Hats are Happening Here

There has been a lot of hat knitting around here these days. Lots of it. Two winters ago I got discouraged because all of my hats were turning out either giant, or small enough to fit only a sweet little pin of a head. So, I found a solution- a sideways knit hat! That way, you just keep knitting until it fits your head, no matter how big or small it may be!
The pattern is from the Lang Denim book but is available at stores as a free tear sheet. I checked to see if the distributor had it posted on their site but not yet. Ah well. I love it. I have cranked out three or four of them at this point. The one in the picture is just a sample for the store, I made one for my sister, one for myself and then another one out of a different yarn that I wasn't so thrilled with. (Ok- so that's four then).

Yarn? Tosca
How much? Two balls.
Needles? 7mm


Why not get all trendy and wear it like this?
When I'm feeling trendy, that's just what I do.


This hat is knit from the Jane Ellison Mirasol book. I do love the yarn. Hacho. Holy smokes I love the yarn. The hat turned out a little small so I made it a bit bigger but had to dip into a second skein. Ah well. It's only $7.99 a skein so that's not so bad. Such lovely and soft merino though. Just lovely.


So, that's it for today. Now I'm going to put on my hat and clear the snow off my car. Am I ever glad I didn't give up on hats forever. I knew I would one day find another pattern I loved.
I love.

Check it.

Do you know what this is? It's not just a pretty house... this is the image that greets you when you come across the all new website of Mary's Yarns!

Is this not a lovely spot for some yarn?
We finally got it together and the website is up.
I couldn't be more tickled.
I would love to hear thoughts.

I Knitted a Noro Sweater

It's been a while- I know, but lots has been happening on my knitting needles. Lots. I will start this with post and we shall get reacquainted with all that is knitting in my life.
For this post, you may want to slip on a pair of sunglasses. Don't say I didn't warn you.

So, I have always wanted to knit a giant cabled Noro sweater. Not because I ever thought it would flatter my figure but more just because I thought it would be a riot to make. So, I finally did it. It's huge, it's bright and it's definately not flattering to any figure but I love it. I love how well its shape mimics the era in which I was born. I want some shiny leggings and a scrunchy and I want to dance until my pony tail comes out.

Not to mention, it's cold here. It's getting cold and this country is known for it's coldness. If it's going to be cold, you may as well wear something that doesn't make you feel even more depressed than you already do. This should do the trick.





Yarn? About 18 balls of Noro Silk Garden in colour number 258.
Pattern? From a Noro book which I have since forgotten the number of. (If you really want it just message me and I can dig up the book.)
Needles? 6mm so it was a rather quick knit.
Fun Factor? So much fun it hurts.

Silk Spun and Hats Galore

Oooohh La-La... What a wild past few days it has been. So much happening with knitting, birthdays, sales and Thanksgiving (Happy Thanksgiving by the way). Things have been rather good around here. Good turkey, good squash and believe it or not... good corn. The corn is still good. Rare for this time of year...

So, the sale was a lovely success and what I was most tickled about was the response we got regarding the hats. So many hats were brought in that I just had a snap a shot of it. They are still hanging in the store and I just love them... I don't want to take them down... but people keep coming in asking if they can buy them. I hate to break their kind hearts with a 'No' but I must. When the cold weather rolls around they will be brought to the people that need them most. As for us knitters, we can just knit ourselves another one.

Now, it's kind of hard to take a decent shot of a window when sunshine is glowing through but you get the idea. See how festive we were?

Onto some knitting... this is nothing over-the-top but worth noting I think. I knit a Fleece Artist Silk Spun shawl and while ago and just never got around to posting it here... So, this is it.

Colourway? I'm not sure... I'm never quite sure with Fleece Artist as the shade cards always look vastly different from the actual final product. Fortunately, I do always love what knits up.
I knit it on a 7mm needles as she suggests 6mm, 7mm or 8mm. I naturally just knit with the first pair I came across.

I also think I will include a stunning picture of my little brother (well, not-so-little brother when standing next to me) modeling the silk scarf. We were in the comforts of our own home as he is rarely seen in public not wearing brown.

