Colour

I had to go digging in my stash today. Since I cleaned, organized and moved the furniture around in my study, the last two skeins of Mericash in that rich and glorious purple had vanished. But only into the void that is my stash.

I usually keep things tidy, sock yarn with sock yarn, lace with lace, sweater yarns with sweater yarns, but when my study and my boxes started getting full, it was every skein for himself, and some things got a little out of order.

There was a time when looking at my stash was un-inspiring. Everything felt neutral and if I squinted, it all looked like dishwater. Fine yarns all, but nothing that made your eyes sit up and take notice.

I think I'm over that now.

There are some pretty spring colours,There are some summer working colours, a good sturdy rust mix and a colour mix that just speaks of jeans and gardening.Some brilliant Welsh blues and oranges and everything in between.
There was a whole box that jumped up and looked me right in the eye and said colour, colour, colour.
Eventually, I found the Mericash, under a pile of books that need to be shelved properly, in a box with a bunch of other bright cheerful lace weights.

We still have a fair bit of snow in the yard. The north facing forested hill keeps thing wintry here long after spring is due, but in the mean time, all these brilliant colours are going to keep me chipper.

**yarns are top to bottom, Meilenweit Cotton Fun, Austerman Step, Colinette Jitterbug, and in the first box, left to right, Tanis Farms, Buffalo Gals, Lorna's Laces. Bottom, Nova Sock from Fleece Artist, Lucy Neatby's Celestial Merino, Handmaiden Cashmere, Misti Alpaca Sock. In the second box, clockwise from the top, Mericash purple, Knit Picks Shimmer hand dyed, HandMaiden greens and gold Sea Silk, Ella Rae bluegreen Merino Lace.**

"Stuck in the middle with you..

Here I am....'

Still in the middle. No exciting pictures, no snow falls (no melt either). No new yarn.

I'm in the middle of the scarf, in the middle of the second sock (you can get a lot of knitting done when you get a tire changed)in the middle of the shawl, in the middle of the sweater. In the middle on so many things.

Middles can be a little less than inspiring when everything is in the middle but I keep myself going by imagining the finishing. When you get to a middle, you can start to feel the end. Up till now it was just a hope you had, but once you are in the middle, you can see enough of it to get a real sense of what the finished project is going to look like.

Take the scarf for instance. When I try it on, its just a little more than half than half the length I want. I'm across the back of my neck in its unblocked state, so on blocking, it ought to be just down onto my second shoulder. I have mixed feelings about the colours. They are so different than what I usually wear, so much more brown toned than I am used to. I know they will look great with my teal jacket and they are doing the most interesting striping all the way down. They took me out of a funk and stale feeling. For this last alone, this scarf will be loved.

I'm looking forward to wearing this scarf for one reason beyond all the others. This scarf is going to remind me that different is good. Stepping beyond boundaries is good, trying something you haven't done before is very good. Looking forward makes the middle shorter.

I expect to finish this scarf soon, the socks really are coming along nicely, and the sweater is looking great even if I have to undo 8 rows (I mixed up a pattern stitch) and the shawl is still a knitters dream.

All in all middles are wonderful places.

There are always days...

when you should have just stayed in bed. Yesterday was one of those.

On my way to work, I got a flat tire. Me being me, I did not recognize that fact till long after a normal person would have noticed it and would have stopped. Thankfully Mr. Needles was only a phone call away and got AMA to come out and put on the spare tire. (Soon I will be able to call AMA myself but it did come with a cost attached.)

When I finally got to work, the parking area was full, so I parked on the street. Its OK till 4 o'clock, but you have to get off the street during the afternoon rush hour. I forgot. I avoid street parking like the plague because I know I'll never remember to move my car. Of course I got a ticket.

Sometimes I just shake my head at how tiny the cocoon I live in is. If my cocoon is shattered and the world isn't going according to plan a, b or c, if it isn't in front of my face, it doesn't exist. If my internal calendar is off, it isn't going to happen.

And yet, my brain is full of trivia. I can remember tiny little details about all sorts of arcane things I read blurbs on 20 years ago. I know things like how post its were invented, and how J. S. Bach had 17 children. I remember most of the books I've ever read by plot and I can usually talk about my favourite character even though the name of the book escapes me and the authors name never even registered.

I have a brain full of trivia and bits and pieces of useless information, but I cannot remember the simplest little unexpected details for the life of me. I have a pretty good brain, I like to think, but it sure isn't one of those brains that works from logic and form. It's lot more like a puppy brain. Its good, its eager, it has a big capacity to learn. Aim me in the direction you want me to go, and I'm off . It's also easily distracted by Frisbees, games and will slobber at the simplest little things. Wave a piece of string in my face, or throw me a nice ball of yarn and I'll follow you anywhere. Best Buddies forever.

With all that, there was no way I was touching my purple shawl. No way was I going to attempt anything with counting. I could have worked on the socks, but sometimes, even I clue in. The world was telling me to stop.

Days like this remind me why I love knitting so very much. If I mess up, If I get a flat knitting tire, or if a project has been on the WIP pile a little long and has a parking ticket (!!), I can pull it all out, I can start it all over. When I pull it out, all that lovely yarn is once again just a pile of possibilities and nothing bad ever happened to it. Its slate is clean and fresh and new.

Knitting is going to have to be peripheral today, but I take great comfort from it. I have a ton errands to do today, and you can bet I am working from a written list. It starts with' fix tire'

Mooshable Squooshable Yarns

Now where was I?

Ah yes. Squooshable yarns.

I'm not working on my lovely shawl today. It really demands more attention and awaklefulness than the early morning hours bring me, so I picked up the nice farmer socks I've got on the go, and am working on them. (and dishcloths, and the scarf and...)

