Category Archives: Yarn

Knitting woes and a come back!

Posted on by
16

Things don’t seem to be going right for me knit wise this week.

Monday I realized I was using the wrong weight of yarn on a project…..

Today I realized that I made a mistake at the beginning of a shawl I started now that I’m halfway in…..

I was feeling rather frustrated about my wasted knitting time until I pulled out my blocking board to pin out this beauty!

These are the gorgeous cables from a sweater I just finished.

The pattern in Elia by Julia Trice and the yarn is the very scrumptious Colour Adventures Bella Worsted in Sour Cherry. What an amazing pairing!

All will be revealed shortly!

I can’t wait to show you the finished sweater. Its my first sweater knit with a hand dyed yarn!

I hope you have been having more lucky with your knitting than I have at the moment. Tell me, what are you knitting?

Splitstone

Posted on by
18

Pattern: Splitstone by Alicia Plummer

Yarn: Cascade 220 in colourway 9456

My Rav Project Page

I finished my test knit for Alicia and I couldn’t be happier with this.

I’ve been hoarding this colour of Cascade for something special. It’s such a beautiful blue with a bit of a purple undertone. I assumed it would eventually become something for T but when I saw Alicia’s vest I just knew it would have to be a Splitstone for me.

One thing I enjoy so much about Alicia’s patterns is that I never have to lengthen ANYTHING. She has the long torso down to a science!

We took these pictures during a snowmobiling trip through the woods. We had a little bonfire on the trail and toasted marshmallows before I striped off the snow pants to get a couple of quick shots.

Splitstone has already been getting lots of wear but I’m HOPING I will be able to put it away for a few months to enjoy some warmer weather….

The snowfall this morning doesn’t leave me with much hope though.

Marion

Posted on by
20

It has to be said that the Business Casual KAL definitely took up all of my blogging time. I had no idea it would get so big but I’m glad to be able to get back into my regular blogging schedule again.

I recently finished a test knit for Andi Satterlund of Untangling Knots. You may remember Chuck and Agatha that I have previously test for her. I adore both of those knits and wear them often so  I knew when she posted her yellow version of Marion that I needed to add it to my wardrobe too.

Pattern: Marion by Andi Satterlund *pattern still in testing*

Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash in colour 864

Needles: 5mm

Ravelry Project Page

I have had my eye on this colour of Cascade Superwash at my LYS since last summer. I loved it from the get go but was unsure what I should knit with it.

When Andi asked me to test I knew right away it had to be this colour. Thankfully they had just enough skeins left when I went back to check.

I did something a little different with this photoshoot. I really wanted to show how fabulous this little cardi looks casually as well as dressed up.

You know I love to add things to my wardrobe that are multi functional.

 For Casual I paired it with my favourite jeans and plaid shirt. I will likely wear it with jeans most of the time because there isn’t a lot of cause to dress up running around on The Ridge.

I do however like to wear a dress any chance I get so when the occasion arises I’ll reach for my favourite polka dotted one. These cropped cardigans look so great with dresses that have full skirts.

I was once again stumped when it came to buttons for this cardigan.

I bought silver and green buttons but kept coming back to some brown wooden ones I had in my stash. It was a nice contrast but the issue I had with the brown is that I knew I wanted to wear it with my black dress and I just didn’t think I could handle the brown buttons with a black dress. Yes I am weirdly anal but colour matching.

Finally I tried some black leather look buttons from my stash and had a hand to forehead moment. Why didn’t I think of black to begin with!

 I can’t gush enough about Andi’s patterns, the construction, the style, all so perfectly perfect.

I will no doubt be in line to cast on her next pattern.

Crossroads

Posted on by
17

This was a quick test for Elena of Anadiomena Designs.

Pattern : Crossroads Hat by Elena Nodel

Yarn: Colour Adventures Sweet Merino DK in Aegean Sea and Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton Colour 125.

My Rav Project Page

A sweet little hat that is perfect for using up all those scraps in your stash.

The whole hat uses approx 50 grams of yarn.

 Stripes are addictive by themselves but seeing that slip stitch pattern emerge really had we wanting to keep knitting until it was finished.

 A great unisex pattern to whip up for a gift.

I gave T a couple of colour options and of course she chose blue. It paired up very nicely with some grey left overs I had kicking around.

Little T is just getting over a bad bout of pneumonia and actually her first time being sick other than a runny nose. It was quite a shock for all of us when we found out she was so ill, at first we suspected the flu but when she wasn’t getting any better we knew something was up.

Its so nice to see her smiling face in these pictures and know that she is back to the fun loving little girl we are used to seeing.

Definitely a deserving recipient of one of Mama’s hand knit hugs!

Business Casual KAL – Prize Alert

Posted on by
20

We have more beautiful FO’s this week!