OH! And who is the scarf for? My Aunt. Who just turned 50. Next post will be about what I gave my Mom, who just turned 50 and turns out to be far smaller than I had originally thought. You know what that means when trying to knit for someone... Oi.

Little Bitt-uh Baby

So, I've got a sweater for you- it just happens to be a sweater for a 2 year old. That still counts though. Right? Isn't it sweet? I just had a hoot knitting it. I had put it aside to knit on my holiday last month but I just couldn't resist it sitting there looking at me. So I cast on, knit the entire thing in about 3 days before my trip but then left the last arm until oh... a couple of days ago. I mean really...
This is how I operate. Catching on?


Anyway, it was knit from the top down and I just adore doing that. Really. If you haven't done it- do it. Such a good way to knit a sweater. Especially one like that. A plain and simple pull-over. And there is no back or front. The wee tyke can pull it on over their head whichever way they want and it makes no difference. The pattern even discusses how brilliant this will make the little person feel. They can get dressed all by themselves. Nevermind that their jeans are on backwards. Their sweater will make up for it.

So, you want the details?
Pattern- Cabin Fever Top Down Pull-Over
Needles- 4mm circular 40cm long
Yarn- Naturally Buttons EXACTLY 5 balls. (I literally had enough left over to maybe make a wimpy cat toy) colour #893

So, that's it. For now. There is more. But not today.
Enjoy the cool weather and your knitting.

A Sale of a Party

For those of you that shop at the store, you may have received a newsletter informing you of the event taking place next week. For those of you that don't... I thought I would pass along the news.

Mary (the person, not the store) is turning 50 on friday! So that means that we're having a party over at Mary's Yarns in Unionville. Uh huh... a party with lots of ridiculously discounted yarns. What fun! I loooooove those kind of parties.


So, allow me to give you a run-down of what' s happening. The room that normally houses all of our 50% off stuff will be 'beefed up' significantly and anything that's blue (we mean solid blue, not with a bit of blue thrown into it) will be 25% off as it is the colour of sapphire, the birthstone of September.

On top of all that... if you knit a hat and bring it in for us to give to charity, you can get any one thing you please at 50% off as well! That means that book you've wanted forever will be half price... or those blocking wires you haven't really felt like splurging on- whatever your heart fancies at the store- it's yours.

So, I just wanted to put the word out there to those in the GTA that didn't know already. You have 6 days to whip off a hat. A happy-birthday-half-price-hat. My favorite kind.

Oh, and a note on that piece of cake- yes, chocolate is Mary's favorite flavour. In case you were wondering. I found the pretty little piece here.

Kissing Summer Adios

Summer is now over, I have taken my holiday and we are well into September. The crisp weather has inspired me to kick things into high gear all around and I realize that perhaps this is one area of my life that I should consider doing that. So, here I am. Thanks for coming back and I hope you had a nice summer.

I shall slowly reveal the summer knitting that happened chez moi. Nothing too major as far as I know came off the needles, but little bits and pieces to keep me interested. My summer knitting always consists of lots of little things. Accessories... I love, love, love those. Knit or not. But this, is a knitting blog. So I will only reveal the knit ones. Until I completely run out of things to say. But that rarely happens.

So, I went to Italy for 2 weeks and all I knit was this little sock. The other one is almost done. I lovelovelove this stuff. Kaffe Fassett Regia. OOoooooo it's nice. I hadn't knit with Regia in forever and it's a treat. A real treat. Colour #4259.

I know it's pretty pathetic for having been on holiday with nothing to do but sightsee, eat and swim but I tell you, it was so hot that I lived on the beach, and I didn't have a beach chair. Knitting crosslegged on a beach in such heat just wasn't going to happen. So, I read. That's ok, right?

Onto other things, you may have noticed that I have a problem with finishing things... I love the knitting but when it comes to felting, sewing up, etc, I suck. Perhaps that's why I like socks! Just graft the sweet little toe and you're done. Anyway, my mom has the same problem but this summer we discovered that when we work together, we can actually get a project done. Huh. Fancy that. So, here is the result of us putting out needles together. A felted bag from Fleece Artist. It's one of her kits called Toto done by Purl Grey.


Who did what do you ask? My mom knit the handles, I knit the base and body of the bag and she felted it. What a team! It was a fun little project though. It would make a great little gift. Or... a great (ahem) sample for the store.