Brings me to the subject of yarns I love to work with. Yarns with a mooshy squooshy sort of feel inspire me to great socks. I really am enjoying the Zitron Lifestyle, a seriously fine moosy squooshy yarn. Two sets of needles. I don't want to put the cuffs on till I am sure they are the exact same length and that I have every bit of this really great yarn used up. I always enjoy working with the turquoise Cool Wool 2000. (Lots of yarn here for heels, and cuffs. Not even going to think about worrying about it)

(left to right) red - Scheepjes Donna, fuschia pink - GGH Maxima, golden - Cara

handpainted - Mirasol Hacho, turquoise - Cool Wool 2000

I started thinking about the yarns I have in my stash that have these qualities, and realized its way beyond socks. I like this sort of feeling in a yarn no matter what kind of project I intend it to be for. I don't much worry about the fibres it is made out of either, so long as it has this lovely lofty bouncy feel.

There seems to be two things going on with all of these yarns. In part, it is due to how it is spun, and in part, due to these being all plied yarns. There are probably other reasons that these yarns feel the same, and a more technical person would know these things without a doubt. I'm going by instinct and feel, because that is after all, where it all begins and ends for me. The feel of a yarn in my hands.

Its an entire class of yarns, the bouncy, squooshable class, and there just doesn't seem to be an end to them coming across my radar any time soon.

red - Colinette Jitterbug, Multi - Australian Merino

I'm absolutely thrilled to see Australian Merino back in Canada. It was my first brush with this kind of yarn and I have been wishing for another chance at this brand for a long while. It was previously distributed in North America by the now gone Needful yarns, but has been picked up by another supplier. So its back, and I can rejoice.

The Colinette is in there just because it is too pretty to not include. That and well, it is a mooshable squoosable yarn.

Hmmmm

I woke early this morning. Deep of night to be truthful. I gave up and arose about 4 a.m. Its dark then so I'm not in the habit of looking outside. I came down to my study and sat and knit on socks for a while, and was all ready to post to the blog. It was going to be a great post, a fantastic post about how I love squooshy moshable yarns, the kinds of sock yarns that are just too yummy to ignore. ( I'd never ignore a sock yarn)

And that is when I realized we had a little problem. My satellite internet connection was not working.

Last night it snowed. A little.

Low angle shot taken by guest photgrapher, Mr. Needles.

Then before I left for work, it snowed a little more. And when I was at work it started blowing and blew even this lovely wet heavy sticky snowinto drifts and piles like nobody's business. Spring snows seldom have drifting but this one had power and not a little fury behind it.

By the time I left work, the wind was down dramatically, the sun was out and the big melt was on. Where this morning cars were pushing through 4 inches of slush, this afternoon, the pavement was dry.

Such is spring on the Canadian prairies.

Mr. Needles, who does all our outdoor grilling, shoveled himself a path to the barbeque, and away we go. But I'm going to have to get him to sit a spell. He is clearly losing his mind.

He thinks there are two aliens sitting in our chairs holding hands, but it's obviously Mr. and Mrs. Snowman who have lost their heads sitting in the chairs holding hands.

Come Monday Morning

I had a marvelous weekend working on lace. Really marvelous. Only one mistaken row, where the yo's were out of order to rip back for, but nothing to make me rethink my decision to skip a lifeline. The pattern has wrong side rows that only are purl and garter stitch so that is my lifeline. I love the yarn, I love the design. Still in heaven.

Lest I wax on rhapsodic just a little too long, this morning I cast on for a dishcloth. The bachelor pad (established a couple weeks ago by my eldest and second sons) is in need of dishcloths. Not that they use a lot of dishes, nor that they have a lot of dishes, but everybody needs something to wipe up with at some point. I'm knitting dishcloths this morning.

A dishcloth is sort of like the socks of the kitchen world. Socks are the utlimate in handknit clothing, so simple and basic that they are profound.

So is a dishcloth. Nothing wipes up better than a knitted or crocheted dishcloth. Nothing soaks up spills better. Besides my lone knitted duster attempt, dishcloths are my lone household useful article (Doilies don't count. They are lacy but mildly less than useful in the kitchen) I'm not a kitchen kitsch sort of person but I am a huge fan of dishcloths.

Dishcloths at 20 paces. That is my knitting for this morning. Here is hoping I can whip a simple one up in one day.

I'm gonna get me some more.

My oh my, I am having a good time.
This is the center section of the Lehe Shawl from Estonian Lace. I'm well into the first ball of yarn and the bulk of the centre pattern is now established. I'm being very careful of my stitch counts and am taking a good look at it after each wrong side row.

This yarn, Punta Mericash, quite defies description. It's warm and rich and airy at the same time. Even now I can tell it is going to be heaven.

Its going to be like dancing in that lovely feathery elegant dress with Fred Astaire singing softly to your heart.

Sigh...

I think there will be more of this in my future. Maybe even in my immediate future.

With a Little Slothfullness On the Side.

Sloth could be an aversion to work or an avoidance of work. It could be laziness, and it could be a very slow moving South American animal.

In my case, I mean to say I am reluctant to commit myself, I am disinclined to stick to one thing, I avoid my work because there are other things to do.

I'm a little tired of my sweater, my scarf and my current socks. I have no problem ignoring a bunch of noisy things I ought to finish on the work in progress pile (growing at a fantastic rate) . I can leave the dishes and the laundry till the cows come home. (I don't own any cows, so it will be a while)

What I just can't ignore any longer is Knitted Lace of Estonia (local to Edmonton, River City Yarns has a couple copies)and the Lehe Square shawl pattern. And the Punta Mericash yarn.

I was dreaming of these things. I'm not sure what it means when you dream of yarn and pattern when you sleep but clearly, this yarn, pattern and I are destined to meet sooner rather than later. This mornings work has been to wind yarn. As you can see, it is on the swift, but not the ball winder.

This yarn is so delicate, so light, that I just feel it needs a little gentler handling than my ball winder will do. It is so soft, it feels as if pulling with any tension at all is going to harm this lovely and delicate thing. It isn't though. I've tried a little strength test on the end of it, and while it looks and feels like angels wings, it isn't going to fall apart anytime soon. It could be done on the ball winder, but it isn't the way I prefer to handle it.

Besides, the ball winder is buried under a bunch of yarn...I think. It is missing somewhere in the middle of the cleaning and tidying the study detritus (fixing this is much more important than dishes or laundry and I will attend to it today) and I could not see it in the early morning light.