Rhonda of JediKnits finished her pair of Business Casual’s in Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in Pink Grapefruit. I have a soft spot for the Pink Grapefruit colourway and might have gasped when I saw these. Love!!

Viki of Ruby in Stitches used Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in the Twilight colourway for her socks. Love the semi solidness of these!

Sarah of Wicked Stitches knit her socks toe up and two at a time using Tanis Blue Label in the Dove colourway. Another beautiful grey pair. *Grey seems to be a popular colour for this KAL.

Mel of Knits with Camels used a variegated skein of Tanis Blue Label in the Aquarium colourway. I don’t recognize this colourway, not sure if its an OOAK or an older colour…. I love that this pattern works well with solids right through to variegated’s. Endless possibilities.

  Tracylw knit Business Casual’s for her husband who has a size 14 foot!!! She used  Tanis Blue Label in the midnight colourway.

DivaDar used Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi for her socks. Love the striping of this Pleasant Prairie colourway.

SOMESylvie knit her version with Squoosh FiberArts Merino Cashmere Sock in the Blackberry Crush colourway.

RoseHiver knit these gorgeous BC’s out of Tanis Blue label in a OOAK *one of a kind* colourway Raspberry Burst.

Hege of Cloudberry knit business casual’s for her husband using Garnstudio Drops Fabel in colour 300.

Pam of Califishknits finished her socks using Knit Picks Stroll Multi in the atmosphere colourway. Another fun stripey pair.

Well done everyone for finishing your socks so quickly!!

Since we are on the topic of yarn…. how about a few more yarn prizes!

The lovely ladies of Wandering Cat Yarns are generously offering up a skein of their delicious hand dyed yarn as a prize.

 This is Wandering Cat Yarns House Cat.

400 yards of 100% merino in the Water Dragon colourway.

Thankfully this prize isn’t at my house because I don’t think it would ever make it to the mailbox!  Thank you so much ladies for this beautiful prize.

Megan of Stockinette Zombies dipped into her own stash and is offering a skein of Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in the Thrills colourway for one lucky finisher!

Photo copyright Tanis Fiber Arts used with permission.

Thrills was the May 2012 colourway from Tanis Year in Colour Club.

So 3 skeins of yarn are up for grabs if you finish your socks and have a picture of the FO up by March 25th. I do have more prizes coming up but I’m going to hold off on those for a while yet :)

How are your socks coming along this week??

I know quite a few people that finished early have started a second pair!

Business Casual KAL -Travelling Stitch

Posted on by
13

I made great progress last week on my socks. I’m cast on one sock in each colourway and have been tandem knitting them back and forth. This method seems to be working out well for me and Iove being able to play with both colours at the same time. I managed to turn the heel of each sock this week.

 The Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in Brick.

This colourway seems to be pooling a bit but I think the colours are close enough that they won’t be that noticeable once they are complete.

Tanis aptly named this colourway Brick. The colour is spot on!

Wandering Cat Yarns Barn Cat BFL in Parrotfish

I thought this was going to be a variegated skein but to my surprise when I started knitting I realized it was striping. I’m really enjoying this colour combo, reminds me of the beach.

Now how have your socks been coming along??

Woweee! We have two finished pairs of socks already!

Sara of LundenKnits knit her socks in a mere 3 days! Incredible.

She used Tanis Purple Label Cashmere Sock in Sliver Plume.

I love the shades of grey with subtle pops of pink in these socks.

The colourway is a special kit colourway and not available through Tanis shop.

I believe Sara has a second pair on the go already!

Monika of Smoking Hot Needles also finished her socks in 3 days.

I want these ladies sock knitting stealth for sure!

Monika knit her version with Wandering Cat Yarn’s Alley Cat BFL in the Fern Gully colourway.

Everyone else’s socks are looking good!

Here are a couple of WIP’s from this week.

Left to Right : Versions by Deadlysmurf, Laina and Hotcheese

Left to Right : Versions by Fancybell, Redknitz, and Tracylw.

Make sure your projects are tagged CCObusinesscasualkal because there are ton’s more WIP shots to come next week!

I’m going to leave you with a short video of how I do the travelling stitch. I know some folks are having a bit of trouble so I’ve tried to explain how I do it.

The video was a quick job because I have a sick little girl at home so hopefully this won’t confuse you even more!

Travelling Stitch

Welsh Country Socks

Posted on by
14

Pattern: Welsh Country Socks by Nancy Bush from the book Folk Socks

Yarn: Patons Kroy Sock, undyed and Knit Picks Stroll Solids in Ash.

My Rav Project Page

I have been wanting to knit this pattern for years. In fact Folk Socks was the first sock book I ever bought back in 2006. I’m glad I finally took the time to make them. Simple with just enough colour changing and stranded knitting to keep it interesting.