Ok. No more knitting for now. Just one last thing. Flowers? Come on. Indulge me a little. They won't be around much longer. Look what I pulled from the garden.


Take a whiff of that why don't you?

Oh, I'm still knitting.

Hello fellow bloggers.
It has been a beautiful summer and I have knit lots. I have not blogged lots though. I just don't find myself in the 'computer room' this time of year nearly as often as I do in say... October.
I am leaving on vacation for 2 weeks today but when I get back, I shall share all of my summer knitting with you. I knit lots and lots and lots this summer. The heat never stops me from knitting, just blogging.
Until I return,
xoxo
l.

Summer Hats and Hot Sweaters

I must get ready for work here... and I have spent my morning drinking coffee and knitting on a giant hot sweater, despite the heat.
So, in lieu of writing a very wordy post- I leave with a few pictures with brief descriptions.
I hope that sits alright with you.

Here is a kids cotton sun hat being modeled by a flower in the garden at the store.
Yarn? Mandarin Petite.
I love that stuff.


Here is a flower that I just couldn't resist taking a picture of that was hanging out right next to the hat.


Here is the big hot sweater that I am knitting in the heat.
Yarn?
Noro Silk Garden.
Believe it or not... I love that stuff too.

It's almost like I have forgotten how to knit.

But really... I haven't.
Forgotten that is.
Life has just been passing me by.
I tell you, the month of June FLEW and I am not the only one to think that.
Many have mentioned it to me recently.
I just said goodbye to a dear friend who was visiting for a while here and while it was a fantastic visit completely and all around- she does not knit.
And I didn't get as much knitting done as I would have if she did.
You know what I mean?
We were on the go the whole time doing fun, fun things- just not knitting fun.
But I have managed to get a bit more done in the past few days.
And, I have also managed to get some jam made.
The strawberries and rhubarb were plentiful this year so I gave it a shot.
Why not?
So, here you go.



Jam.

Next post--- knitting.
(And maybe a bit of felting.)

This and That for my Knitters Today.

Alright, a cute little sweater, for you all to look at and think about how badly you wish you had a baby... only to close the window and realize that really, you don't.
Cute eh?
Thanks you! But I can't take the credit. My dearest mother can though! Again, for our baby- the store.
It's just a sweet little top-down cardi out of some lovely yarn called Calmo by Lana Grossa.



So, we have a grade 10 practicum student at the store with us for a while and as we normally do, we get them to knit a sample for the store. Usually, a baby garment. Whether people choose to knit a baby garment like it or not is up to them, but it's a good way to show how yarn will knit up.
Especially in this case.



Here is the yarn. Needful's Cotton Joy. We love it. And our lovely student appears to love knitting with it.
See for yourself.



See how happy she is?
I'll post a photo of the complete project when the time comes.

As for me and my knitting, this is what I have to show you today.
A yellow swatch, and some precious little buttons that I trekked downtown for.
(I'm actually far further along than it looks.)



Oh... I love to knit.
I do.

Lacey, Lace, Lace

How nice it is to finish a lace project. It's been discussed before-nothing is more satisfying than blocking out a piece of lace. To me, all those hours of knitting are well worth it when I finally get to pull the daylights out of it and admire all the little holes and patterns.
My lace, is hot pink.
Why not?
You can choose to agree or disagree with it.

Here we are pre-blocking on my (wool) carpet.

Here we are blocking outside in the nice warm weather.


Here we are nice and totally done, sunning on the lovely little flowers in the yard.


Here we are... 'hanging' out. (Sorry-that was terrible, but I couldn't resist).

Here's the info you need to know-
Swallowtail shawl.
Interweave knits Fall 2006.
Designed by-Evelyn A. Clark.
Yarn- Garnstudio Drops Alpaca. Only 2 balls! (make that one and 3/4)
Colour- uhm... I don't know the colour number. But, it's hot pink- hard to miss.
Needles- 3.5 mm Addi Turbo lace needles.
How long did it take? I don't know. I'm an ADD knitter. I knit about seventy different things on any given day. I would say, not long though.

Anything else?
No, I think that's everything.

Notice I have posted more than once this week? I'm getting better at this.
Finally.