Sometimes, there is a good reason to go a little slower, do it a little more manually. It gives me more than the usual time handling this and seriously, any time spent playing with this wonderful purple is time well wasted.

My motto.

And that is exactly what I am going to do today.

Updated:

I started knitting just after I posted earlier. I cannot tell you enough how luscious this yarn is. Wait till you see some pictures. Here's hoping the pictures will look even half as good as it does in front of me.

The very merry middle

"See the piggy,

See the puddle,

See the muddy little puddle.

See the piggy in the middle

Of the muddy little puddle.

See her dawdle, see her diddle

In the muddy, muddy middle.

See her waddle, plump and little,

In the very merry middle."

(Piggy in the Puddle, Charlotte Pomeranz, 1989)

This wonderful rhyming children's book has remained in my memory long past the point where my children needed stories read to them. this morning, I find myself 'In the very merry middle'.

Having found myself there on a regular basis, I have decided its going to be fun. The pictures look about the same as before, though the projects are just a little larger and the photos are taken from a different angle.

The sweater, back completed to the arm and moving along quite nicely. Just look at that stitch definition.
The scarf with its luscious puddles of muddied colours (tones of colours actually!), just going into the long middle section, A speedy knit.The sock, just about to where I would normally insert the heel. Lots and lots of yarn left, so I may widen the calf some, and knit a taller than normal sock, before getting to the glorious turquoise for the ribbing.

There you go. 3 middles. I'm off to go dawdle and diddle in the very merry middle of my own muddy little puddle.

The next thing in my head.

I'm pretty sure there is something I am forgetting to write down, sure there was something I meant to take some pictures of, but for the life of me, I can't think of what it was. I could take a picture of my still piles of snow, but even that isn't what it was yesterday. It was + 14 C yesterday and a lot of snow melted. It is looking like spring everywhere but right here in my north facing hill of a yard. In my yard, the snow piles look kind of sickly, watery, shrunken and older, but they are still there. Old man winter lives long here but gets decrepit and cranky at the end.

Knitting continues apace on the sweater, the Drop Stitch Scarf is moving right along, the socks are still on the needles and are being worked on, whenever I get a minute, but nothing is so earth shattering that it needs a new picture.

About the only interesting thing is that I am sitting here having a big cup of coffee, and that isn't at all interesting.

I can tell you I am contemplating shawls. I've thought about doing a Pi Are Square Shawl for some time. It is another EZ project from one of her books and that is one of my goals for the year. I have found some interesting yarn to work with and I can't wait.

I have a couple skeins of Kauni in the greens colourway, EK. One of the things I have noticed about shawls made from Kauni is that the ones that appeal to me are usually made with a center increase, or shawls that have a circular shaping. There are some beautiful Shetland ( a Ravelry link) shawls and I'd make the chevron styled Northern Lights shawl in a heartbeat but everyone who uses Kauni is doing this one.

The Pie Shawl is going to do exactly what I want for this yarn. Its going to give the colourway a circular flow and then a masterful square shaping along the front. I may or may not do a lace pattern. That will depend on how long the colourways are as I move down the shawl.

This could be a really really big shawl. I have enough yarn for one, but for practical purposes, I don't want to be floundering in it. Shawls that are just right let you knit while wearing them. I want this to be a warm shawl to wear here at home, but I want it to be small enough that it will fit under my winter coat.

Here I sit, dreaming of next year, thinking of next winter when this one is hardly over. I wonder if this is the Canadian way, or it is just me. This shawl is going to have to be summer knitting. With this shawl and that lovely purple Punta Mericash lacy weight yarn in the wings for a design from Estonian lace, I can already tell what kind of summer I am going to have.

Its going to be a lovely lacy one.

Bright and early on a Monday morning

One of the non knitting things which has taken bits and pieces of my time this winter has been the final finishing of Mr. Needles study. It was done but for wall papering the massive panels on the end wall, the closet, and all the trim. As ever, Mr. Needles is in charge of construction and I am in charge of painting, staining, and wallpapering. Voila. Finis.

If you want the look of cherry 'woodwork' to match cherry look furniture, it can be done with a little plastic, some basic white moulding, a couple of panels of cherry look shelving material and a couple little cans of dark walnut and burgundy coloured stains. All that is left is the cleaning and tidying. That will happen when the cleaning of the corners happens, an ongoing issue here at the House of Needles.

Those days last week really felt like a holiday even though they were not. I accomplished a lot and got some corners tidied and on occasion, I sat and knit. And Sunday, I knit a lot. I worked on several pairs of socks, that interesting drop stitch scarf and something completely new.

Friday at knitting, I cast on for a sweater. I planned to begin with my lovely red Cloud Cotton, but because the basic sweater is from a book I have not knit from before, I dug in the stash to get out the blue Cloud Cotton from a long time ago. This nice yarn never quite developed into what I was working on. It was just sitting on a shelf, wound and ready to go.

The book is Sally Melville's Purl, and the sweater is called Another Coco Jacket. The design and yarn are well balanced, and the only changes I am making is a wee bit of upsizing to fit. It is this mild stitch or two upsizing that makes me very conservative with my precious Red Cloud Cotton.

I am really pleased with the fabric. If Cloud Cotton has a flaw, it is it's very very matte nature. There is no play of light within it, there are no secrets hiding among its strands. Its there, straight up, hiding nothing, a simple yarn. The stitch pattern, with its offsetting blocks of patterns, stockinette, garter, and reverse stockinette, give the blue yarn depth and interest, making a most pleasing fabric. (Gratuitous second shot - it's that nice.)
The other thing the blue yarn is doing for me, is showing me exactly how much yarn a sweater with sleeves is going to use. In my ever paranoid state of mind, I am sure I am going to run out of yarn, even when I have dozens of skeins on hand. I have 12 skeins, 150 metres a skein, of the blue. I know, I know. It will make a whole sweater but deep inside, there is always that doubt. What if.

When I work on the red yarn, I want to know exactly how much mileage I'm going to get.

Its working up fast, but I don't want to jinx myself. It will be done when it is done.

Its Still Friday

I woke up with an urge to check the calendar again. Was it Friday or was it Saturday and I had to work?

