And... Onto The Next Pair

 Have you ever finished a project not because you actually wanted to finish the project... not because you actually needed whatever that project was (in this case... a pair of socks)... and not even because you have a deadline looming (even if you actually do!) but you finish simply because you find yourself REALLY wanting to use the needles and project bag for something else?

For example... this week, I decided to pull out my #1 fave project bag that my good buddy Tara made me when I got engaged back in May of 2012. Hidden within that project bag, was a pair of socks that I had started in the Spring that I have been chipping away very slowly at. Don't some socks seem to feel like they take FOREVER to knit, while others just fall off the needles??? No matter how amazing the yarn is? Or is that just me?

I had a new ball of yarn in hand that I was all keen to get rolling with, but this roadblock stopped me right in my tracks. I couldn't very well evict the perfectly good socks that were SO close to completion, just because I had the urge to cast on something else!

As for the needles- let's be real. I have access to a yarn shop at any hour of the day, but in a way to try and tame that wild woman within me that wants to grab a new pair of needles for every project that I ever make... I have been trying my hand at just FINISHING the odd project so that I can use those needles, rather than always reach for a new pair. This certainly doesn't always work, but it's a start.

So, after a few terse words with myself (when a girl wants to cast on, a girl wants to cast on!), I sat down for a few good hours, finished these socks and promptly turned around and got rolling with what was next on my "TO KNIT" list.

I sort of love when yarn pools all crazy-like on a pair of socks

 It was worth it. Right? A black and white pair of socks for yours truly with little pops of pink. 

I love it.

And while I grumbled at the thought of having to finish them (so ridiculous), I'm pretty pleased that I did. 

While there is nothing fancy about these puppies... There is also NOTHING better than a freshly knit pair of socks.

Info For All of You Nosey Sock Knitters  

Yarn- Manos Allegria in shade 8105 "Cabaret" (Set to land at Mary's Yarns sometime in the next few weeks!)
Needles- 2.5mm 80cm Addi Turbo- I made the switch! I think I'm an official "Magic Looper" now! (Who AM I!??!?!)
Pattern- The one that I keep stored in my head where I should really be keeping other useful information.

As for the project bag... You're with me, right?

Cutest. Bag. EVER!

Happy Fall to you all!

♥

We Heart You, Baby

My mom has had a baby blanket knit up in the shop as a sample since the beginning of Mary's Yarns time. It was knit by our very talented friend, the late Ellen Matheson and this blanket has been lovingly draped over the chair in the baby room for years.

While the blanket holds fond, fond memories for both my mom and I, I suspect that many customers have wondered why we have held onto it for so long. Our sample was knit out of an off white, sorta-scratchy, hand wash only, 100% wool, and I love it. In my perfect world, that's just what all babies would be swaddled in. There is simply nothing warmer! But... I realize that I am in the vast minority who think this way.

So, I felt as though it was time for an "update".

A "re-do".

But certainly not a "replacement".

So quite spontaneously, I cast on.

And much faster than I thought I would...

I then cast off.

I must confess that over the years, I have had my moments when I have thought this particular pattern to be a little bit "cheesy". Like... "Hearts? Really? Cutesy much?"

Those of you who have been to the shop and have seen my "heart scribbles" all over our handwritten signs, know that I love hearts just as much (if not more!) as the next person. But knitting hearts into a baby blanket seemed to be pushing it juuuuust a little.

But as more and more people around me start to have babies, I realize the significance of both this blanket, and this motif.

We knit blankets for new babies because we want to welcome them into this world with loads of warmth, and loads of love.

And what better way to do that, than with little knitted hearts?

Sometimes there are just no words to express how much you love someone.

So instead, you knit.

Some Lovey-Dovey Project Info

Pattern- Fiber Trends "The Heart Blanket" CH24 (we have copies at the shop)
Yarn- Four skeins of Butterfly Super 10 in shade 3925 "Lavender Ice", 100% mercerized cotton (we have this in the shop too)
Needles- 4.5mm, 80 cm Knitters Pride Symphonie Dreamz Interchangeable (which I LOVE, especially for someone who tends to only knit with Addi's!)
Mods- None whatsoever. I did JUST as the pattern told me to for the smaller of the two sizes. Had I shaved off one row of hearts however, I might have gotten away with a mere three skeins of yarn. But this time, I thought I would follow the rules.

