Giant balls of yarn

I avoided the Hiraeth sweater successfully the last few days. I am at the point where I need to decide if I need another increase round and I am avoiding that decision.

This seemed easier  

Even if I had to decide just how wide I want the back yoke to be.  I made a choice and we will see how that goes.

I am not really using a pattern for this, just simply knitting.  Winging it.  If it'sa mess of a sweater, it will be my fault.

I am using the yarn I bought from Australia from Bendigo Woollen Mill.  This is their Classic yarn with a crepe twist.  It's interesting.  I love the fabric it makes and the look of the whole.  I am also really loving the giant ball.

400 meters of delicious Dk yarn.  They do it to keep things cost effective and price wise, but I love it because the ball sits so tidy in the project bag.  There is no frivolous bouncing around.  It is too massive so it sits like a little child waiting for a treat.

I am going to work on this one again today.  It feels right for the very fall looking day.  

Something different

I have been mangling my yellow Hiraeth.  Successfully I think.  I hope.  

When I started working on it yesterday, the first thing I thought was 'such luxury'.  It slid so soft through my fingers.  The yarn is Arcane Fibre Works and I can only say It.  Is.  Delicious.  

In real life, the yellow is brilliant.  It's such a clear strong colour.  It will break any glum winter spirit I get into.

I have been thinking about shawls lately.  I used to wear one at night to keep the chill off my shoulders.  I need a new one.  It has to be something not too fancy and I need the shape to be simple.  I am thinking about Vera Valimaki's 3/4 Hap shawl or a simple triangle.  I am not set on yarns yet but I am thinking about it.  I do have a lot of choices.  

I love my sweater knitting but it's kind of fun, thinking seriously about something different.

Different things

All the ends are woven in on my sweater and I am wearing it this morning.  It is lightweight and really right for this time of year.  

I wasn't sure what to knit on.  My hands needed to knit but my head was so full of my finished sweater that it was a hard choice.  I randomly pulled this out of the depths of the WIPs bin.

This has been on my needles forever.  It is not a sweater so I usually forget it.  Eventually will get it done but there is no rush.  I moved the progress keeper at the start of the day and what you see here is from the end of the day.  So far, I am at 11 inches so about half done. That is much more than I thought.  

Otherwise, today I am going to pick up my brilliant yellow Hiraeith and am keeping my fingers crossed this next bit works out.  

Done....

Yesterday, just after brunch, I finished the Kauni sweater.

I completely love this.  I love the colours.  I love the fit.  I love gentleness of the way the colours work together.

I still have to weave in ends and clip the colour joins but that won't take long.  It's the mornings work.  

I really would like to work on chair pads to get that project out of the way.  They sit beside me, accusing, saying why don't you work on me, but my wing is still sore.  I have an ache in the muscles between shoulder and elbow.  Some days it is almost gone and the next, I can't carry a cup of coffee.  It's a pain in all ways.

Still, I HAVE A FINISHED SWEATER!!!  Everything else is so much less important.  And that is how I choose to make my wee little world work.

Done the purples.

Only the greens and some garter stitch to go.

I am happy with my work yesterday even though it wasn't much.  I did make it to about halfway through the purple section on the sleeve I was working on.  That's going to be where my focus will go today.  I would love to finish knitting one sleeve but I don't think so.  It's a little ambitious.

And that is it for today.  Not feeling a hundred percent seems to suck the life right out of me.   I suspect this is normal.  Ah well.  The sun shines and that pretty good.

What I can

First up, Stash Down Diaries has a nice post about Woolstock East.  Not so much from the show, but you can really tell she had a great time.

I made it to the end of the purple section on sleeve one.

I have the next garter section to go before I move over to do the purple on sleeve two and through the green and a final garter section to finish sleeve two.  I am so close to finishing.

I want to show you my progress/not progress on my chair pad.  I have some fleeting upper arm pain that is making this project go slower than the other pads.  Crochet seems to bother my arm more that knitting.  

I love the strong contrast on this one.  It is much much more interesting to work on than the bag of tawny greens.

And that's it for today.  I wish it was more but there it is.  I do what I can and am happy with that. 

Yarn Festivals and Sharing the Joy

I went to the Manitoba Fibre Festival yesterday, courtesy of  MyPinkBathtub-Diane on YouTube.  A great event.  There were lots of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta yarn dyer and farm producers and all sorts of good things.

