversation.  Definitely something I would like to try again!  Cross off  go to a knit & chat from the list.

The second thing I tried was rock climbing.  Indoors, at a local climbing gym.  Again I forgot my camera so you'll have to make do with this picture from their website.  Rock climbing is pretty hard (which I was expecting).  My arms were tired after about 2 climbs!  I was able to climb the first three levels of  routes (? is that the term) but got stuck on the 4th.  A challenge for next time I guess!  (Yes, I would go back.)  Cross try something new off the list.

 

I love how these two new things are such opposites yet represent me fairly well.  To elaborate, over the last 8 days, as well as the above mentioned activities, I attended a bike show, went to a learning session on early childhood numeracy skills and went to the ballet.  Now I don't want you to think I'm always that busy but I find I go in spurts of crazy busy weeks and then weeks where nothing much goes on.

There's another New Thing I'd like to share with you, but I haven't committed to it 100% yet.  I'll let you know when I do.  How about you, have you done any New Things recently?

On my Needles

I like having a knitting project on the go: I rarely just sit and watch TV, usually I am also working on something and knitting fits the bill pretty well.  It's easy to pick it up and knit for a few minutes, doesn't require too much thought and I can keep half an eye on any important on-screen action.  Since I finished my Fiddlehead Mittens I've cast on for a scarf. 

It's fun to decide the pattern as I go.  I think it's going to be like a sampler, with different sizes of colour blocks and stripes in no particular pattern.  And it's work towards my goal of decreasing yarn stash.  This yarn has only been in the collection for 4 months so that's not too bad.

Weekend Projects

I needed some stationery this weekend so I got out the watercolours and did a simple line around the page.  I love it!  It was fun to play with different colours and combinations.  I did these on art paper which was very nice to work with but makes a rather thick package to fold into an envelope!  Next time I will write a shorter letter or use computer paper.

While I had the watercolours out I painted this quote, one of my favourites.

Since the Fiddlehead Mittens are finished I needed a new knitting project (great for in front of the TV).  I cast on for a scarf.  Four times.  Yes, four.  Trying to remember rib, trying out a slip stitch edge and figuring out the number of stitches I wanted.  But now I think I'm set and it shouldn't require too much thought.

Happy Monday everyone!  Check back later this week for a new tutorial.

Finished : Fiddlehead Mittens

This weekend I got one project crossed off my list - fiddlehead mittens (kit purchased in fall 2009) are now complete!

I ran out of wool in the lining colour so had to use one of the colours from the outside mitten to finish off the second lining.  Since the whole thing gets shoved inside the outer mitt you won't notice the dark blue on the end. Phew!

I haven't tried the mitts outside yet but I'm sure they'll be nice and warm - two layers of wool has got to equal warmth, right?  Just as well with temperatures like we've been having (-30 celcius this morning)!

The one thing I'm not completely happy with is that the lining bunches up a bit inside, like the lining is a bit too big for the outer mitt.  I want to knit these again with fewer stitches in the body of the lining mitt or on smaller needles to see if that helps.

Although after taking a year (with lots of breaks) to knit these I'm not sure that I'll be in that much of a hurry to start again!

Happiness Is...

• a golden autumn day
• Friday afternoon of a long weekend
• knitting a gift for a friend
• weather warm enough for a tank top and shorts... in October
• finding out my small camera fits in the gel pocket of my bike shorts
• getting all of the ends sewn into my Fiddlehead Mittens
• finishing a good book
• browsing this year's 101 Christmas Cookies magazine
• getting a birthday surprise from a local store in the mail

Olympic Accessories

If you live in Canada I'm sure you've seen the red Olympic mittens.  For those of you reading from other parts of the globe these red mittens are the "must have" souvenir of the 2010 Olympic Games. So I thought I would finish off my doll sized Olympic wardrobe with a pair.

Doesn't it complete the outfit?  (Yes, I know she's missing shoes.  My talents do not, as yet, run to shoemaking!)

If you'd like to make a pair of your own I've posted a pattern for the mittens below.  When you've knit them cut a little maple leaf from felt and sew on!

Doll Mittens - Tutorial

I made these into Canada/Olympic mittens for a Cabbage Patch Kid but they could be used on any soft doll in the 16" - 20" range.

I used Cascade 220 and 4.5mm needles.  You could always vary the yarn weight and needle size to make the mittens bigger/smaller!

Cast on 22 stitches and join in the round. **

Knit the body of the mitten:

Rounds 1-6:  K1, P1 rib.

Rounds 7-8: knit

Round 9: K2, K4 onto waste yarn, knit to end with regular yarn.

Continue knitting in the round until the mitten is 3 inches from the edge of the cuff.

K1, K2tog for 2 rounds

K2tog for 1 round

Cut yarn and thread through remaining stitches, pull tight and sew the end in.

Make the thumb:

Unpick the stiches on the waste yarn and put on to two needles, picking up an extra stitch at each end of the hole (10 stitches total).

Round 1: K3, K2tog. Repeat.

Continue knitting for 5-6 rounds.

K2tog, K1 for one round.

Cut yarn and thread through remaining stitches, pull tight and sew the end in.

Sew in any remaining yarn ends and knit the matching mitt!

