It Was a Night!

Wow! Where to start?

We were awakened this morning, at about 3:30 a.m., to the sound of shouting and sirens. When I looked out the bedroom window, I saw a truck on fire and the fire truck getting into position to put out the fire. I was instantly awake when I realized the truck was John's work truck!

He had a load of leaves and pine needles in the bed of the truck that needed to go to the dump. It turns out that a couple of teens were seen setting the load on fire. Someone in a vehicle saw the teens, turned around and, realizing what was happening, called the fire department. (I may not be getting all the details straight, as I stayed in the apartment, but am passing on what I was told.) Someone else got out a fire extinguisher, but by the time the tire truck arrived, the fire had already gone down to the bottom of the pile and through the truck bed. The truck (owned by the company John works for) is a total write-off.

Shortly after 4:00 a.m., the truck was towed away and we went back to bed. We've had a spate of arson fires in Kelowna over the last couple of weeks; I can't say that this one was related, but we certainly never expected that we would be the victims of arson. It's more than a little upsetting.

On to other things... (deep cleansing breath)...

I mentioned in my last post that I'll be re-knitting the Citrus Punch sweater for Trinity and that I couldn't find the pictures. Well, I found them. As well, that same week, Kristen took a couple of pictures of Trinity in that sweater.

These two pictures were taken two years ago. At the time, Trinity didn't want to take the sweater off for anything! It is still her favorite sweater, apparently. It seems that the yarn has grown with her and she's still wearing it. I did notice, though, when I was there earlier this year that the yarn has "relaxed" (for lack of a better word) and the sweater has stretched out. (It really should have been knit on smaller needles; lesson learned.)

This picture was taken earlier this week. I love it!

Other knitting has been happening as well around here (surprise, surprise!). One of my bosses commented that she was having a difficult time finding mittens for her 3 year old daughter, especially mittens with a cord. Well, that did it. I found out that one of Sam's favourite colours is pink and I just happened to have some pink in my stash, so...

I've almost done the first mitten now; just the thumb needs finishing. All in all, they're a really simple knit. Over the years, I've knitted a lot of these for my own kids. They're fun to make. The pattern is an old Paton's pattern, long since discontinued. The yarn is a superwash wool with a strand of mohair and silk (like Rowan KidSilk Haze, but a different, less costly, brand), worked on 3.25 mm dpns.

When I found out that Kristen's upcoming arrival will be of the male persuasion (meet Ethan, to be born sometime around the end of January)...

...I started thinking about little boy knits. I started thinking about little boy designs and came up with nothing that I was happy with so I started going through my collection of patterns and came across a book I pick up now and then, drool over, but have never knit anything from.

This time, two patterns struck me. One is a girl's pattern, which I'll do eventually. The other is a boy's pattern. The book? Alice and Jade Starmore's "The Children's Collection". I decided to knit "Western Seas", a gansey inspired boy's sweater that is predominantly stocking stitch, making it great tv knitting.

The yarn for this one is Sandnesgarn "Strompegarn", a superwash sock yarn. The sweater is worked on 3.0 mm needles and I'm knitting the smallest size (2-3 years). I figure that with soon-to-be five grandsons, it will fit one of them and can be passed on to others. I'm enjoying the knitting so much that I've even bought more yarn for another one.

I love the detailing in the ribbing and just above it. Generally, gansey's have a lot of patterning, but this one is simple, yet classy. The ribbing and zigzag detailing are repeated on the sleeve, for just that little touch of interest. The brown of the yarn, which you might think would be boring to knit with, is practical and yet, really nice. It's knitting up kind of tweedy, again, very classy. I think, and I hope, it will see a lot of wear.

Whew! This has turned into a long post; my apologies for that. There was just so much to tell you!

Miscellaneous Stuff

It feels like forever since I've done any updating on the Butterfly dress. I have been working on it. Truly I have. And yesterday, I made good progress on it. The back (or front... they're both the same) is almost to the underarm shaping.

In this picture, I had just finished the decreases to the narrowest point, the waist. It's even longer now. I'm at the point of working the final increase; then it's work straight until the dress measures 31", then start the underarm shaping. Once that's done, there are just a few rows of neck shaping. It finally feels like I'm getting there!