Its still Friday and you have no idea how this small thing blows me away. I've had 3 days off in a row. And not so long ago I had a week off. And just before that, near Christmas I had another more or less week off. And in the fall I found a week off. And there were a few times in summer where it felt like I had a week off.

In the 15 years I worked at my previous job, it felt like I never had time off, even when I had time off. Especially those last 5 years. A weekend felt like an hour and weeks off were things I didn't even have time to ask for. Actually having time off was not the problem. I did, though not nearly enough. The problem began and ended in my head, letting myself feel like everything was too compressed. It was a stressful way to think and it has taken months to train myself to think in a different way.

These days, with my work a bit, play a bit, and playing at work is totally ok sort of life, I'm starting to feel like grocery shopping is not a major event, like haircuts really only take 20 minutes, and as if I can stop for a few minutes on any given day and sit and have a cup of coffee and read or knit without totally screwing up my life.

Part of me is sitting here wondering is this how normal feels? All of me is counting my blessings at how very lucky I am.

The Sweet Spot, Round Two

The sweet spot revealed itself. What an interesting knitting adventure.

See what you think. I be happy to hear your opinions.

This is the sample from yesterday, the 46 stitch wide sample. There is a very strong coppery colour pattern happening here. That strong v is definitive. It was interesting and cool and was repeating itself on the last rows I did after the photo was taken. Note how on the garter stitch rows, the colours repeat in the same general area as on the drop stitch rows? This makes the colour sections stronger, sharper more clear and well defined. The sample doesn't quite give a replay of the lozenge effect that showed so beautifully on the original design, but it is quite clearly saying something.

This 36 stitch sample shows a colour pattern but it is quite different than the 46 stitch sample. The blues show up more in the original design's waves, but once again, it is the coppery colour that tells the tale of the sweet spot. Though the lozenges of drop stitches show off the blues a little more boldly, the copper and gold are showing up strongly across the garter stitch rows. The effect is a little more subtle up close, but it is enough that the whole scarf is muddied and muddled. It just isn't saying what I want it to say. It isn't serving the yarn well.

These are beautiful colours, this is splendid yarn, and I want it to show off and be vibrant and wild and just a little bit of a rebel. These colours spoke to me, and who am I to muddy what they say.

I'll be ripping it back one more time, and restarting at 46 stitches.

Searching for the sweet spot has been interesting from the perspective of this one particular skein of yarn, but I think I learned a lot more than that. I've always felt that you have to look at a handdyed yarn a little differently, but I never understood why quite so clearly before.

In other BIG news, I got a letter from Stitches Saskatchewan yesterday. I got the class I hoped for, the Yarn Harlot's Knitting for Speed and Efficiency.

I am tickled pink. Bright Pink.

I should go sit down make a cup of tea and get hold of myself.

Sweet Things

I am on a quest, a serious mission, and it has debunked my waiting for springish funk. I'm in search of the sweet spot.

The yarn is from Indie Dyer, a maker of glorious skeins of jewels. Its a wonderful yarn to play with, very soft and lustrous, and there is between 350 - 400 metres here (I didn't look at the band at all) I saw this one, down on the bottom of the finer sock yarn rack at the store, a little out of the way. The orange has got a little more depth and variation than the photo shows. Its much more copper, the yellow a richer deeper gold, the turquoise much more sated and dense.

I knew instantly that this was just what I needed to help me get out of my funk. I don't wear orange and coppers and brown at all. Copper and orange make me sallow and brown just turns me invisible, but I have a teal jacket that is exactly right for this yarn. Its a nice little jacket. It's warm enough for coat days, but not so warm that you have to take it off when you get to where you are going. It's been a close companion for several years, and though there still is some life left in her, a little pick me up is required.

Getting the scarf going is another matter entirely. I started at least 5 times. I tried a chevron lace design (you knit a chevron pattern into a stockinette ground using yarn overs). Nice, but not for this yarn. I tried a feather and fan. Blech. Icky. Phooey. I tried a Mrs. Hunter's stitch, but it felt like colour interrupted. I tried alternating garter ridges and stockinette. I tried just stockinette and seed stitch edges. Nothing showed off the yarn the way I saw the yarn. Nothing took advantage of its rich heart.

Strongly coloured yarns need careful handling. You have to find the sweet spot, that perfect balance between pattern and yarn. For strong hand paints, it is that point where the pattern is lacy enough to be seen but the lace is content to let the marvelous colours be the star.

I might have found it here.

This is the Frazzled Knitters' Easy Drop Stitch Scarf. This is one of those little things that lists high on Ravelry's list of popular scarf patterns. Its simple, works in all kinds of yarn, and with careful handling, is magical in handpainted yarns.

If you take a good look at the pattern photo, you can see she hit the sweet spot of the scarf exactly right. Her colours wave across the scarf perfectly nestled in each drop lozenge. Serious magic.

Her yarn is a heavier than my sock yarn weight. I cast on 46 stitches to her 26 to get the sort of scarf width I'm looking for. I'm close to the sweet spot. There is a dramatic v shaped ebb and flow of coppery orange, but I am not sure if this is the look I want out of this wonderful yarn. I'm not sure I found this particular skeins sweet spot.

I'm going to knit one more repeat just to see if this trend keeps showing up and to see if I like the way it pulls together. It is quite possible that I'll be restarting yet again, aiming for a scarf of 36 stitches. From the way the pattern is working up, that 36 stitches might give me the same dramatic drifts of colour as the original.

If you swing a golf club, you want to hit the ball with the sweet spot on the clubs head. I've never done this in my life, and it probably has a lot do do with the way I play golf. I don't worry too much about this. In golf, I'm just content when I hit the ball.

I'm going to keep trying for the sweet spot with this yarn. I have no doubt with some patience and practise and a little fooling around, I'm going to find it.

Defunking

Just a quick post today. My usual routine is being interrupted and well you all know what happens when a routine is interrupted. Things fall apart.

I found two things to get me out of my funk. 1 is a very, well, I'll save that, and the other, a CAL. I don't generally do these, but Doily Heads on Ravelry is doing one using Elizabeth Hiddleson patterns, and I owe this lovely woman a lot. It was from her patterns that I learned to crochet. It was from her patterns that I learned that sometimes you have to use your best judgment or the picture.

