Gloves galore

So this summer was spent making a lot of fingerless gloves. Without going into all of the sad details, there was lots of turmoil at work and when the going gets tough, the tough get knitting. I know that for new things to happen, old things have to end -- but man, sometimes you just wanna hang onto the old. 

In any case, I made gloves for friends who have moved on. Some things I learned: layering one pair of gloves over another is a good idea, grey is great (as if you didn't already know that), and baby llama is basically the best thing ever.

Ok September, it's go time. Bring on the cold weather, my friends and I are ready for ya.

Travelling woman

A shawl I made earlier this year for my pal Deb.

The pattern: Travelling Woman (free!). This is a really lovely pattern with lots of modification options but I did it as instructed in the smallest size.

The yarn: Becoming Art (hoarded from Sock Summit -- eep. Gotta use it sooner or later)
The inspiration: Lovely SteelNeedles who has made so many lovely versions of this shawl.

Weekend workshop

Some snapshots from a natural dye workshop at Toronto's Contemporary Textile Studio.

Among the lessons learned: how to extract dye from natural objects (we used onion skins), how to prep your fabric, how to modify colours, how to create a colour palette, how to use contact paper to create your repeats, how to use screens to print on fabric, and how to steam and set your pieces. 

Not surprisingly, my favourite sample to print on was wool (the top shot with the multi-coloured circles) -- the wool feels great (obvi) and is really porous. My favourite dye - cochineal, which is also one of my most favourite words to say. Cochineal. It might be my warrior name.

So excited to tart up my quarters with some embroidery and maybe make some totes (magotes!).

Penny's sweater

A classic cardi for little baby Penny... I am going to admit that I was pretty pleased when I sewed on the buttons.

Pattern: Little Coffee Bean Cardigan (but obviously unstriped) (free)

Yarn: Cascade Superwash

Buttons from MJ Trim

Love this

St. Julian's, Malta. March 2014

:: This vestigial sock pattern (free!) and also these fingerless gloves (also free!)

:: I really like watching Vitamix videos on youtube, even though I don't have one... (because I'm weird). These popsicle recipes make me want one even more.

:: This fettucine with walnuts and mushrooms recipe looks delicious.

:: Boyhood... Really solid film, made me feel sad and hopeful.

Have a really good week friends!

Knit camp recap

Hey y'all. Hope you're enjoying a nice long weekend. 

My pal Lynn did a fantastic recap of the fun we had at Meg Swansen's Knitting Camp.

I was going to be lazy (who, me?) and leave it at that (because honestly, Lynn did such a nice recap AND she even cut a video of the steeking adventures) but I'll go just a bit beyond my lazy inclination and share some cool things we happened upon:

:: We were lucky enough to sit beside Ted, who made THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BLANKET EVER. He used 10 skeins of Icelandic unspun to create a blanket that is at once lofty and light but snuggly and warm. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

:: On the other side of us (we were the middle in an awesome sandwich), sat the lovely Robin Ulrich. Her patterns are beautiful -- and I'm determined to make Greyhaven hats and cowls and boot toppers this Christmas.

:: The more or less right formula for increasing evenly across a row (explained here by Ann Budd). 

:: For a better SSK (slip, slip, knit) - try this method: Slip the first stitch as if to knit, slip the second stitch as if to purl, then knit the two together. The result? The second slip is hidden neatly behind the first. Technical gems tossed out all day long at knit camp! 

:: Wisconsin has deep fried cheese curds, and they're a really good idea.

::  If you ever flip out at a sewing machine when you're lining up your steek, Lynn is a very good person to have beside you and finish up the job. Really, I'm not a theatrical person, but I started to sweat and get dizzy when I put the needle down in my knitting. Lucky for me, Lynn got the job done. She also always has a chocolate bar tucked away for emergencies.