While I was procrastinating with the dress (yes, I really was procrastinating), I finished the Waves of Grain scarf. As a matter of fact, it's around my neck at this very moment. Wanna see?

I love the look and feel of this scarf. The hemp really did soften up with washing, and I'm sure it will soften up even more with subsequent washing. I can definitely recommend hemp. There's only one thing I'm not completely happy with and that's the grafting. I probably should have dug out my grafting instructions before even starting, but I didn't and the first bit of the grafting got turned around a bit and it looks like I purled part of the row rather than knit it. Oh well.... I'm not perfect and neither is the scarf. What can I say? Next time, I'll be more careful.

This past week, I found out that my daughter Kristen (she who is mother to Trinity) will be having a little boy in January. Now, I'll have to dig out my baby patterns and start knitting for Ethan (that's the name she's chosen). I'm already looking forward to that. As well, I now have all the yarn I need to make another Citrus Punch cardigan for Trinity, thanks to 5 balls of Paton's Astra in the perfect lemon yellow that I found at the thrift store. She requested another one, so who am I to argue? Earlier today, I went to Michael's and found the orange and lime green Astra that I needed for the ruffles. I'd repost a picture of Trinity wearing the sweater, but at the moment, I can't find one. If I do come across it, I'll post it. In the interim, I'm re-working the pattern, figuring out the numbers for the ruffles (579 stitches, if my math is correct).

In the meantime, though, there's a dress to finish and various and sundry shawls to complete. I'll be busy for who knows how long! You know me, though... I've never let anything stop me from casting on for another project. :)

Decision Made

For some time now, there's been something on my mind, something I've been trying to decide. This morning, I've made a decision.


Those of you who follow my blog will know that, for a while, I was writing patterns, designing a few things. I've made most of those patterns available for free on my free pattern site. You'll also know that there have been a few patterns I felt were worthy of being offered for sale, and I did sell a few of them through the yarn store I was working in. Well, it's been over a year now since I've been working in the "industry" and those patterns are not really moving (at least, I've received no new orders). For the past few months, I've been debating with myself whether or not I still want to sell the patterns. This morning, I decided I will no longer be offering patterns for sale. Over the next while, as I have time, I will be posting those patterns on the free site.


I could put them there all at once, but where's the fun in that?


One of the patterns that has been quite popular has been the Baby Cable Wrist Warmers. Today, I'll make that pattern available. For the moment, it does not appear on the freebies website, but will in the next day or so (I'll let you know). Right now, you can download it here on the blog.

The link (it's a pdf, incidentally... if your machine, like mine, doesn't like opening pdfs online, right click to save it to your system before opening it) is here.


So, on to other things... what's on Ev's needles these days? Well, the dress is still slowly making progress. I'll be working on it some more this afternoon. Having been under the weather this week, I didn't trust myself to work on anything that demanded that kind of concentration.

I did knit this...

The pattern (found here) is from Drops, #86-10. I used the ubiquitous Malabrigo in a gorgeous variegated purple. The yarn is so cushy and soft with not a rough fibre to be found. I used 4.5 mm needles and followed the pattern as written. I think it would be fair to say that this headband will get lots of use this winter.

I've also been working on the project I teased you with last time. It is the Waves of Grain scarf from Knitty.

I'm using a fingering weight hemp yarn from Lanaknits Hemp for Knitting, on 4.0 mm needles. The pattern on Knitty is ranked as "tangy". I'm finding it a very easy knit, at this point almost mindless. It's been my tv knitting this week. The two halves of the scarf are knit from the bottom up and then grafted together in the middle. I'm making each section about 30" long (before blocking), so the finished scarf will be 5' pre-blocking. The hemp is nice to knit with and, from what I've been told and read, will soften up nicely with washing.

Right now, I'm not sure whether I'll keep this scarf for myself or whether it will become a gift for someone in my family. Just not sure.

Now, it's time for me to get some quality knitting time happening. There's a dress waiting for progress, and I've rambled on long enough.

Happy Birthday, John!

It's my husband's birthday today. I won't tell you how old he is; I'll just say that he'll never catch up to me!

