I just had to share...

First of all let's just say that fishing in the rain

Drove us just a little 'Loon'ie!

Seriously though....

Isn't it just too pretty for words? I just had to share. Sunset last night over Berford Lake on the Bruce Peninsula. *big sigh*

(scroll all the way to the bottom, I saved the best for last)

I've Finally Managed To Do It Right! Sock Blanks and Pictures Too

A blog and blog pics all in one post! How did I manage that? Here it is though, a few weeks late but in all it's glory, World Wide Knit In Public Day post.

The World Wide Knit in Public festivities on Saturday June 13, were a lot of fun. I was in New Hamburg with my knitting buddies at Shall We Knit for the morning and half the afternoon. There was quite a bit of Breast Cancer fund raising going on, with a silent auction, which I I didn't win on the items I bid on. The Big Pink Knitting Needles Contest, in which teams of 3 knitters get sponsors and try to knit as many stitches as they can in a certain amount of time using the famous crowd stopping Big Pink 6 ft. long Knitting Needles. I didn't participate in that but it was a hoot to watch! Drawing a Blank, with proceeds being donated, was a sock blank dyeing activity. I signed up for two sock blanks, one for myself and one for my daughter. I decided to do mine in a semi-solid dye job, or at least try to, because I am always so attracted to bright and colourful, wild even sock yarns and I love the new Sock Innovation book by Cookie A. that I got a few weeks ago. The socks in that book are all textured and more suited to a solid/semi-solid sock yarn. I have a lot of wild colourful sock yarn in my stash that just isn't appropriate for all the wonderful texture in Cookie's designs. This one is my blue semi-solid sock blank


My daughter just went to town with coloured dye, applying it willy-nilly as the impulse struck.

Didn't we do an awsome job? and it was way too much fun! We will definately be doing this again.

As the Swatch Lies

I swatched last night after I got home from work. I was using the 3.25mm circ that the pattern told me to use. It turned out too big, quite a bit too big. I had a 2.75mm circ as well, that the pattern said is supposed to be the smaller needle for the ribbing, and so I decided to change to the 2.75mm circ and swatch. 

I knit one row onto one end of the 2.75mm circ. I started on the purl row using the other end of the circ and about 2/3 the way across the row, I felt something catching on the yarn. I scootched the yarn down the needle a bit and purled a few more stitches and there goes that catchy, catchy again. I don't like it when good yarn catches because it could be ruining the yarn. I wiggled the stitches over a bit to have a look and low and behold I was dumbfounded. 

The bamboo needle on the one end of the circ, had been snapped previously and taped together with scotch tape and put back in it's pouch!!! Me??? I didn't do that! I'm sure I didn't do that! Just because I have imposed a self-banning on bamboo circ's thinner than 3.5mm for myself, because I tend to snap them, doesn't mean I did this to my 2.75! I just know it couldn't have been me! 

I looked for another and didn't find one. Hmmm.. seems I have a good reason to visit my LYS asap! (like I need a reason LOL) 

I found some straights I haven't used in a long time. I used to do baby things on these years ago, they are old English plastic needles I inherited from my Grandmother and/or Great Aunt. And I love them! It felt so good to use these needles again. I successfully swatched with the red #10's (3mm) and pulled out the white #11's (2.5mm) for the ribbing. I cast on, worked my ribbing, and into the striped body of the little boy's vest from Rowan Purelife, The Organic Cotton Kids Collection am doing as a store sample. I make it up 4.5 inches and have my ribbing and all the striped part done. The knitting looks very nice to me, and although I had my doubts about the colour choice when I put the red and the brown together, it's all playing nice now. I do think that because of the colour choice that the finished vest will be more suited to a girl than a boy, but since it is a store sample gender isn't going to make or break the garment. 

At this point I thought to stop to double check my gauge. This is when I discovered my swatch was lying to me. The width of the back of the vest was one inch too small!!! Go figure! 