But I won't talk much about that today. I'm in a hurry. what I will show you a new sock.

We went to a dinner the other night, a function of interest to my husband, much less so to me. They do have a silent auction which can be fun, but the things for sale have been weak the last few years. This year, I took along some knitting. It was nice visiting and catching up with the crowd but I was grateful for my knitting. The lady who sets up the craft night at the local library was there and I had a chat with her. Had she known she'd have brought her knitting too.

I got a lot of knitting done using some very pretty yarn.

This is Lifestyles, from Zitron, one of those yarns with bounce and rebound that make delightfully squishable socks. I have been coveting it for a long time. We did some kits of the last of it a while ago, and I thought my opportunity was lost. Each ball was with another plain yarn to make a striped pair of socks and they sold like hot cakes. Only one kit of each of the two colourways remained and then, as things sometimes go, someone unearthed another ball of each. I cleaned it out and brought home both, and picked up the kit with its brilliant turquoise Cool Wool and the loose ball of Lifestyles started immediately to make a farmer pair of socks.

What I call a farmers sock is a sock where the toe, heel and ribbing are done in one colour and the foot and calf of the sock are done in another. Pretty isn't it. That brilliant, springlike, exotic blue just punches the whole thing up a notch or two.

They are knitting up fairly fast and I hope to have them done shortly. A good pair of socks helps get rid of the funk. The doily too, and then one other little thing. Its pretty, simple and is working out beautifully.

Wait till you see it!

Miasma

I have to admit, the weather has me in its grips. Maybe I should say, the sucky weather has me in its grips.

No matter how much I tried to be cheerful, no matter how much I tried to look on the bright side I could not lift myself from my when is it going to melt funk.

I sat in the sun upstairs with my sweater. I had a snooze on my bed, just when the sun shines into my room exactly right. But nothing would break me from my self imposed gloom. I wanted spring, the weather called for other.

I can't wait for the moment when its nice enough to open the windows, when its nice enough to let the fresh bracing early spring air blow away the last cobwebs of winter. That cool spring rush of crisp morning air just makes me want to shout and jump, and dance with glee.

I suppose if I wished I could dance for these last days of snow instead of waiting for springlike weather. After all, the sun does shine in a most brilliant way, and if you sit right up against the house, it is warm and almost nice. If it was me dancing now in the season of late snow, I'd end up with my shoes full of grainy, watery snow and wet feet.

My knitting, and crocheting is suffering to be sure. I crocheted on my sweater. It is making the nicest fabric, shimmery and drapey without being too much of either. I finished Chris sock's, but for the heel. The heel will be done at knitting on Tuesday, and finished on Wednesday night. there may be some guest knitting. I did knit at a wildlife dinner on Saturday evening but even that with its most interesting yarn, did not appeal yesterday.

So this morning, rather than ruining good knitting, I've been reading books preparing for the next big thing. I hope the weather warms just the tiniest bit (it never takes much to melt if its sunny at this time of year) and that something, some noticeable weather warming begins.

I'm not asking for much. Just a degree or two. Maybe three? Pretty please.

Bahhh humb ugh.

Dateline: March 29, 2009, yard of the Needles family

I was going to whine and snivel about our extremely slow, cold spring, but seems after checking out a few other places, its not so bad. Our skies are sunny and blue and one way or another fast or slow, the spring will eventually come.

Ben Nevis webcam, Scotland

Rose Bay High School webcam, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

St. John's Harbour cam, St. John's, Newfoundland

Santiago Chili (hello Brag!)

Somewhere in Finland

The Panama Canal

Dublin Ireland

Vyborg Russia

Norfolk Virginia

I started a crochet sweater yesterday. I love the way the yarn, Cotton Viscose, works up. It has a sheen to it without being overpowering. I don't love is the way the yarn splits. I know that when I knit it previously, I found makes a beatuiful thing, but you must take care not to get between strands. Same with crochet. You have to take care.

The upside is that I'm working to stay slow and clean so my tension is really nice. When I get going in crochet, I have a tendency to zone out, let my hands fly, and sometimes, the work isn't as tidy as I wish for. Slow is a good thing.

It's a while since I did anything this big in crochet. I think my crochet muscles are a little underused and under worked. By the end of the afternoon, I had to put it down and leave it, and this morning I can feel it in my arm. Seems I'll have to be using a wee bit of common sense about the amount of time I put in on this project. Now if only I could find a little more common sense.

To keep my hands busy without putting any further stress on my wrists, I picked up something new. Its a new colour from Noro, in the Kureyon Sock yarn and to me, it looks like the colours of the forest floor. It was irresistable. From the beginning, I wanted a shawl from it. You can never have too many shawls. This is a simple design, one I have used before.
Its the Eye of Partridge Shawl, one I worked up just after Christmas. Its a lovely thing, the stitch gives it just enough interest to keep the knitting from being boring, it moves fast because you slip every second stitch on the knit side rows, and blends and softens the colours of multi colour yarns. I'm not sure that this will happen with the Noro. Noro still is Noro, with its long colours and slow changes, but the pattern will add a little lift to the thick and thin of the yarn. The subtle texture means the light catches differently giving the finished shawl just a hint of another dimension.

I do have two balls and thought about working from both at once, but I'm taking the lazy man's way, one ball at a time. I want the long colours to remain.

Today is a round of errands, and knitting after lunch, and yes Cotton Crafter, those things are in my front entrance and are coming with me today. (you would not believe how long she has been waiting for me to remember these things) Its probably a good thing I can't sit home and crochet. It will give my hands a chance to rest.

Lace

I love lace. It isn't something I wear. It isn't something I have around my house, but I am fascinated by lace. Always have been. I still look out for Elizabeth Hiddleson crochet booklets at the Sally Ann. I still pick up every new magazine and look to see what lace it holds before I check out anything else.

I learned to crochet with doilies from the master of crochet lace, Elizabeth Hiddleson and now I am learning to knit lace from the masters of modern lace knitting, and admire the lace styles from just a little longer ago.