I love following youtubers as they go through festivals.  I don't get out and watching these fill me with the joy stepping into a yarn shop gives me.  I watch Amora loves yarn on YouTube as well.  She loves going to yarn shows and it's wonderful seeing all the colours and the sheer joy of it.  She is British so most of her shows are from Great Britain but it's great to see what is going on over there.

The South Sea Podcasters I watch (Australia and New Zealand) have gone to several shows that I really adored.  Its how I get my yarn thrills without the danger of purchasing.  I have a hard enough time avoiding yarn buying online at the best of times.

The one place I seriously would love to go is Sandnesgarn's outlet shop.  Oline from Norwegianknitter goes once in a while and it is one of those places that just made me salivate.  I love me a good discount section.

And Briggs and Little.  Every once in a while someone out there goes to their shop at the mill and it just makes me cry the way it did when I went there and sat, all alone in the store while the ladies had their lunch.  It was a dream come true to be surrounded by all that yarny goodness.  

I am kind of hoping that someone out there gives me a bit of a show from the Prairie Fibre Festival too.

I miss yarn stores.  Who wouldn't but I get a lot of pleasure from watching other people go, and I really appreciate them sharing the joy.  

 

Everything

I worked a little bit on everything this weekend.  

I have 2 sleeves well underway.

They are about half completed.  I know this because my plan is to knit to the green and that is only a purple section away on both sleeves.  It looks like little progress from Friday but it is a lot.  Half done.  I keep telling myself that.  Maybe it will keep my MOJO strong.

On Sunday, I went in another direction.  I made a decision on something I was waffling on.

I loved knitting the rib on my nascent Sock Monkey sweater.  The more I knit, the more I became concerned about wearing the rib over time.  I don't want to knit a sweater only for it to grow to oversized.  I want a sweater to remain fresh looking.  Not crisp but not sloppy either.  I want it to make me say 'I did this' when I put it on in the morning.  I want it to feel good.

This

Has become this.

The same idea but no full body ribbing.  I have taken the time to add a couple more stitches to the edges before I did the increases.  I love how that wider edge looks on the back of a sweater with a European shoulder.  Otherwise its going to be a nice basic sweater with a good strong 2 x 2 ribbed edge in the red and cream.  

I guess that really isn't everything.  I did feel like working on my bright yellow Hiraeth sweater.  I didn't get there because I plain ran out of days.  That's going to be my main work once this Kauni miracle is completed.  One master work at a time.

This morning it is back to the chair pad box even if the morning is rapidly ticking away.  Time for tea.  Time to get to work.

Colour games

I will show you a quick shot of the chair pad

It's longer than that now because I did work on it yesterday.  

I wanted to talk about how the Kauni sweater is going.

As you can see, both sleeves are on needles.  I never do two at a time sleeves but on this, I must.

Each colour section of the Kauni took about one body section of ten rows.  I want the sleeves to match the sequence of colour on the body.  Because the sleeves are so much smaller, I need to play a few colour games.

I only had to remove a small walnut of colour to start the second colour section.  It's not too bad.  The bits can be used later with my third ball of Kauni which I won't need to use at all for the sweater.  Once the second colour section is knit on sleeve two, I will go back to sleeve one and knit colour section two and so on, alternating sleeves so the colours match the body with as little fuss as possible.

This sweater is so close to complete. The only thing left once I cast off the last sleeve is to tidy up ends.  This is all a very toothy sort of yarn and I have worked the ends together as I changed yarns.  All there will be is to weave in start and finish ends and then snip the change ends to a tidy length.  Finishing will be quick.

This is going to be today's work.  I really want this done.  It's a perfect sweater for fall and fall is here.  Time to get to work.

A weekend

What is a weekend?  says  the Dowager Countess on Downton Abbey.  A weekend is what you make it. That is what I say.

I made mine and though it wasn't perfect, it was pretty great. Lots of knitting and an epic  F1 race.  

I did start another chair pad and I did go with the blue.  

Just two rows in but it is a start.  I will work on this again today.  

I am so pleased to show you the Kauni sweater.

The body is complete and

the sleeve one is underway.  I got through the first section of stockinette and am halfway through the first garter stitch section.  I did go up to a 4.5 mm needle.  I knit tighter on these short circs when I knit in the round.  

I do want this finished but I needed to put this aside for a bit so I don't get bored or dispirited by it.  I picked up my Sock Monkey sweater.  

There is something so energizing about knitting a two by two rib in a marled yarn.  It might not be your jam, but it does seem to be mine.  And can I just say, I love this yarn.  This is Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic and it's is perfect for this.  Two plys are white or almost white and one is a lovely silvery grey.  I wish I had a slightly less sharp tip for this but since I am going slowly, what I have works.

