A Perfect Match

Posted on September 25, 2014 by Rayna

Yesterday, I received an awesome new project bag from Zig Zag Stitches and as it’s larger than my usual sock-sized bags, I immediately felt the need to cast something on so I could use it.

A while back, I made a road trip to Shall We Knit? and rid their sale closet of their entire stock of Eco Purity, a chunky wool/alpaca blend. Nine of the fifteen balls I picked up were in a dark heathered grey called Coal, and I had decided to make a nice big cozy shawl from it, using Kate Atherley’s Rickenbacker shawl pattern. (Truth be told, she had already made this combo for herself; I was merely copycat-ing her idea!)

Then last week, she released a worsted weight half-Pi shawl pattern she called Sick Day Shawl (she created it while she had a cold, and said it was easy enough to do even while doped up on cold meds!) I have been wanting to cast it on ever since I saw it on her a couple of weekends ago. I confess to liking “easy” knits since I knit in front of the TV a lot, and I never knit small shawls anymore because I so rarely wear them. This seemed perfect.

Kate, by coincidence, is a huge Doctor Who fan, so it seemed fitting that my inaugural project for this awesome bag be one of her designs.

A chunky weight shawl on US10/6mm needles…I am thinking this is going to work up very quickly!

WWKIP

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Rayna

On Saturday morning, my friend Liz and I set off on a short road trip…destination: Shall We Knit? in Waterloo for their annual World Wide Knit In Public day. They had hosted quite the gathering last year, and we thought it would be a fun way to spend a day and see some fibre-friends.

Outdoor tents abounded, including one with Super-Kate Atherley at the wheel offering up advice for the knitter-in-need:

Kate and Beth Graham

Kim and Ron of indigodragonfly were on hand for a dyeing demo – proceeds going to the Canadian Breast Cancer Support Fund.

Ready to go!

Cardinal Ruby – one of the four colourways to be auctioned off for charity!

The only picture I got of Marit’s Gobstopper hand-dyed gradient yarn is one of the skein(s) I purchased myself. The colour is so much more awesome than this picture shows. I can’t decide if these will be socks, or long fingerless mitts.

And I may have fallen down on some yummy merino tencel fibre from Waterloo Wools.

Mmm…Spice Trail

I even won a door prize! Thanks so much to the lovely ladies of Shall We Knit? for hosting such a lovely day!

L-R: Lynne, Karen and Cari

A Knitting Bucket List

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Rayna

So…I was bored the other day and started meandering about in WordPress. A blog post caught my eye…a post by The Mad Knitter called “Knitting Bucket List”. Considering how many things I see and ooh and aah over, I wondered if I really had a knitting bucket list and if I didn’t…perhaps I should. Sadly, while Ravelry has favourites and a queue, it doesn’t really have a spot for that, but I digress.

I think a bucket list should be “stretch” goals. I mean, sure, my queue has lots of things I’d like to knit. That’s what my queue is for. For me, a bucket list would contain patterns that I love that would contain something I deem to be a real challenge for whatever reason.

So I started thinking…what would I put on my knitting bucket list? The very first thing that sprang to mind? The socks that made me become a sock knitter three years ago, and that I still have not got the courage to start: Kate Atherley‘s My Vampire Boyfriend. I fell in love with these the moment that I saw them, all pretty and red and heart-y and cable-y. They are basically Rayna in a sock. Yet…each time I contemplate casting them on, I freeze and cast on something simple instead.

How awesome are these?? (Photo by Sarah Fay from Knitty.com)

On the shawl side of things…I’d have to go with Lucy Hague’s Taliesin. My friend Jocelyne linked to it on a Ravelry board that she and I moderate together and I literally gasped out loud. Now this one, I actually have the pattern for. Shireen decided she was going to knit it and sent it to me as a gift with the three word message, “Misery loves company”, a reflection on how hard it was going to be, not the finished item, of course.

Just look at all that Celtic knotwork! (Photo courtesy of lucyhague.co.uk)

Also on the shawl front is Cheryl Oberle’s Irish Diamond Shawl. I fell in love with this one as my friend Caryn made one years ago and wore it to work with great frequency for a long time. It’s so pretty but SO huge. I expect I’d buy a commercial yarn just so that I didn’t have to worry about obtaining five or six matching skeins of indie dyed yarn to make up the prescribed 2200 yards of yarn. I can’t imagine having to alternate skeins on this pattern.

The last thing on my bucket list? A sweater for me. This is another area in which I have no excuse. I have a code that was a gift from my friend Jenn for a Custom Fit sweater by Amy Herzog, a set of Custom Fit measurements just waiting to be entered into the software and not one but two sweater quantities of yarn. For some reason, I balk at the thought of casting it on. I think I have lived for so long with the fear of spending all that time knitting something that won’t fit, that I can’t bring myself to believe those who say that the Custom Fit software makes all of those fears null and void. I am a knitting wuss…there, I said it. Someday, I’ll get brave enough to start. Today is not that day. Tomorrow is not looking good, either!

So…what’s on your knitting bucket list?

The State of the Fibre

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Rayna

(I’d have said “The State of the Knitting”, as ganked from my friend Jocelyne, but it seemed more appropriate to include spinning in this update!)