You never know who you will meet in a yarn store. I think I spoke to a local master of lace the other day. A lady called the store, looking very hard for some very small needles. She was hopeful that we might have something smaller than a 2 mm needle. We do. I told her we had several different lengths in 1.75mm dpns plus circular needles, she just held her breath. I told her we had 1.5 mm needles, she was thrilled. She hardly believed me when I told her we had several lengths of 1.25 mm needles.

She said she knitted lace doilies, and had been doing so all her life. She said she crocheted too, but the dearest were the lacy knitted doilies. Knitted lace spoke to her heart, I think.

She came into the shop with her son on Sunday in some pretty miserable weather to pick up some new needles. I wasn't there. It was a day off for me. I could have cried. I wished I'd have been there. To meet people like her, I wish I could be there every day in a way, but she delighted the rest of our staff. They showed her my very meagre little samples. She is a really sweet lovely person.

She brought some of her knitting with her. She gave a gift in being able to share in her joy at finding needles in the right sizes and gave a gift again when she left a small bit of her work behind with us.

I'm so thrilled to have almost met her at the beginning of my journey of knitted cotton laces, so amazed at the ways of the world that brought her to call the store at this moment in time.

Knitted lace in fine cotton thread is very much a part of our North American heritage and this lovely lady, this master knitter is part of that heritage. One day soon, I hope to get a chance to talk with her, to discuss patterns, to talk about blocking, to explore the art from someone who knows it so well.

People are really strange

and have way too much time on their hands.

I have finished Clapotis. See the nice drape of it? I've got to make a full size version. It will be a fantastic shawl.

And this morning, I'm working on hemming and doing finishing details on the wee blankie. Not my favourite kind of work, but I do love the way it is when it is all done. I shall persevere.

Update: More info on the sheep video. It is real. cute and real is almost too much for this time of the day.

The Next Big Thing

I worked on the Clapotis last evening till I just could not stay awake any longer. The first sad thing about that statement is that it was 9:30 and the second is that I was not knitting, I was re-knitting.

Clapotis is such a rhythmic thing and every once in a while I find myself counting each and every stitch. I came to a section where I did not have 3 stockinette stitches in a row, the rhythm was gone, and a quick search some 15 or so rows below revealed a dropped stitch.

Part of me said to leave it, to put it away and not look at it again for a while, but I really like this scarf so I shut that inner voice up, and carefully went back and tried to repair it. No good. It didn't work in part because the yarn is not a woollen or animal fibre. No stretch and no rebound meant that the stitches looked oddly pulled, so I went back row by row (I didn't want to interfere with the dropped stitch area I had to go past) and carefully picked apart to the error and re knit. And then put it down and went to bed.

Almost. There is always something new to think about and lately when I am thinking, its about the next project. I need a couple of sweaters for work. Or tops. I need something just a little different to give my collection of tees a lift. And to make it seem like I actually have some clothes. The silly thing is I have lots of clothes but I can't wear all the nice polyester blouses I used to wear to an office job here. It has to be a natural fibre so my skin can breathe.

I have that lovely red Cloud Cotton to work on, but I have not decided what I want to do with that, I have some cotton and some linen that I really want to use for a t type top. I have a rather funky textured blue yarn that I know what I want to do with (EZ polo neck shirt) but it needs small needles, and I'm just not mentally ready for that yet. I have some lovely soft cotton coloured in what the maker calls Victorian Grape and I know what I want from that but I think its going to be more wintry than summery so I'll leave that till later in the year. That leaves me with a nice pile of cotton viscose that I bought with the gift certificate the kids gave me for Christmas.

I love the sheen of this yarn. I always have from the first time I saw it. (I must be on a sheen kick)

And I came across an interesting little pattern from Amy over at the Hook and I.

I've been looking for a trendy little topper that would look good on me. I love the February Lady sweater, but it isn't going to do anything for a hippy, short person, and the Leisl isn't much better. That open bottom short cardy look just isn't a good one for me. This one will do though. The design doesn't count on an open cardigan front to make the look. It relies on the yoke to carry the day.

I love the round construction and the design on the yoke. I love the way the sleeve caps get just past that fugly bit of arm. I love the way the design changes to something that is as simple and quick as single crochet, but doesn't leave you with single crochets very linear look.

And I love that it is top down all in one piece. It means that I can work it to size and adjust for fit as I go. Amy designed this with the idea that sizing is something you do for yourself, based on you. A few quick calculations and **bing**, you have it. Though the calculations probably will need some tweaking to account for the differences we plus size ladies need (like a deeper yoke), they are going to be reasonably close.

Last evening before I went to bed, I swatched. I'm going to finish Clapotis this morning, and then am picking up my hook and setting to work.

Knits are being abandoned round here with ease and I have the perfect excuse. 'But it's for winter, I need summer' is my new motto.

Clapotis

Did you know 10,499 registered users of Ravelry have made or are making a Clapotis? Till this morning. This morning I became Clapotis maker 10,500 on Ravelry. Is that cool or what?Clapotis was big news when I first really began to knit some 2 and a bit years ago. Since the inception of Ravelry, its gotten bigger. I often wondered why so many people liked this pattern, what makes it so great that 10,000 users of one single online entity like it.

And now I know. It's mesmerising. There are only 3 stitches in a row that you do the same thing to, lots to focus your attention on and repeats on a row are across only 6 stitches, so its not hard to get a really strong knitting rhythm going. Top that off with a pattern repeat ending by dropping one stitch all the way down your knitting and you have mesmerising.

Then there is the incomparable drape that comes from the bias orientation of the stitches and the drop stitch rows when it is done. A single Clapotis can be a scarf to keep the chill off your neck on a cold winter day. It can be a large wrap to snuggle in with a cup of cocoa and a good book when pajamas are your fashion statement. It can be a lacy little something to top off the elegant and ubiquitous little black dress. In the right yarn, this shawl could be your everything shawl.