Sorry. I should have smoothed out that wrinkle. This is sort of a terrible photo.

So while this blanket has no plans to go to any baby in particular, for the time being it will live nicely with the "original"- the one that has inspired countless knitters who have come into the shop to knit a little "love" into their project.

Happy end of summer knitters.

Whether you are thrilled to bid the hot, hot heat farewell, or are feeling rather down trodden about it all...

We inherited two apple trees with our new house. Apple sauce anyone?

 Remember that crisp nights means crisp apples! (And an excuse to pull out the hand knit socks again!)

So, dig in.

♥

Summer Has Almost Slipped By

Greetings long lost friends. I swear to you, that I think of you everyday. And everyday I think to myself "I really want to check in with those guys- see how summer is treating everybody." And then... the day slips away.

Agh, who am I kidding??? This entire summer has slipped away! Am I right?

While I find people who answer the question "How are you???" with "I have been SO busy" (who isn't busy!?!?!?) to be terribly boring, I must confess... that has been my answer as of late.

Things have been busy.

But in all of the best ways possible.

We bought an old house.

Closing Day

We are enjoying summer.

Echinacea at it's best

And I am trying my best to get in as much knitting as possible.

Knitting content coming soon.

Scout's honour.

But until then, I hope all of you have also been VERY busy this summer... with your knitting, of course.

♥

Snuggle Up, Baby

When my mom and I were down at TNNA together in June (the bi-annual trade show for yarn shop owners much like ourselves), we mosied on into the Appalachian Baby Knits booth, much like we do every year.

Each year we go into the booth, each year we hum and we haw over all of the beautiful kits and each year we decide to "leave it until next year".

But this year...we took the bait.

And we ordered.

A lot.

Maybe not as much as we could have... but enough to fill a few big boxes that arrived on our doorstep about a week ago.

As is often the case with buying at this show, we sometimes find ourselves getting SUPER excited about something on the show floor, but as soon we tear into the box once it arrives, it is something entirely different in that box that we simply cannot resist.

Funny how us knitters can change our tune as quickly as Mother Nature has been changing hers as of late. Isn't it?

I surprised myself however when I tore into those huge boxes, and went right to the exact same thing that drew me into their booth at the show.

The 'Snuggle Baby'.

Don't ask me why... but this baby spoke to me.

Was I possibly anticipating the arrival of my buddy Prince George when I cast this guy on???

There was simply no question in my mind that I had to make this baby a part of the hustle and bustle at the shop. Having the kits simply lovingly displayed simply wouldn't do.

We needed 'Baby' herself.

And as for the sad look on her face... it makes me smile.

So that's what I went for.

Should you be interested in welcoming a 'Snuggle Baby' into your family however, you can turn that frown upside down all you like.

Heck, you can even make it look like she's whistling for all I care! (Kudos to you if you manage that BTW... making a doll face is no easy task!)

Sweet, Sad, Snuggle Baby

Wee Babe Details
Pattern- Snuggle Baby by Chris de Longpre
Yarn- Brown Sheep Nature Spun
Needles- 4mm double pointed needles

But since we like to keep things as simple as possible during the hot, hot heat of July... why don't I just tell you that we have kits at the shop.

Deal?

And speaking of shop...

Check out these hydrangeas that have been showing off at Mary's Yarns as of late.

BIG LOVE.

To you, to the hydrangeas, and of course... to Baby.

♥

Short and Sweet

It has been hot lately. And it seems as though everyone has little patience for much else other than iced tea and swimming pools.

So I'm going to keep this short and sweet.

I knit a baby bonnet. (This is the 'sweet' part)

And I love it.

Yarn- Canopy Worsted by the Fibre Company- 50% baby alpaca, 30% merino wool, 20% viscose in the shade "River Dolphin"

Pattern- "Florence" by Kate Gagnon Osborn for the Fibre Company

Needles- 4mm

Lilies in front of the shop

And this is the 'short' part.

Stay cool!
xo

Knit Tags Anyone?

I recently went a little crazy with the crafting and starting stamping and punching out a ka-billion of these little tags for my hand knits.

Photo credit to my talented sister, Heather

Since it is no secret that this girl simply does not get through the amount of knitting she likes to pretend she does, there is no way on this God given green earth that she is going to use even a fraction of these tags on her own.

Not in this lifetime...

Not in fourteen of these lifetimes put together.

These photos confirm that I need to get a camera that is better than my stupid phone...