If you are looking for some mindless socks with a few simple changes I would definitely recommend this pattern.

Mods: I started out with 82 sts and decreased down to 64 for the foot. If I were to knit these again I would cast on less stitches for a tighter leg.

I also added the stranded motif to the start of the toe as well as the leg. The original socks in the book were knit this way and I think it really ties everything together nicely.

 I finished knitting these almost 3 weeks ago but am only now getting around to taking pictures of them. I knew there was no way I was going to start a sock KAL with socks still on my needles. I would have been doomed from the get go. I don’t plan on having any languishing UFO’s this year. I’m going to knit and complete everything in a timely manner and not bombard my needles with too many projects. I may even tackle some of my poor sock UFO’s from last year that I just didn’t have the heart to frog.

I  already have a list of sock patterns ready to cast on once my business casual’s are complete so I best get knitting!

No Snow Blues

Posted on by
11

Winter has been anything but spectacular so far this year. We had a few dumpings of snow although nothing has really stuck for any length of time. Last week it was -37C  but during the middle of the week we had a huge wind and rain storm with temps going up to 10C…… Mother Nature just doesn’t know what it wants to do this year.

The wind storm we had caused mass power loss across the province, trees were dropping like flies and people loosing shingles left and right.

What we are left with is straw coloured grass and lots of fire wood to cut up for next year…..

I’m glad that through all of this I at least have some pretty knitting to look at.

I’m testing Splitstone for Alicia Plummer in the most gorgeous shade of Cascade 220.

My Rav project page

The colour number is 9456 in case you are interested.

The cable pattern adorning the front of this one is very intuitive and is making for a quick knit. I only had two skeins of this in my stash but managed to track down another one from my LYS. I’m currently at a stand still while I wait for it to arrive.

In the meantime I’m enjoying looking at this brilliant blue.

It is definitely helping the “no snow blues”.

Business Casual KAL – Casting On

Posted on by
16

I’m so excited so many of you are joining me in knitting Business Casual. I expected 10 -20 and got 115 participants to date! I am gobsmacked to say the least and cannot WAIT to do an FO Parade. Just think of all those finished socks!

Of course with that many people joining me I couldn’t just leave it at one prize…… I’ll be adding more to the list as we go along so keep a look out for Prize Alerts!

Tanis has given us the go ahead to use the picture above for our project pages and blog posts about the KAL so feel free to spread the love. Don’t forget to sign up HERE to be eligible for prizes and tag your project pages with CCObusinesscasualkal so I we can all see each others progress. I will be using some of your pics for update posts, with permission of course. If you need help tagging let me know and I’ll walk you through it.

I loved hearing what yarns you have chosen to use so I think its about time I share mine with you.

I have this lovely skein of Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in the Brick colourway that I’ll be using to cast on with for my business casuals.

Its a semi sold so those different peaks of colour will add some interest to the diamond pattern as I knit.

That isn’t however the only pair of business casual’s I’ll be knitting. I won this skein of Wandering Cat’s Barn Cat in the ParrotFish colourway last year on Monika’s blog.

 I always thought it would make a nice pair of variegated business casuals and since I couldn’t decide whether to do a variegated pair or semi solid I’m just going to knit them both!!

All caked up and ready to go!

Now before you all go running off to cast on I wanted to show you the cast on method used in the pattern. Tanis refers to it as an elastic cast on. It is my first time casting on this way  but one that I will absolutely be using from now it. It leaves a wonderfully stretchy edge and takes most of the fiddle work out of casting on and joining that first row.

I know some of you are fairly new to sock knitting and even those who aren’t new like me, may find it interesting!

Elastic Cast On

Now GO CAST ON!!!

If you would like to link blog posts about your projects for others to catch up on feel free to do so below with the link.

 

Acquisition

Posted on by
12

 A yarny package in the mail is the perfect pick me up after everything that went on last week.

Last year, and it has almost been a year now, I received the most wonderful birthday gift from Monika. A gift certificate for the Wandering Cat Yarn’s etsy shop. *Thank you Monika* I didn’t want to make a spontaneous purchase with no project in mind so I held onto the gift certificate and kept my eye on the Wandering Cat’s shop updates waiting for THE yarn to pop up.

If you read Monika’s blog you know she uses Wandering Cat Yarns in a lot of her projects so there are always tons of colourways been thrown at me.

A few weeks ago she flashed a new acquisition and I knew immediately it needed to be mine.

I contacted Rhonda and in a matter of days she custom dyed me a skein of Alley Cat BFL in the English Toffee colourway and had it on route. Now that’s customer service!

Here is my lovely just waiting to be knit!

Monika has already made her skein into a pair of beautiful Hex socks.

I have just the pattern in mind for mine and once the Business Casual KAL is over I’ll be casting on!

Do you have an acquisition’s just waiting to be knit up?