**I used to have a hard time keeping the stitches tightly together when joining in the round until I read about this trick: Cast on an extra stitch (23 for these mitts).  Divide the stitches onto three needles as normal.  Without using the fourth needle knit the first stitch onto the last needle and cast off one stitch.  Now you should have 22 stitches on three needles.  Pick up your fourth needle and continue as usual!

On Second Thought...

The tutorial on the mini notebook (alluded to here) is not going to happen.  I should have bought the one I saw at Michaels!  Things started going wrong after this step:

The outside looked great and I thought letting the thing dry folded up was the answer to my problem.  Until I put the lining paper on and after drying folded it doesn't have enough give to let the book open flat.  I'm still going to finish it off but I think I need to find a tutorial rather then write one!

Another project that has been redirected is the knitting of a scarf out of this:

After knitting about half a dozen swatches I couldn't find a pattern I could get excited about knitting and wearing so I'm reassigning the wool to leg warmers.  It's good to be flexible after all!

Of course some projects go well from the start - I made a brooch today and it turned out how I pictured it (don't you love when that happens?).  Tutorial coming up on that one!

Newfoundland Mittens

I saw this pattern for Newfoundland Mittens and decided to give them a try (not that I need them but they are so pretty). They were a good excuse to use Noro yarn again. I ended up using Cashmere Island because I liked the colourway more then the Kureyon yarns the store had in stock. And since I only needed one skein the extra cost wasn't too much to handle!

Knitting them up was fun, using different colours seem to make the rows go by a little faster and I enjoy watching Noro yarn stripe itself. I had a false start or two as I tried to figure out the pattern, it ended up I was trying to make it more complicated then it was.

The finished mittens remind me of stained glass, dark lead and glass of many colours. It's still too warm to be needing mittens but it's something nice to look forward to when the cooler weather begins.

Knitters' Fair

On the weekend I went to the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitters' Fair. I hadn't been before so I wasn't sure what to expect. Oh my! So much lovely yarn, roving and inspiration! Two rooms of the convention centre were taken over with vendors selling all things knitting. My game plan was to look first and then go back to buy. I did pretty well till I came across hand painted turquoise and brown wool. So soft, just my colours, but only one skein. I knew it wouldn't be there if I came back later so I bought that right away. Then a mitten kit that had almost sold out in the half hour since I first spotted it. After that I was good and concentrated on buying yarn to use for gifts. A very successful trip! I could hardly wait to get home and get the yarn photographed so I could break open the packages and cast on. So far I have cast on two of the projects, it took a little longer then expected as I forgot about having to wind the skeins into balls but now all is set for some serious knitting.

Fingerless Mittens

Just a quick post to show off my latest knitting project - fingerless mittens for keeping wrists warm!

I got the pattern from Sandy in Wonderland and made the minor adjustment of using one skein instead of two. (The pattern calls for two skeins so the stripes will match. Then with the leftover yarn you knit a second pair for your "best friend") I wasn't too fussy about having them match and couldn't think of anyone to give the "best friend" pair to so I knit both from the same skein.



I loved knitting with this yarn: it's really easy to work with and has such lovely colours running through it! It's got a really long colourway and each bit of yarn can have several colours in it. A bit hard to explain so take a look:



I have to admit this project was a little addicting, it knit up so quickly and with such great colours I said "just one more row" several times!

Recent Projects

I think I need to plan my blog posts (better). This could also mean making more time for crafting. hmmm... something to work on. In the meantime these are the projects I've been working on:



I made this bag from an old pair of pants that had outlived their usefulness (as pants at least). Everything came from one pant leg - the buttons and tabs were used to hold the pants rolled up in a capri position! I plan to use the bag to hold my rain gear (jacket & pants), particularly when out and about. Bonus is that it can double as a pillow while travelling.


This card was for a young friend's birthday. I wanted to use some chiyogami paper I got from Etsy. Originally I'd planned to put the flowers on the branch but they didn't look right so they ended up in the corners instead. I really like how this turned out but would like to work on my branch technique.


I'm using this headband at work. We have to cover our hair when serving food and I thought this print would be nice and cheery. I had it in my fabric stash and it's nice to get it out and about!



This knit mesh bag turned out quite well (I still need to block it). The only problem is the strap stretches quite a bit so if the bag is full it reaches to my knees! I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that yet. Maybe just tie a knot in it.

My current project is knitting wrist warmers, I'm using Noro's Silk Garden which is absolutely lovely to knit! I love seeing the different colours in each inch of yarn and how it stripes. Pictures next time!

Thrummed Mittens

This winter I have fallen in love with knitting thrummed mittens. You start with some wool roving and yarn...


and end up with this:


I started with a kit I got for my birthday (which wasn't by chance - I dropped some "subtle" hints). It took me a while to get the hang of thrumming but once I got it I had so much fun playing with the wool roving. This is what they look like inside, all that lovely wool against your hands!


About a week before Christmas I noticed my sister needed new mittens, guess what she got?


Actually it was a bit of a rush so she only got the one mitten (finished on Christmas Eve day) wrapped up but the other one appeared a few days later. Then, not to leave my mom out I made her a pair too.


I love the combination of the two blues. I enjoy playing with the colour combinations. I think a pair of black mittens with really bright roving would be great! Now I just need more people to knit them for...