Back in Business

So, the degree is done and I am now home sweet home. How weird it is. Yet... it won't really hit until next September when for the first time in my life, I won't be heading back to school.
Ack.
For now though, I am happily embracing summer/spring.
I had a nice drive with a nice driving friend back from Halifax.
This is of course is my car, and my driving companion, ready to hit the road.
How we made the car move out of the driveway is beyond me. It was terribly stuffed.
Two girls moving across the country have a lot of stuff to move. Believe me.
Primarily... yarn, and fabric. See the sewing maching tucked in there? That car had three of them in total in there. My yarn, had to be shipped.


Anyway, knitting news.
My last few weeks of school allowed for little knitting time.
But these socks (yarn unknown-from my stash) came off the needles.
They represent my exams and those last few weeks in Halifax.
They are now... interestingly enough, in the mail being sent to a friend who is from, Halifax.
I know, I am not the most efficient person.


Since my knitting isn't exactly blog-worthy, allow me to show you what my family was busy producing while I was away.
My mom has a yarn shop and lots of knitting time is devoted to 'shop knitting'. While there are no babies in our lives it is always fun to knit up something for wee ones. The 'baby room' is the closest thing that we have to a baby of our own.
Here is a blanket that she knit up out of Needful Yarns Baby Soft and my-oh-my... is it ever soft. Surprised?
It's a wool/cotton/synthetic blend and I would happily wrap myself in this creation.



Now, here is something interesting... My Grandma knit this up for my brother, and my mom assembled it. A team effort you could say. It was knit out of lots of scraps from my mom's stash, primarily Smart I think. It was knit in strips and they did a lovely job of making sure that none of the same colours ended up side by side.
So, there are a few shots to keep you entertained.
Can you guess which colour is my brother's favorite?
Brown?
How did you guess?






As for me, I have been knitting my face off since I got home and actually have a bit to show for it.
I promise to be more prompt with postings from now on.
Really.
I have no excuse.

A Mini-Sweater for Spring Dresses

I finished something ELSE! How thrilled am I? I am especially thrilled too because I can actually share this one with you! Now, this is something that I started a while ago but had thrown aside because I had to rip back a bit of it. It flared out at the bottom, much like I had been warned and so I had to rip it back and knit some darts in the back. But now, it fits in a lovely way and I even got to wear it out last night with my lovely blue dress with white polka-dots! If I had a decent picture of the whole outfit, I would indeed share it but alas... my camera seems to hate me. Each and every picture of me is... well, less than flattering.

Anyway, this yarn is the 'neon white' yarn I bought a while back when I went yarn shopping over my birthday weekend in November. It's the Blue Sky 100% Cotton. I love it. It's insanely soft.
The pattern is the Glampyre Knits 'Mini-Sweater', click the link for the free pattern!
I am in love with top-down knitting. I can't express that enough so, this was super fun for moi.
I think I'm going to knit it again... but this time in Needful Yarns 'Kim' or 'Kelly'. I want one in every colour.
Really.
So, that's it for me.
Time to go enjoy spring.

Finished Objects and Knitting Babies

I finished something... like, really and completely finished something.
But, I am only going to disappoint you by saying... it is unavailable to be viewed until... SEPTEMBER! You see... it is for my mom's big birthday in September and since she checks this thing probably more than all of you put together... I just can't ruin the surprise.
But I'm so pleased with it, I couldn't go without at least mentioning it.
I am looking at it right now.
Sigh...

In other news, "Nova Scotia's Next Top Knitter" was born and here she is in all her wondrous glory. A wonderful knitting friend of mine just had her and I spent Sunday afternoon with her. I have big plans for this knitter, big plans. See how her hands have already assumed the 'holding knitting needle' position?


I see a star.

So in the midst of all of these exams, I am going to take a 'knitting shop' break and visit some of my Halifax yarn shop friends today. I feel I need a break from this room and those books.

Happy Easter to the Knitters

Wishing you all a very happy Easter weekend.
May it be full of knitting, good food and not as much recycling as my house seems to have accumulated.
(Note- the THREE recycling bins we have in the kitchen were over flowing, causing numerous cereal boxes to creep into the background of this picture. Apologies all around.)