Mine is more of a scarf, maybe a really small wrap. I'm looking for things to wear to work, that don't get in the way. They need to be shorter and a little smaller than the long luscious scarves to wrap a couple of times around your neck. They need to be cool for summer and able to keep off the chill of all the big windows on a cold windy winter day. I can't say enough about how suited Bonsai is for this design. The yarn shines in exactly the right way. The long strands of the dropped stitches show off the particular elegance of a flat tape yarns. The colour moves along, never too firmly placed, lightened and shifted by the magical drop stitch. I would love to do another one, bigger though, to be more of a shawl than a scarf. A special yarn, something soft that just hugs your shoulders, something that caresses you and makes you feel beautiful.

An everything shawl for me is going to have to be cream or a not quite white. Berocco has some very warm creams and whites in the Bonsai and Seduce lines. There is a marvelous new yarn from the Mirasol collection, Nuna and the Punta Mericash, both with warm light creams. There is a soft oatmeal Drops Alpaca, and a true marvel of softn white in Misti Alpacas Suri Silk. There is a warm baby camel fibre, more camel coloured than white, but it would be stunning. I have a lot of choices, but its not one I have to rush on. A real Clapotis shawl is going to be a down the road project, for winter perhaps, when I need a little something simple to knit, but not dull, not boring, just easy, and comfortable.

Clapotis knits up fast. I'll finish tonight, block tomorrow, and wear on Wednesday.

All my knitting should be so well behaved.

Needles

I think all knitters these days are on a search for good needles. My own experience has shown it is a search of epic proportions, and with the variety of needles out there, it is a herculean task to find the perfect needles, much less the perfect needles for every job.

I started many years ago with a complete set of old Aero straight plastic needles. These are the spawn of the devil, and should be consigned to the depths of hell in my opinion. I know Aero made better needles, I have some, but this set from the late 70's has tips that are short and rounded rather than having anything like a long straight slope on the tip. The newer needles from Aero are pretty good, much improved tips that spawn of hell plastic set.

Then there are the old needles I have in slightly smaller sizes, whose maker I don't know. Some are good. Some have that darned rounded tip. The good tipped ones are still in use.

These were from the dark time (the dark and bad needle time) before I even really knit.

When I really started to knit, I bought a few Susan Bates straights. Good quality needles, easy to find, and available widely in a shorter than average needle. At the time, not so very long ago, I thought this would be all I needed.

Along came my Truly Tasha's Shawl. It needed something more than I had in needles. I picked up my first set of Addi Turbos for it. I liked them. A lot. I hoped to get by with only a small investment, buying only really long cables, figuring that I could always manage to work with a longer than needed cables, but too short and you are plumb out of luck. This has pretty much been the case, except that these Turbos are now my most used needles, and I have plumb run out of patience playing with the long cables. I have a good 'collection' of these in my most used sizes, and many lengths.

After you pick up a few Turbos, you have to try a few lace tips from the Turbo people. You discover that they have a tip you really like for certain kinds of projects. Soon enough I amassed a fair complement of needles with these tips too. I am trying really hard to avoid total duplicates, but there are some times where the lace tip won't do and some times where the regular tip won't do. You know?

And then when a crisis struck, and the size I needed was not available at the store in the Turbo line, I picked up a couple of Denise individual needles. They are great needles and surely have their place, but the best thing about these is the cables. Nothing like these cables for trying projects on. You just pop the ends on the big cable, and you can securely try on your sweater no matter no matter how much mangling and stretching you do. Decent tips, great cables, and the nicest of all the connection systems, and more. They are probably the only needles that will never be taken from you on a plane. (Though I am sure it has happened, these cannot be seen in a scanning device.)

My son and daughter in law gave me a set of needles that have tips that light up, a bouquet of needles really (she wraps things in the most creative way). These are not like the old plastic at all and I really like the way the yarns slips along them. I hope to use them for camping, to let me knit a little longer in the light of the campfire or on dark nights on the back deck while looking at stars. I can even see them being used to knit black yarns, if I ever am so bold and lunatic as to knit black yarn again.

I have some wooden straights from a couple of different makers. You just can't beat Nova Scotia's River John's needles for some yarns, some projects and if you like a little more cling to a needles than you get with steel.

So if someone can explain to me why yesterday in the mail I took ownership of two sets of tips in my most 'needed' (wondering how I can justify 'need') sizes and 3 sets of different cable lengths from Knit Picks, I'll never know. Furthermore, if someone can stop me from thinking that I could use the other two lengths of cables, and a few more tips in the smaller range of sizes, and maybe a pack to put it all in too, I'll be forever grateful.

Don't get me started on my 'need' for the Addi Click set, which I have seen (its the most beautiful thing) and heard very good things about, but which is extremely short supply here in Canada. Don't even make me think about Hiya Hiya needles which some of my knitting friends feel quite strongly about. Don't even make me wonder about wood tips, or bamboo circulars. Don't even start on how I dream of owning just a few Signature Needles, the short ones, just for scarves and nothing else.

I'm not even going to go into double pointed needles, because that is a whole other blog post.

Honestly all this selection exhausts me. I can't make up my mind which I like 'best'. I'm not even sure there is a best. Some of my personal journey through the land of tools is because I sell needles. I like to know that I can make an informed suggestion to help people find a needles they will enjoy.

There just aren't any bad needles on the market anymore. I really think it is a case of best for each kind of project, for each style of knitter, for each individual set of hands.

Meanwhile back in my study, I think it is fair to say I am collecting needles as much as I collect yarn.

It's Not a Rootbeer Baby

Sigh.

Ever been so pleased with a thing that all you can do is sigh? Yeah.

That is exactly how I feel about this. It is everything I wanted to get out of this spur of the moment project and everything I wanted it to be in the end. I still have to bind off the hem (I'll be doing a sewn type bind off) and a few snaggly ends to weave in, and a decent blocking to do, but the bulk of it is done.

I am going to write the project up for the store (there will be a few changes to this prototype) and it will be available there. It may be available here too, but that will be up to my bosses. My blankie plan, but everything else is theirs. The need to find something to do with a few balls of a yarn in discontinued colours, (they like to make kits of these bit and ends) and chatting about what the yarn would be great for, how much would it take to do something decent sized, some colour guidance and voila, cute little baby blanket. Without being surrounded by the stimulating conversation and the amazing yarns, these little things would never come off my needles.