In racing, Kim Antonelli won the race after coming from very far back on the grid.  It was just great watching this fearless young man.  It was also fun watching the crowds.  In the heart of Ferrari country, the Ferrari fans did not care if he was racing in a Mercedes.  He is young, and is the first Italian driver to win in Italy for 60 years.  

And that was my lovely weekend.    

Good days

It only a chair pad made of yarn and colours I don't particularly like but it gave me the same deep satisfaction that any finished object gives me.

 I think the next one will be the blues.  There are a couple extra blue bits and pieces that may or may not be used in the blue chair pad.  I want to put them to use in the mixed pad if I can so the mixed colours will wait.

Once that was finished, I felt so good that I put the pedal to the floor (it is a race weekend), and finished this. 

The body is not quite complete.  This is only the back but that long garter section is done.  The front will only be five garter ridges so it won't take too long to do.  One good day of work and the body will be complete.  This is so exciting.

I felt so good by the end of the day that I celebrated by going to bed early.  Because that is the way to cookie crumbles.  

Today's chores are the usual.  Laundry and dishes but you know what?  I'm rather pleased to have the energy and the mental capacity to do it.  It's going to be a good day.

Good enough for me

So close.  So very close.

This is all the yarn that remains to be used up for my third chair pad.  

I.  Am.  So.  Glad. It's almost done.  

As I was starting this chair pad, I picked out and sorted yarn for the next couple of chair pads.

One in green and gold and 

One in a mix of blues and an assortment of dark greys and blacks.  

I really don't want to work on these colours.  Maybe on the blues but I couldn't work on those greens and gold if it killed me.  I just don't have the heart for that right now.  

What I will do, I think is start one in the bag of left overs and assorted colours.  

So long as there is 400 grams in here, a pad will successfully be made.  Though as I paw through things here, maybe I should do the blue first.  Just not the green and gold.  

I am so happy that it is September.  Summer was a blur of pain and disorder and I hope that fall and cooler temperatures will work magic on me.  I also hope I get my house back in order and clean again if I have the energy.  Not feeling good made it so hard to keep up.  I also find it difficult to write when I am not feeling good. Ah well.  I feel good today.  Surprisingly good.  I will take it as I find it.

So today I will finish this third chair pad and then I will knit on a sweater.  I don't know which one but one of three or four.  And that will be enough. 

  

So far so fair.

You can see which way my wandering needles took me.

This is my new yarn from Australia's Bendigo Woollen Mills.  This is the Classic line and I can tell you, it is really nice.  

The sweater I am making takes all of its inspiration from the Sock Monkey Cabin Blanket.  I am startingbwith a European shoulder for a nice casual fit so the deep ribs can relax rather than open up.  

So far, so fair.  

Yahoo. Maybe.

I wanted to knit a lot this weekend.  The world didn't work that way.  It was a difficult weekend.  It wasn't pain so much as tired and uncooperative muscles.  Exhaustion is very wearing.  The heat will be done soon and I am looking forward to that.

I did get some knitting in though.

This is the bottom garter ridge section on the back.  I went with a split at the sides because I want to add an additional 5 ridges so it hangs a bit longer.  The front will be fine with 5 ridges.  

After this the sleeves and that is it.  Then I get to knit with something different.  Yahoo. To be honest I'm getting a bit tired of this sweater.  I have been working on it in earnest for a couple weeks now and I'm just so done with it.  This may lead to a wild cast on.  You just never know where things will take me.  

Non cooperation

The chair pad is not cooperating.  

When I was sorting out my yarn kerfuffle, I noticed there was something wrong with the last brown stripe.  It was too wide and that bugged me.  Harumph

For a very simple project this chair pad is a pain.

I am also surprised at how much it bothers me.  Normally, on a chair pad, where you never really see it, I could let it go.  I have no idea why it irked me but it did.  I sorted that out and went merrily on my way.  

I am keeping my focus on emptying this bin of yarn.  I may not really enjoy the work but these thick chair pads are really just the thing.  So much more effective that commercial chair pads.  Just two more pads to go and the task will be done.

It works

For some pretty benign things, these chairpads seem to put out a lot of drama.  

I was working yesterday, on the second last brown stripe when this happened.  

Half of my brown yarn is running out.  Full skeins should give me four full stripes.  These were used partially skeins and I knew that going in.  But now what?  I was sure I had a plan only I did not remember it.