Welcoming Spring (and the end of my degree)

While the picture to follow isn't exactly full of spring colours and freshness, it has within it sun, no snow and a big welcome sign. That was put there, on my front step, as a welcome to spring once the snow has melted and the sun is shining. Well, that's what I would like to believe anyway. While we didn't have an altogether snowy winter out here Halifax, you get the point... right? It's nice to not have to wear my big winter coat every time I step out to take a wee stroll to buy milk.



The socks? Oh yeah. The socks. They're just... some socks... I made... throughout this madness called 'the end of school'. They are what has gotten me through these last few seminars and tutorials. I got the yarn in the fall in Mahone Bay at Have a Yarn. They are some Regia 'anniversary edition' yarn that was put on sale. Not exciting... but they'll do the trick.
They are currently on my feet, doing their job well.

Last weekend I attended a 24 hour knit-a-thon at The Loop in order to help make hats and such for various shelters in the area. While my efforts were somewhat fruitless, I did manage to get this lovely shot of knitters. Isn't that great? Look at them all click away.



So, enjoy your week. I shall be back soon, soon, soon.

Need a Quick Gift?

Oh wow. I had no idea I had gone this long without blogging. I am currently in the midst of the last month of this degree. Surely you can find it in your heart to forgive me.
I must be perfectly honest with you... knitting hasn't been happening too much around "Chez Me". Just... a lot of reading.
BUT, I did manage to whip these off in a bit of tizzy, just in time to send them to a dear friend of mine for her birthday.

I love these mitts. They are from the Fleece Artist.
And they are the ever-so-lovely Soft Mitten Kit.
These colours looked somewhat watermelon-ish to me so I though I'd give 'em a whirl.
You can whip these babies off the needles in no time at all. So if you are ever in a pinch, this is your solution!
Now, I have knit a few pairs of these and I tend to make the cuffs longer as you are left with a lot of extra yarn so you can afford to do that. And I added the buttons just because... I love buttons.

Ok, I'll be back with more... when there is more.
Sorry about this.

Socks Squared

Ok. So the title says "socks" and yes... there are plenty of those to come but I also knit myself this lovely little 'knitted helmet' and I feel as though you deserve a little looksie. It's from this website and it's called the Amelia Earhart Aviator cap. Whether I'll wear it on a regular basis has yet to be decided... but it was a hoot to make. One of those obsessive little projects that you whip through in one sitting and take breaks only for the bathroom and to make more tea. I knit it out of Scheepjes 'Donna' and I do love it. 50 wool/50 acrylic. Lovely. Just like this picture. (ahem)


Now, here are my first pair of socks for this post for you. They are the Monkey Socks from Knitty and I had a great time with them. Recognize the yarn? It's my Sweet Georgia yarn in 'Blue Fig'. Sadly, it's hard to see the pattern in these photos but it's the best that my camera can do at the moment. Please forgive moi. Notice how differently the colour in both came out? Funny. I love them though.


Here's another shot for you... with a cozy dust bunny hanging off of my left foot.


And here is another pair of socks that were sitting on my desk for over a month... just needing a second toe. I finally got to it and they're done. I did them out of Trekking XXL in colour 131.


Wanna play 'spot the dust bunny' with me?
Er, just kidding.

Lynn did some dying.

So, I tried my hand at dying.
The result? Not quite as satisfying a final product as hoped, but a completely satisfying process, for sure.
I enjoyed it immensely. I did it last sunday evening and what a perfect project for a sunday.

I bought one of these Louet kits from The Loop a while back and finally got around to doing it.

I got myself the 'green' kit and was surprised to see that it didn't have various shades of green... but a deep blue, an olive green and a bright yellow. Now, I realize that together they are all 'greenish' but the website made it look to me like it was comprised of various shades of green. Well that is, before I had dyed the wool. Now, it makes sense.

So, I followed the instructions and squirted the blue dye on the wool first.
(please excuse the curious roomate in the background feeding George Bush his dinner)

And then followed the green.