I did a quick count this morning, and I completed 27 projects this year. That’s one shy of the 28 I completed last year. But when one considers that last year I did 12 cowls, and this year I did 15 pairs of socks, I am okay with that.

On quick count, those projects included:

the aforementioned 15 pairs of socks (7 of which were gifts, 1 of which was a sample knit for a the Rock and Roll Collection by Kate Atherley, and 2 of which were my own design which I published in December, Shireen)
3 cowls
5 hats
1 pair of mitts
1 shawlette (test knit)
1 TARDIS dishcloth
1 Calorimetry hairband

My goal had been to knit six pairs of socks this year…and I had exceeded that before the first of June.

Another goal I had had at the beginning of the year had been to learn colourwork, but realized somewhere along the way that I was not really all that interested in it just now, so I let that one slide.

I had planned on doing more spinning and started off the year that way, but the minute it got even slightly warm, the wheel got put aside. I am planning to start spinning again in January and am considering saving up for a Woolee Winder to make my spinning that much easier.

I have nine WIPs and four projects in “hibernation”, so I do need to get back at some of those. I am also planning to knit from stash a bit more. I added quite a bit towards the end of the year, factoring in several yarn-y gifts, and I have some great plans for some of those skeins.

My last goal of the year…to at least start, if not complete, my first sweater. I have two sweater quantities, a coupon for Custom Fit (kindly given to me by my friend, Jenn) and measurements taken for me by Kim. All I need to do now is do some new swatches and I’ll be ready to go.

What are your yarn/fibre goals for 2014?

FO: Hofner Socks

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Rayna

One day in August, I received a very flattering email from one of my knitting idols. The wonderfully clever Kate Atherley emailed to tell me she and Kim of indigodragonfly were in cahoots on a pattern collection, and might I be interested in knitting a sample for them? Gee, let me see, one of my favourite designers paired up with one of my favourite indie dyers…how could I possibly resist?

The collection included a hat, a shawl, fingerless mitts and lacy socks, all interesting, but still easy to knit. Kate asked if I might be up for the socks. I picked up the yarn from Kim at her annual Fibre Fling that weekend (Merino Nylon Sock in a heavenly orange called “Safety Pin or Safety Pint: Discuss”) and cast on before the weekend was out.

The one catch? The whole project was sooper seekrit so my morning Starbucks ritual of tweeting my WIPs was out. No progress pics posted to Rav…nada.

As a result, pics like this one taken at 30,000 feet got tweeted:

Flying the friendly skies…in seekrit!

As with all of Kate’s patterns, it was easy to follow and I encountered no issues. Once they were completed, I was in love!

Completed Hofners!

Awesome colour…adorable heart-shaped lace pattern down the outside of each sock. People stopped me when I knit it public and asked to see them. It pained me to turn them over to Kate when I was done. I am seriously considering another pair in a skein of the same base I have in a special edition, charity colourway called “Canoe Up To The Beer Store”.

The rest of the Rock ‘n Roll Collection is great as well. I have at least one other item planned from that collection. So many things to knit…so little time.

Pattern: Hofner Socks by Kate Atherley

Yarn: indigodragonfly Merino Nylon Sock in “Safety Pin or Safety Pint: Discuss”

Who Was It Made For? Sample for Kate

Were There Changes Made To The Pattern? None – that would defeat the purpose of a sample knit.

Did I Learn Anything New? No

Anything Else? Not that I recall.

Would I Make Another?: Definitely…finding the time is another story.

It has been pointed out to me….

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Rayna

That I really should pay more attention to my blog. I currently hit it in fits and starts…partly because I get busy and have little time to post, partly because the only computer at home is my husband’s and he’s a student, and partly because I feel like my pics are so bad that I have no right to be putting them anywhere.

It’s been a busy autumn…where by busy I mean that I spent a lot of time knitting. Not sure why I don’t feel like I have the FOs to show for it. I am knitting a lot of socks that I am giving away, which is completely new for me. More on that later. I have completed 12 pairs of socks this year, which upon counting and discovering that, I will admit to being a touch shocked. One of those pairs was a test/sample knit for Kate Atherley, over at Wise Hilda Knits, one of my favourite sock designers. Those need to be their own FO post.

Another thing I have put some time into and have hit the 50% point on is the scarf I mentioned in October. It’s as awesome as I thought it would be and frankly, if I wasn’t trying to finish up a few things before Christmas, it would be done by now.

Zigzag Wanderer in Stillwater

I cannot wait for this to be done!!

This past weekend I spent a huge amount of time either brunching or hanging out in yarn shops. (What? Both are completely valid lifestyle choices.) Lovely visits to Eweknit and The Purple Purl with my friend Shireen netted both Christmas gifts for others and belated birthday gifts for me.

Speaking of Christmas gifts, I am looking forward to Christmas in Newfoundland, which we do every second year. We won’t be decorating or anything, as hubby is in his very last set of final exams and I really can’t be bothering him to help me do things right now. As a result, to put me somewhat in the spirit, I have been trying to find a good gingerbread recipe. Last night’s was a spectacular failure (my fault, not the recipe’s!) and a teensy bit too gingery for me, I think. Half a cup of real ginger and no cinnamon or cloves wasn’t really the taste I was after. So my search continues. Got one to share?