I still think the Root bear baby thing would work though. Imagine a warm deep carmel-ly brown instead of the blue. Nice huh? Or what I like to call the Neapolitan Ice Cream colours of pink standing in for the yellow, cream for the orange, and that carmel brown for the blue. The 'Neapolitan' ice cream sunday sort of colour combination is what set this whole adventure off, if I recall correctly.

Anyway, I am pleased the knitting is done, I am very pleased with the colours, and I am absolutely pleased with the way hemmed edging looks on the outside.

So sigh, just sigh. Its all very good.

Plodding my way back to Bonsai

I am working feverishly on the wee blanket to get it done. I can't wait to see how the whole project turns out, once it has been blocked and pinned and bordered. Part of me is wondering if knitting a proper hem was smart. It is after all, like knitting the thing twice, but part of me is quite convinced that this is right for this blanket.

All this feverish knitting isn't very photo friendly. The blanket still looks like a blob, maybe even like a potato dumpling. No pictures of it yet.

What I am thrilled to show you, now that the Sundog Alpaca scarf is done, is this lovely fabric. This is the Berroco Bonsai (I'm using one of the Bonsai Colors line)that I picked up a couple weeks ago. I began knitting a small Clapotis, a scarf size version with it, stumbled (made a mistake) and set it aside till I felt stronger and more able to cope with my error. I just needed to think about it for a while.

I wanted to show you how nice this fabric is turning out to be. Thephotos show just a hint of what is happening (the photo also shows a funky strand of yellow that isn't there). There is a wonderful play of light off the strands of nylon that wrap around the bamboo core. You can see glittery bits all through it.

The effect is really quite subtle. Its not as if you put a shot of metallic through your work. Its a soft sheen with no sharp edges. It's tiny pearls of light softly winding their way through the fabric. Very elegant and an absolute pleasure to knit with.

On top of that lovely little play on light, there is the feel of bamboo fibre fabric. I spent a lot of time working with Rowan Bamboo Tape last year, and loved every minute of working with the yarn. As with the Rowan tape, Bonsai stays soft and cool against your skin. Knitted Bonsai reminds me of those stunning bias cut gowns out of satin. Looking at the photo, knowing what satin feels like against your skin, well, that is what bamboo reminds me of. That same soft drape that just makes you feel like something special when you wear it.

There is one caveat though. Bamboo fibre is essentially a rayon. Some more good information here, and Amy Singer of Knitty fame has some interesting details. It is friendly to the environment in some aspects of its production and not so friendly in other aspects, rather like most cotton.

Whichever side of the green line you choose to follow, just make sure you are making an informed decision. If you love to knit and are looking for something that feels summery, try bamboo. If cotton isn't your thing, try some bamboo. If you haven't yet done so, try some bamboo.

If knitting is wasting time (as some muggles would opine), knitting with Bonsai is time wasted wisely.

Big News

Some days at the store we play with lovely things. We actually started on Saturday, but until it is all put together, you just don't get the full effect. It is all done now. I feel just a tiny bit sad, and yet... Let me explain.

Punta Yarns has arrived in Canada, and we are carrying them.

Saturday, we took out the Kid Mohair. I'm not much of a mohair person. Knitting with mohair is a kind of quiet torture to me, probably a feeling I got from a short time working with poor quality mohair. I know I really should break out of my shell of mohair-less-ness but I'm not quite ready yet. This Kid Mohair might do it though. It is hand dyed, and the range of colours is almost hard to believe. You just don't often see this kind of range in a multi coloured mohair. There is a rich, almost navy that is oh so tempting.

Monday, we started with the next box in the line, the Merisoft Hand Painted. The yarn is very softly spun, lushly spun yarn (if there is such a thing as lushly spun yarn. If not, there should be and this is it). The hanks are quite firm, but once you let them free, the yarn is going to bloom and bloom some more. The colours of these hand dyes, the rich, deep, warm, sultry colours, will be like having your own little vacation in an exotic island garden coming to life right there on your needles. It is impossible to imagine until you see it in front of you and hold it in your hand.

There was more.

The Thousand Island is a little harder to describe. Its softness surpasses the Merisoft. It is little lighter (18 stitches to Merisofts 16 on 10 centimeters or 4 inches) Its colours tell a different story. On the skein the yarn has an almost marled effect, but the colour swatches don't quite support this. Or maybe they do. The colour isn't quite so much of a knock you to your knees vibrancy (its a good thing - I don't know how much more I could take). The core of each colour of Thousand Island is softer, ever so slightly softer, as if a veil of mists lay over the shade card. The colours hint at sighs and whispers yet the marl is the steel in their hearts.

Then I was given a gift. I got to work with Mericash solid colours. These yarns whisper. These kinds of colours, this kind of softness sidles up to you and surrounds you in a warm hug of contentment. These are not the brilliant colours of Merisoft. These are not the quiet strength of Thousand Island. They are lighter, finer, softer than the others, but in every single way, their calm and quiet loveliness will take your breath away.

And then magically the display is all together, and the yarns are there for everyone to see, to feel, to fall in love just a little bit with. There is always a little bit of sadness when a whole thing like this is done. I can still see it, and I can still touch it, and so can you, but there is nothing quite like the first time you see the yarns unleashed from the bags, falling all over the table waiting for you.

When I try to talk about a day like yesterday, watching the whole thing come together, playing with each and every ball of yarn, I sound like an idiot. No one in their right mind, no sensible sales person, could feel like this over a few yarns, but here on the blog, where it is safe and quiet, here in my little hidey hole world, I can tell you how much these sorts of days overwhelm me. Here on the blog I'm not ashamed to have my little lunacy leak out.

Here on the blog, I want to put you right there, to reach your hand into that bag of yarn with me, to touch, to see, to feel how very good it is, how something so small, so insignificant in the big ways of the world can warm your hearts and lighten your day.

As they do mine. Now off you go. Go look and see Punta yarns. See, touch, feel, and gift yourself a wee skein of something lovely.

And if you could just leave a a skein or two of the purple Mericash, life will be very good indeed.