While I was browsing in the Bibles for Missions shop earlier this week, I came across this...

It has been gifted to John. It is a hand knit Cowichan-type sweater. The price on it was $25.00. Normally, these sweaters sell for way more than that, especially to the tourist market. It looked like it would fit him and so, I bought it. There is a bit of a stain on the front (looks like someone may have spilled coffee on it), and I did take it to a dry cleaner to see if they could get it out. The dry cleaner, however, recognized the sweater, had already cleaned it once and was unable to get the stain out. I've decided that if John wants me to, I'll tea dye it; then the stain will no longer be visible. What do you think?

At any rate, I couldn't let it go at that price. Heck, I wouldn't even be able to buy the yarn at that price! It fits him perfectly and he loves it. And yes, I'll try to get a picture of him wearing it.

And, just as a teaser...

Now, it's time to get this day started. Seeing as it's a gorgeous early autumn day, with the promise of summer temperatures, we've decided we have GOT to get outside today. After a very busy week, it's time to do something just for us.

Time for and Update, I Think

It's been a while since I posted about the Butterfly dress. I know that Stacey (the bride) has been wondering how her dress is coming and she reads this blog, so.....

Although I haven't been working on it as much as I should have been in the last couple of weeks, it is definitely progressing. I've started the decreases to the waist on both front and back.



My intention was to work both at the same time on the same needle, but, seeing as the entire dress uses three balls of yarn and I'm knitting with two balls at once, I'll have a problem when those two balls are done. Besides, it feels as if I'm making more headway having one side on the go at a single time. Does that make sense?

This afternoon, I have the house to myself for a couple of hours, so I'll be working exclusively on the dress. That will result in progress, for sure!

Apart from Stacey and John (my John), no one else has seen the dress in person; I do not take it to Sit & Stitch or to the lace classes I'm teaching. I figure that the first person to see the dress in person should be it's owner, right? However, because I don't just knit at home, that means I have to have something else on the go. And, as you all know, that's never just one project.

Seeing as I finished the Sunshine and Shadows shawl, I've cast on for another shawl. Yeah, I know... I haven't finished the other three I have on the needles. Oh well, they'll all get finished at some point.



The yarn is Rowan Kid Silk Haze in the colourway called "Marmalade". I'm using 4.5mm (US7) needles. The pattern is from Victorian Lace Today, "A Handsome Triangle".



I found the beginning of this project to be a little confusing. The chart shows one half of the shawl, which isn't a problem. What confused me at first was the fact that the second half of the shawl is a mirror image of the first half. Once I got it straight in my mind, I had no problems with the pattern. It's a four row repeat, with patterning on each row. Incidentally, the colour in the first of the two pictures is the more accurate. It's definitely orange. That's okay, though. I like orange. :)

Finished!

It feels like a long time since I've completed anything (other than the doll's hat). Well, the Sunshine & Shadows Variation is finished, off the needles, blocked and on my shoulders finished.





That's the unblocked shawl. The colours are fairly close to what they are in reality. It always amazes me the difference blocking makes.







I love the texture of this shawl. I love the colours of this shawl. I love it when a yarn and pattern come together just as I'd hoped they would.



This last picture shows the colour the best. You can see, at the bottom edge, where the knots in the yarn were; the black/grey/mauve striping repeats. All in all, I'm not unhappy with the way the lower edge came out. My main desire was that it end with green (I have no idea why; it's just something I wanted) and it did. The only thing I was unhappy with was the fact that the second ball of yarn had three knots in it (see yesterday's post). Would I use this yarn again? Probably. Though it was like knitting with handspun, and somewhat rough to work with, the yarn softened up nicely after a Eucalan wash. It blocked beautifully (I didn't even block it agressively) and shows the lace pattern quite nicely. The colours, as always with Noro, are stunning. I have a feeling this shawl will see a lot of wear over the next months.

The details...