I dug in the bin in case something there would remind me.  And voila!  

  A third partially used ball.  There is lots here for the last stripe.  

Nicely done world. 

Was this my plan?  I have no idea but it works.

Back to sweaters

In between yarn fondling, there was knitting.

And crochet.  My chair pads are proceeding nicely.

I seem to be getting in a stripe each day before I get sick of it.  This was yesterday's progress. 

Back to last Friday, I decided I need to do serious work on one of my existing sweaters.  Any sweater really.  I just want one of them completed before I start on the new yarns.  I decided that the one closest to the finish was going to be my best bet.  

I need 3 inches more on the body.  It seems like I needed 3 more inches on the body for the last month.  I did not put a progress keeper on it because it is striped.  I thought that would be enough but maybe not.  The alternating garter ridges and colour stockinette feels everlasting.  

If you look in the top right of the picture, you can see the last bit of ball one of the Kauni.  It is ending on the pleasing rich green.  I have two more balls of this colourway and one of them starts with the green. No muss.  No fuss.  I have also used three full balls now of the Tove so I will likely use five balls till the sweater is done.  

That's where the day will take me again today.  The chair pad and the sweater will be the work of the day.  And then, I am going to gently nag Keith into getting me a coffee and something treat like from the new coffee roaster and coffee shop in town.  Sounds like a good day all around.  

Ridiculous

I spent the weekend fondling yarn.  If you were here you would have too.  And then I started thinking about the yarn I purchased this year.  It's ridiculous. 

I bought Cascade 220 in February for a Flea sweater which I am so excited to have in my knitting plans again.  And then I ordered yarn for an interesting blanket in neon colours.  I love this project.  

Then I calmed down a bit till I became interested in some Scandinavian yarn from the small Hillesvag mill.  My Ask is that perfect spring green.  Of course if you are shipping from BC, you may as well make it worthwhile.  I also bought some Fjallalopi.  Just to try it of course. 

And then with this lovely Australian yarn.  

It's been a good year for purchasing yarn. 5 sweater quantities and blanket yarn.  Plus a bit of sock yarn too.  It's been a decent year for knitting too but since my goal is to knit from stash, buying yarn is not what I ought to be doing.    At this rate, I will need another bin, just for this year's yarn.  

Obviously I need to knit lots and lots, just for the fun of it. It's really all quite ridiculous and I love it.

It came!

It came!  It came!  It came!

I watch a number of Australian and New Zealand podcasts. It's interesting seeing a different perspective of the world even in knitting.  Different yarns.  Different seasons.  Watching them for the last year made me very aware of yarn festivals and yarn lines that we never hear about here.  

It made me want.  Not going to lie but I became obsessed by Australian yarns.  I debated all summer.  I put the idea firmly aside several times.  

  I caved.  And I am completely and utterly thrilled.  It came. I could hardly believe it when Keith said yes it was at the post office.  I felt like a little kid waiting for Christmas.

It's lovely yarn.  

I started with their Classic line. These giant wonderful balls are 200 grams and 400 metres of Australian goodness are $16.95 Australian.  Our dollars are pretty much equal at the moment so it's a pretty great price. It was $45 shipping but again, when you think of the price of shipping within Canada and how far this has to come, it is reasonable.  There were taxes and duty of $18 on the package, an expected cost.  There were 2 sweaters worth of yarn in my package so when you add all of it up, it is about $120 per sweater.  That is a decent price , in my opinion.  Not a bargain price to be sure but reasonable.  

Classic is an interesting yarn.  It has a crepe twist.  Or spin.  Or ply.  There is a little bit of a different look and feel to it.  

I hope you can see that little bit unusual looking twist.  I can't wait to knit with it and I can't wait to wear it.  

Guess what it's going to be.  

It's going to be a sock monkey style sweater.  Body marled, ribbing cream and red like a good sock monkey.  I have wanted more monkey business for a while but I've knit enough blankets.  Time for something for me.  

Because the cost of shipping was an up to 10 balls sort of thing, you know what I did.  

I fell for the Rustic Tweed.  These are utterly beautiful tweeds.  Rich deep colours and a regular twist makes for some pretty great yarn.  I meant to get the green but when I was ordering I think I pushed the button on this colour, Poseidon which was the other colour I was considering. I either colour, it's going to be a great sweater.

This was not a really responsible purchase.  It really wasn't yarn I needed.  I have tons and tons of stash.  Sometimes it's about more than need.  And that's okay.  Even if it's about yarn from Australia.