It is now on hold awaiting my new 2.75mm circ this weekend so I can re-cast on the ribbing and have another go. In the mean time, it is the Cable-Edged Vest by Sally Melville from Mother - Daughter Knits in burgundy Zara, another store sample. It looks like a very interesting design and will be fun to knit. The yarn is totally yummy too! (I need to get some in my stash muhaha...)

I love to play with new yarns and patterns. Isn't this so much fun?

Backbuster Yesterday

Yes, I know it's not Tuesday anymore, and yes, I know I am not posting pics again, but too bad suck it up! (now I know why no one reads my blog! LOL)

This was from yesterday but lazy me is just getting around to post it now.....

I have spent a goodly bit of today trying to beat the fact that life is getting in the way and staying strong and true to my knitting goal for the day. That goal is finishing the back of the Ballooomin' Cardi, hence I have named today Backbusting Tuesday.

I started off well with a whole pattern repeat with my morning coffee. Most people would have a piece of toast or a muffin but not a knitter, or at least not this knitter! A coffee and a repeat then on to a few things that needed me, then back to my knitting. A simple enough plan one would think. Well I think that I was the only one who thought this plan was solid. I was sidetracked when my daughter and granddaughter came over to make bread and do laundry, a few calls to Mom and other assorted tidbits of knitting time abusing activities occurred, and it was after lunch before I knew it. I rushed to my chair and picked up my needles and did a couple more rows. Wonderful, but not enough to finish. I headed out early, well, I tried to head out early thinking that I could manage a couple more rows at All Strung Out the LYS that's near my work, before I had to go to work. Well my early wasn't early enough and I only had enough time to arrange to get some merino and silk fibre drum carded and quickly visit with and pet all the glorious yarns on the shelf. Then a rush to work, flying in the door with just minutes to spare. See I wasn't late for work after all! 

I have my breaks coming up and not that many rows to go was all I could think as I sat at my desk and started in on the emails of the day, hoping for a nice quiet evening without too many problems for me to solve, after all I was wanting to concentrate on keeping my knitting mojo strong). Well as life always happens, I was fairly busy all night, but I did knit during breaks. I didn't quite get finished though. I am home now, tired, and am going straight to bed. 

I will finish the last TWO shoulder decrease rows in the morning... night, night. 

 

Life As It Happens

Me thinks me gets too caught up in life as it happens. How do you balance the two? Knitting/Life.... Life/Knitting. Is there a balance? or do we all just go with the flow? I have been very guilty (is there a state more guilty than guilty?) of living my blogging life through the blogs of others. 

Yes I am lazy. 

It's so much easier to just pick up the needles, or sit in front of the wheel, instead of having to think creatively and write out a blog entry. I have so much to blog about since the last time, where in the world do I start? The knitting, the spinning, the workshops, classes, fun events with knitterly friends? Is there any rhyme or reason to it all? All the little treasured moments are all packed inside my memories and then mish-mashed around by life as if it was a high-speed blender inside my head. 

I have a bunch of pictures on my camera waiting to uploaded to my computer. 

I have some FO's that are waiting to be bragged about. 

I have spinning projects and cast on's as well. 

They are all neglected in print as I continue to let life just lead me along.

Suffice to say that I will not try to catch up my cyber life with reality. (yes I can still tell the difference, isn't that amazing?) I will instead try to highlight some glimpses into my memory with bits and bites of things past as so I get inspired to. In other words, I am going to try (really hard trying) to blog often over the next while, before I explode from keeping it all in.

 

Topic for today, Current Events.

Today was Monday Knit and Chat at Starbucks. Yes, I actually went today, on a Monday. I don't often, but I felt the need for a good cuppa coffee and a bit of knitting. (Friday's K&C was a well needed social event for me, with a whole 7? or was it 9 or 10? stitches accomplished in the 4 or 5 hours I spent at Starbucks that day.) I managed several rows on my Baaaloooomin' Cardi (Interweave Knits Winter 2008 cover choice). I am so happy to be back working on it. I had put it on hold for a few months to work on other more prioritized projects. I am almost finished the back now and I KNOW I  am going to wear this sweater tons. I am totally in love with the yarn. (I weally heart it). It's Cascade EcoWool in black umm.. oops... in colour #8095/! and I can see myself using this yarn again, and probably again too. 