The pattern is a variation of Evelyn A. Clark's "Sunshine & Shadows" shawl from the book "Knitting Lace Triangles", published by Fiber Trends, Inc. Finished size is 67"x36". The yarn is Noro Kureyon sock yarn, 75% wool, 25% nylon in the colourway S188. I used two balls as I wanted more than a scarf sized shawl. The needles were 4.5 mm (US 7). The entire project took me just under two weeks to complete, all in all an enjoyable and rewarding knit.

Now, it's back to the dress (which has not been ignored!).

I Am Not a Happy Knitter

Noro Kureyon sock yarn... two balls... $18.95 each.... first ball, no problem... second ball... 3... count them... 3 knots.. two of them within the space of a single row!!



Nope, I am NOT a happy knitter today!

(I'm also not happy because Blogger's not showing me the paragraph justification options; I like to center the photos and it won't let me.)

Nope, not happy.

A Day at the Fair

As mentioned yesterday, John and I spent a few hours wandering around the IPE (Interior Provincial Exhibition), also known as the Armstrong Fair. This was the 109th year of the fair and we enjoyed ourselves.

I made sure that we checked out the handicraft competitions (knitting, crochet, etc.) and I must say that I was singulary unimpressed with the entries. Most of the crochet (doilies) was worked at very loose tension; the majority of the knitting looked like it was done in Walmart yarn (nothing against Walmart yarn, but quality was definitely lacking) and there was absolutely no lace knitting whatsoever. The only lace knitting we saw was a beautiful triangular shawl knitted by someone in the Vernon Spinners & Weavers guild. It really was lovely.

In our meanderings, we even came across a competitor who is distant family (a second cousin of my mother's, if I'm not mistaken). He raises Frisian horses in Deroche, BC, not too far from where I used to live. It was a lovely surprise to have an opportunity to chat briefly with both him and his wife.

Now, I'll leave you with some pictures of our day...

And Now For an Update

Finally, I have some knitting content to share with you. As I've been saying, I have been knitting on the dress, though probably not as much as I should have or even could have. This picture was taken almost a week ago now, and it has progressed somewhat more that is shown.

In this picture, the two pieces of the edging are completed, but not yet knitted together. In fact, they are now together on the needles and the body of the dress has been worked for a few repeats. It's looking good, if I do say so myself.

Last time I posted, I showed you the book I bought (Evelyn A. Clark's "Knitted Triangles"); a while back, I showed you the Noro Kureyon sock yarn I purchased. This past week, they came together and the resulting piece of knitting is something I think I'm going to love. All I'll show you at this point is this...

I must say that this has occupied my hands this past week more than anything else. I love the colours, I love the handspun feel and texture of the yarn and I love the way it's coming together.

I could say more about the pattern and yarn and all that info, but for now I need to go and get dressed, have some breakfast and generally get ready to go out. John and I are heading to the Armstrong Fair (aka IPE) for the day. The details and more pictures will just have to wait.

Bits and Pieces

Some days, it's difficult to start a post. Today is one of those days. I have been knitting, but feeling like I'm not making a whole lot of progress. The fourth of four edging strips is almost complete and that means I can start on the back of the dress. I'll probably have it (the strip) done this afternoon.

I have knitting related stuff to tell you, though. Yesterday, I went to the Bibles for Missions thrift store (it IS almost next door to where I work, after all) and found this...

It's 10 balls of 100% unbleached 4 ply knitting cotton. The bag has never even been opened! There was another bag with 8 balls and if it's still there Monday, I'll likely buy it as well. This bag was $7.50. The yarn is made in Holland and each is 100 grams. I'm not sure yet what I'll do with it, but I couldn't pass it up at that price. A cotton shawl (or two or three) perhaps??

As well, last week I ordered a book through my local yarn shop. I picked it up this morning. When I first read about this book (booklet, really) on Ravelry, I decided it was something I could use. Now that I have it, I know I'll use it.

It's "Knitting Lace Triangles" by Evelyn A. Clark. It's not a big book, but there's a lot of good information in it. There's also been some thought put into it; it's spiral bound, which is always a good thing for a reference type book. So far, I've skimmed through the book, but am looking forward to delving into it some more.

And now, I'm off to finish the fourth edging strip and get the second part of the dress started.