And then, the yellow. (I'm using every ounce of maturity I have to refrain from making a very juvenile comment regarding what that bottle of dye looks like)

So... it was pretty insane looking.
Not the nice and tasteful green I had been hoping for to make myself a lovely lace scarf out of. I think now it's going to go towards some socks for someone. If I tell them that not only did I knit the socks... but also dyed the yarn... they will be forever impressed and not so frightened by the garishness of the colours.

Now in all fairness, I hung the yarn over my cupboard door so that I could stare at it everyday and now, a week later it has grown on me and I think I quite like it. It was just wildly colourful initially but now... it looks a little less loud.
I'm all for 'loud', but when it's not what you're going for, it can be a bit alarming.


See? Not so bad afterall. I would wear these socks.
Indeed.

Christmas Clogs...

I know... it's a month later here but I am just getting to posting pictures of Christmas knitting. I figured that I would save it for a time when I needed a bit of 'tying-over' in between projects. I seem to be in the midst of numerous 'almost done' projects, not to mention (ahem) school work.

Anyway, all of that knitting I was doing before Christmas was none other than felted clogs for my three siblings. I must confess... it got a little monotonous but at least it was kept even. It was also a bit of an experiment on my part. An experiment in felting wool that is... as I used a different brand for each pair. Now, I ran into a bit of a problem here... I panicked a wee bit and didn't felt them down as much as they needed to be felted. They were all given GIANT slippers for Christmas. I didn't get around to tossing them in the wash one last time before I took off for Halifax once again, so I left it in the hands of my poor mother to finish up the process. My one sister still wore hers around but I anticipate several tumbles down the stairs if she keeps that up.

Anyways, since they were never completely felted, I don't have any shots of them finished, felted and on feet. I would only have pictures like that if... I was a completely organized person. Which, I'm definately not. But, I did manage a shot of them after being knit.


The brown pair on the bottom were for my brother made out of Galway.
The coral and mauve pair were done out of Cascade 220.
And the dark purple and green (yes... that's what they are) were done out of Brown Sheep.

Which did I like better???
Ugh.
I don't know.
Tough call. I like... them all?
The pair that I did for myself were out of Cascade 220 and I must say that they have held up quite well. I initially liked the Galway the most but the fuzziness of the Brown Sheep was just so...enticing. Those ones ended up being the most expensive though, as I had to buy more yarn for those last few stupid rows... (the bottoms don't match because they were going to end up being $60.00 clogs which I provided the labour for).

Anyways, it was a fun little task and perhaps at some point in my blogging life I will get a picture of them all felted up and on feet.
Don't count on that until next Christmas though.

Mohair cupcake on me

Remember how I didn't want to divulge any information regarding my cupcake inspired project? Well... I feel as though now that the project is complete, I can talk a wee bit about it.

First, a photo.
Well, alright... maybe two.
I can't take the credit for it really... other than alright, I guess I did knit it. A customer at the store marched in wearing this vest over the holidays and I fell so in love with it because she had knit it out of the exact yarn I had been gushing over for ages but just couldn't decide what to do with it. She so kindly took the vest off of her back and let me try it on.
I cast on as soon as my knitting needles would behave.
Now, the only thing that I really did differently than the dear customer was go up one needle size (to a 6.5 mm) and pull it across to make the button and buttonhole. Her vest just lies open. I needed more... coverage?
The yarn is by Needful Yarns and it's called Piccadilly. It has that perfect blend of colour... fuzz and sparkle. Dress it up... or dress it down? I like the in between stages. You can go anywhere.

The pattern... was one from the customer's head. And you know what???? It couldn't be easier. Because, it's a rectangle!
Yup.
It's true.

Cast on 180 stitches. Knit 2, Purl 2 for 6".
Decrease down to 90 stitches.
Knit in stocking stitch for about 17" total (including the ribbing).
Increase back up to 180 stitches and knit 2, purl 2 for 6".
Cast off.
Sew the top and bottom edges of the ribbing together (this will be where the armpit is approximately).
And there you have a vest... For the buttonhole, I just left a little gap in the seam as I was sewing and there it was!

You could do this with pretty much any yarn and I do intend to experiment with others. If using Piccadilly though, it takes 4 balls.

It made it's big debut today and I am happy to report that my torso remained toasty even through this snowstorm of a Halifax kinda day.

Enjoy, and do let me know if you give it a go. I'm sooooo nosey.