We're Almost Through This Phase Folks

Four down.

Two more to go.

Pretty soon, you won't have to hear another word about neon sock yarn from me EVER again.

Well... maybe.

"Officially" Done

As some of you may now know... I have finally finished The Shawl That Took Me Longer Than Anything I Have Ever Knit In My Entire Life. Those who know me well, know how much time I spent on this project. In fact... those of you who don't know me at all, other than from this here blog know how much time I spent on this project. And while I loved every minute of it, and would even go so far as to say that I miss working on it... I am so happy that I am done with it. 

And not just "done with it" in the "Yah, I'm done. I cast off. I just need to sew in the ends, block it and get it up on Ravelry" sense of the term. 

I am ACTUALLY done. 

I have cast off. I have sewn in the ends. I have blocked it, and I have it up on Ravelry. 

That's about as 'done' as any knitting project could possibly get.

Since I am fortunate enough to have a lot of really good people (aka 'knitters') in my life who just 'get it' when a project of such proportions comes off the needles, I had one show up at my door on the Monday of the Thanksgiving long weekend and say "Come on! Get outside and let me take your picture with your beautiful new shawl!" (Okay... not really... I might have actually known that she was coming, but still... It is insanely nice of her to crawl out of bed on a holiday Monday to come over to my place and snap some pics!)

So here you have it. A collection of photos taken by my good friend Tara. Not only does her photography beautifully capture the most colourful time of year, it also does a pretty good job of capturing a project that can easily claim the title of 'most colourful', as least as far as my Ravelry project page is concerned.

As it just so happens, I bought this yarn while in London with my family, visiting my sister last February. In the days leading up to our trip, my husband asked me what I was looking forward to most. I replied with "I can't wait to walk into Liberty, with all the time in the world, and pick out a pattern, some yarn and some needles to make a project for ME". While I could tell he was a tad puzzled that I didn't respond with "I can't wait to go to the Imperial War Museum with YOU honey!" he knows better than to react negatively to such a statement. At least not to my face anyway. (Why the heck do you think I married him!?!?!?)

So the reason for telling you all of this?

Conveniently... I happen to have a ticket to take me back to dear London scheduled for this coming Sunday.

My birthmark arrived later in life, in the form of a dot of grey hair on the back of my head.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

I couldn't have 'officially' finished this project at a better time.

Details of the yarn, pattern and needles can be found here

And what exactly do you think I'm most excited about doing in London this time around?

I think you all know me well enough at this point to hazard a pretty good guess.

Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend Flowers at the Parental's

Cheerio!

Crossing Christmas Gifts Off My List

So, the thing about most of my knitting lately... is that it has mostly been in preparation for the 2014 gift giving season. 

Yah, I know. None of us want to acknowledge that Christmas is actually going to happen anytime soon, especially with this beautiful, warm Fall that we are having. After last winter, we are all understandably, in denial. But since this seems to be the year that I have found myself with a bit more time than I have in the past, I thought I would bite the bullet and knit socks for (almost) everyone on my list. (Uhm... sorry about the little spoiler there dear loved ones).

So while I shall try not bore you with each and every pair as I churn through them, this pair in particular seems to warrant a shout out.

And why is that??? You ask.

Because the yarn was an absolute delight to knit with.

And while I am not going to share the colourway here until these puppies have been gifted to one faithful blog reader in particular, (hence, the black and white photography), I do need to tell you about the yarn itself. Because each and every stitch was like a little slice of heaven.

The yarn? Northbound Knitting's Superwash Merino/Nylon. The perfect blend for a pair of hard wearing socks, but still an absolute pleasure to knit up.

This is a yarn I had never knit with, let alone heard of, before stumbling into Lettuce Knit one day this past summer. It has a beautifully tight twist and I suspect will wear well in the recipient's boots throughout the entirety of this upcoming Canadian winter (and hopefully, a few more after that!)

The good news? I can now cross another Christmas gift off of my list.
The bad news? I can no longer knit with this beautiful, bouncy yarn!
The silver lining? I happen to have also snagged a skein of it for myself.

Because isn't that how everyone plays the sock yarn game?

"One for you, and one for me".

Sort of like eating a box of chocolates...

♥

Aaaaaaaand.... We're Back

Apologies for the radio silence. Between having a wee bug floating between the walls of our house, and just general 'beginning of Fall mania', this poor website appears to have been swept under the carpet for some time.

I am back however, and I have been knitting like a maniac.

Mostly socks... which is likely getting pretty old for all of you kind folks that are still tuning in.

But also other things.

But first...

See that?

You know it.

My beast of a scarf/shawl is COMPLETE!

And sewing in the ends only took me three hours and fifteen minutes of uninterrupted podcast listening time. (Yes. I timed it).

Rowan inspired photo shoot to come. (HECK NO I'm not kidding!)

Until then, or until I post some other knitting up and around these here parts...

I leave you with...

The absolutely stunning colours of Collingwood, Ontario from this past weekend.

So get your wools ready!

Winter is a comin'!