Summer Time, and the Living is Easy

Since this is primarily a knitting blog, I suppose I should update you on my knitting.... or lack thereof. That's not to say I've knitted nothing this week; I did finish the third of four edge strips. I won't bother taking a picture of it because it's exactly the same as one of the others and I've already posted pictures of that one.

Stacey (the bride) and I managed to get together this week so I could take one more measurement; now I can continue on, confident that the dress will fit well. I'm thinking that I may just continue on working the second half of the dress until I'm at the same point as I am for the front. Then I can work on each in turn, being assured that the shaping will be the same. It is, however, much too hot to be knitting right now. The last few days have been in the 30C plus range and the air conditioning in the apartment is working full bore, but it is still just too warm to knit. I'm not complaining, just saying.

I didn't want to write a post with no pictures (I did that yesterday), so I'll share a few of the pictures I took when my daughter and granddaughter were here.

Little girls and tea parties just seem to go together, don't they? The Evolution Shawl makes the perfect (and very classy) picnic blanket, while Gramma's tea set is the perfect way of serving apple juice and Cheetos. How's that for tea party fare? We had a lovely living room tea party and afterward, while I was putting the shawl back on the recliner, Trinity stroked it and asked if she could have it one day. I tell you, that's one way to melt a grandmother's heart!

We also took the girls to Davison's Orchard in Vernon. It is a working orchard that has been turned into an attraction, as well as a way of teaching people (especially children) where their food comes from. We didn't spend a lot of time there, but we did enjoy it before heading off to the lake. Trinity loved seeing the animals, and this being a knitting blog, I couldn't pass up this photo op.

While Kristen and I strolled and chatted, John escorted Trinity on a tour of the animal pens. I love this next shot. That little girl has her grandfather completely wrapped around her fingers, whether he'll admit it or not.

And now for something completely different!

I have two new blogs! Why I do this to myself I'll never know, but I did.

The first of the two new blogs is Clicks 'n Things; it takes the place of my previous photo blog. I've forgotten the password to the Wordpress photo blog and, though they can send an email with the password, the email address I used to register that blog is no longer a valid email address (thanks to the fiasco that was our move to Gibsons). I've resurrected a photo blog because it does encourage me to get out and about with my camera. That's not a bad thing. Whether or not anyone is even interested doesn't really matter; I enjoy taking pictures and some of them aren't half bad.

The second of the two new blogs is much more interesting, or could be. It begs participation. It's called Headline Hunters and you can get involved in it as well. This morning, John left a newspaper out, hoping the headline would catch my eye (even without glasses). It did. I think it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. I had to do something.

Our local newspapers are rife with words used in the wrong context, typos and grammatical errors. Some of the mistakes are a source of chuckles, others a source of headshaking. I've decided to start posting them. What about you? Does your local newspaper mess up? Why not share it with the world. The details are on the new blog. I've even set up a separate email account just for the blog. Let me know what you think. Contribute to the insanity. Let's have some fun!

A Diversion

I'm still working on the dress; let's get that out of the way right away. However, the dress is not a project to be taken along to a sit & stitch; it takes too much concentration. Because I knew I'd be going to a sit & stitch, I started (and finished) a small (very small) project this morning.

It won't be long before the doll (does it ... she.. he... need a name?) has a complete wardrobe, I'm thinking. This little item definitely clashes with the sweater previously made, so I took pictures without the sweater.

There was no pattern for this little hat. I simply cast on 4 stitches using Emily Ocker's circular cast on and increased every other row to 64 stitches. It didn't start out quite the way I had envisioned (I originally wanted the top to be flatter), but I'm happy with the result, and I'm hearing no complaints from the doll. The yarn is James C. Brett's Marble, 100% acrylic dk weight yarn, knitted on 4.0 mm dpns. This would probably fit a newborn and would be simple enough to make larger. Basically, this little hat is a blank canvas. I went from stocking stitch to 3 rows of reverse stocking stitch to 6 rows of popcorn stitches (every 4th stitch) to 3 rows of reverse stocking stitch to 3 rows of ribbing to stocking stitch (6 rows, I think), then a crochet cast off. That's it. Dolly's got a new hat, I'm happy with the design and it's all good.