Hmm... what projects can I plan for more Ecowool??? 

Oh wait... I am trying to stick to my self imposed yarn diet. I have cotton that I want to knit. remember the mantra... I need to knit summer cotton tops.... I need to knit summer cotton tops.... I need to.... Oh crap forget it, I know I am going to knit whatever inspires me at the moment.

P.S. Gessh, isn't this boring with no pics??? Maybe tomorrow....

 

Isn't it just Wonderful?

So now everything is dry and not felted. 

It has been re-skiened and braided. (yup I figured it out) 

I am pleased and so is my grand-daughter. (now renamed Laughaholic as I see from her brand new membership to Ravelry) 

Here's the promised pics of the finished dye job. Yarn and Fibre look great! I on the other hand still have grey roots! (Should have done my hair while I was at it!)

The first pic is Laughaholic's first handspun. Not a bad job of it I think. Looks better than my first did! The second pic is the blue one with beads. It has already been cast on. She has decided to make a lacy scarf from it. The third pic is her  handpainted skein. 

      

                                                       

                                                    

See the big smile on her face. 

These ones are mine.....

     

First pic is two ply Shetland laceweight/fingering, the second pic is about a worsted weight three ply

The third and fourth pic, below, are before and after pics of what used to be grey Icelandic wool rovings. Notice it's not grey anymore!   :D

      

 

Then we have the rovings.

Pic one, two and three, quite self explanatory. 

Beautiful? 

Ithinkso.

    

Dye Day What Fun

We survived! Tick-Tick, my eldest granddaughter of 13 yrs (who insessantly drives me insane with the constant tick-tick of the keyboard as she chats constantly on messenger with her friends) , is slightly green and blue in several spots, and I even have a tinge of off colour on my hands too, but we had a blast!

I found all the natural handspun I had hanging around the house including the first practicing at beaded yarn and a skein of somewhat dark grey Icelandic Wool yarn I had spun.

Tick-Tick had her skein of 'First Handspun' to dye as well. I also decided to throw in some natural off white rovings as I had 4 kg of it before I starting spinning, aka playing with it and my wheel.

We went to Michael's Craft Store on Thursday night and Tick-Tick picked out 5 colours of Wilton Food Colour to use in our dying. We had Sky Blue, Juniper Green, Teal, Orange, and Buttercup Yellow. I am so glad the the local grocer's was sold out of McCormick's Neon Food Colouring! (Neon yarn is not my cup of tea)

We re-skeined the yarn that needed reskeining, put it all in a vinegar bath. I cleaned up the kitchen a bit and got the dye ready in it's squeezee bottles.

Then we went at it. We hand painted the off white skeins, including the beaded one, and two batches of wool rovings, wrapped them in Saran Wrap and steamed them on the stove to set the colour. 

I put one batch of wool rovings in the crock pot and when it was all hot and steamy I added three colours of dye to the crock pot and let it cook for a couple of hours.

The dark grey skein was an experiment to see if it would over-dye. I tried handpainting it and though you could see there was other colour added to it, it still looked grey. We left it till last and decided to try a dye bath for it with a microwave chaser. We chose teal as the dye colour. I make a strong teal bath, put in the grey yarn to soak, then nuked it for two minutes at a time until it had exhausted noticably some of the dye. At that point the dye water was much lighter teal than when we started. I took it out of the microwave to cool and as it cooled, it took up even more dye. After much cooling when it was good and warm instead of still hot I noticed the water was almost clear with very little dye colour left in the water! I was amazed! My grey yarn was now a deep greenish teal and I am extremely pleased with the colour. Truly amazing I say! I am so glad I tried this, and as I have more of the grey Icelandic wool to spin I can guarantee that I will be making more of this colour.

More to come after it dries but the bottom line is, we had a ball with it all, lots got dyed, none got felted and we are very happy with the results of our labours. Next time, it will be McCormick' NEON! (please help me!!!)