The socks. Glad you asked. Leslie asked about fit. They're a little difficult for me to try on, I'm afraid. It's not the fault of the socks; I'm sure they'll be just fine. It's just that the foot length of the sock is 6", a little smaller than my 10" feet. I'm intending them to go to Trinity, my granddaughter, who's foot tracing I just happened to have (don't all grandmothers have tracings of their grandkids' feet??). Once she has them and I talk to her mom, I'll let you know about the fit. Hopefully, my daughter will take a pic or two to share with you.

Now, I've been told I have to process the remainder of a bag of basil leaves or they'll have to be thrown out. And that would simply be a waste! Mmmmm... pesto!

It's a Kind of Magic

Edited to change the picture size (didn't realize they'd uploaded at 150dpi). Note to self: never blog when you've got only 10 minutes before you have to leave for work!

Few words today; I'll let the pictures do the talking.

The pattern: Cat Bordhi's Houdini Socks. The needles: 2.5 mm Addi Turbo
I'll take pics of the finished socks when they're finished.

Also edited to add: Leslie, I know, I'm supposed to be working on the dress only. However, I need to take one more measurement on Stacey and we've been unable to connect. I did realize last night that I do have more than one set of 5.0 mm needles and have started on the second side (front? back? both are the same) of the dress. These socks are a slight diversion, and a bit of mindless knitting. Nothing wrong with mindless knitting when your dear husband has rented three movies to watch. ;)

This Could Be Fun

On Saturday, I attended a small "party" celebrating the fourth anniversary of the Art of Yarn, the yarn store I worked at for almost two years. While there, I spoke with a long-time customer (thanks Chris!) who told me about a new online magazine, the Twist Collective. I was reminded of it again this morning, while browsing through Ravelry (which, if you haven't, you really should join... there's a great article about Ravelry in the Fall 08 Vogue Knitting).

The fun part? Check this out. Cat Bordhi's done it again! I love this idea! As much as I like the idea of toe up socks, I find that they just don't fit as well as the cuff down ones; at least, the ones I've made for myself don't fit as well as I'd like. This way, you can make the foot exactly the length you want, make a bunch of feet (or footprints, as she calls them), then work the leg when you feel inspired. Very clever! I will definitely be trying this technique!

And yes, I've been working on the dress some more. I'm at the point now of having to start the waist shaping. You may become tired of seeing these progress pictures, but I had to post at least one picture in this post, didn't I?

Time for an Update

There hasn't been a lot of knitting this week, but I did try to finish the second of the four edge pieces. I finished #2 this morning.

Because I had a cake in the oven while I worked on the dress, I couldn't go out to do shopping, so I kept working on the dress. The two edge pieces have been joined...

...and I've started on the body of the dress. This is where it's at right now...

This last picture is one and a half repeats of the overall lace pattern. It's a very simple leaf pattern that's easy to read and easy to memorize. I did find, though, that the chart really hasn't had a lot of thought put into it. Yes, it's a simple pattern to read; however, if you follow the chart exactly as written, row 5 will not work out in pattern. There's a yarnover at the beginning and end of the row that should not be there. Now that I know that, I'm moving right along and it's all working out just fine!

Edited to add: It's row 7 that doesn't work out as charted, not row 5.

Thus far, the part that has taken me the most time has been the joining of the two edge pieces and making sure I have the correct number of stitches picked up. It really isn't difficult, but I don't recommend working above dark clothing with these colours of yarn. The bottom yarn, grey, was difficult to see with the navy pants I was wearing as the background. Once I put a sheet of paper on my lap, I had no problems seeing the stitches to pick up.

Incidentally, on the needle, the dress looks pretty narrow. It isn't. The KidSilk Haze is deceptive. Because the yarn is so fine, it fits very nicely on a 12" straight needle, but has more than enough stretch to fit an actual body.

I have a feeling there won't be much more knitting until Monday (a holiday here in BC) because we have a staff picnic tomorrow afternoon/evening. That's why I baked the cake (chiffon cake with brandy-soaked peaches and whipped cream, for those of you curious as to what kind of cake). Tomorrow will be spent getting everything ready and then partaying! For those of you here in BC, enjoy your day off!!