So I'm going to sell them. With the money going to a good place.

$8.00 for a package of 12 and 100% of the money goes to the Unionville Home Society- a place that has supported many individuals and families that have all supported our dear shop over the years.

Thanks for the mad photo taking skills sister!

So if you're interested, we have them available at Mary's Yarns, or you can purchase them right on this here darned blog. I will even throw in the shipping.

My wish for you is that you work your way through a package of these little tags far faster than I could ever dream.

Now, if you will all excuse me.

My knitting beckons.

♥

A Colourful Cowl

I have a large number of projects that are THISCLOSE to making it to the finish line and since I am getting SOCLOSE, I didn't want to break my stride. So, I recently laid down a few ground rules for myself, in the hopes that I can keep this good thing I have got going.

One of those rules? No casting on anything new until a good batch of projects are officially off the needles.

I threw myself for a loop a few weeks back however, when I spontaneously cast on this cowl, breaking all the rules that I had recently laid out for myself.

Buuut, you know...

Breaking the rules from time to time is what keeps us all young and spritely.

Am I right?

 

The good thing about this cowl however? While I did end up straying from my plans to get through some projects... I managed to plough through this from beginning to end in less than a week.

So... I finished it- and doesn't that count for something?

It's no secret that I fall hard for projects like this one. The colours, the wee bit of technique and the small size of it (not to mention minimal finishing!) all just makes my needles dance with delight. I love it.

From start to finish, it was a ball.

Even if it is a touch too toasty to be sporting this outside...

There will always be some goof out there who has their AC blasting a touch too high for my taste.

Cowls and Sandals- Yah, sure...

Some details for all you colour-lovers out there

Pattern- Inspria Cowl by Graphica
Yarn- Classic Elite's Liberty Wool, 2 balls in one shade and 2 balls in another (4 balls total, 2 colour ways total)
Needles- 5mm, 60 cm Addi Turbo (always)
Mods- I noticed on Ravelry that everyone who has knit this cowl seems to have cast on a different number of stitches for this cowl, based on their yarn and needle choices. Based on other people's numbers, I came up with 162 stitches- and I'm still not sure how. But whatever the case may be, it worked.

I would like wall paper for my powder room like this please!

So there you have it.

One project completed and it feels amazing.

A lovely rose bush at my parent's place

Not so amazing however that I intend to return to my original plan.

In fact, I'm off to cast on something new.

Because as good as it feels to wrap up a project, one must not discount the thrill of casting one on.

PS- Thanks to all of you who chimed in regarding your preference for DPNs or circs. It gave this knitter lots to consider...So appreciated!

xo

Straying

So, I have been experimenting with my sock knitting lately.

CRAZY. Right? So much for only knitting socks when I am sick and/or when I need to keep my hands out of mischief. PFFT!

While I am a very devoted user of double pointed needles, (as is a large chunk of our sock knitting customer base!), I thought I would switch it up.

Needles- Addi Turbo 2.5 mm, 80 cm (WHAT ELSE!?!?!?)

 So, Magic Loop it is.

All of you online people appear to favor this method, so I wanted to know what all of the fuss was about.

Initially? Rather awkward and annoying, but now that I am on the home stretch, it feels as though these socks are simply falling off the needles.

You people are onto something, and I am just a little late to the party.

What else is new?

Note- I am well past the heel and fast approaching the toe at this point. 

 

 

 

 

 

This leaves me in the midst of a somewhat of a moral dilemma. I feel as though I am not being faithful to an old friend or something! Those double pointed needles have served me oh so well...

Thoughts?

Peonies Chez Moi

Is it double points or Magic Loop that makes your sock knitting sing?

I am Definitely a Copycat (So What?)

I have a friend who makes the most beautiful things. Every time she pulls her latest finished project out of her bag I think to myself "She's done it again! It's perfect!"

One project that stands out in particular is her version of Beth Kling's "Henslowe". Her version was done in a delicately soft shade of pink Swan's Island fingering, and as soon as our latest shipment of this yarn arrived at the shop, I had my skein wound and ready to go.

Life being how it is, I didn't get a chance to cast on until just last week. But let me tell you!!! Once I had my head wrapped around the elegant, yet simple patterning, there was just no turning back.

In only a couple of days I was cast off, blocked and ready to show and tell to you.

Admittedly, I would have liked this shawlette to be just a little bit bigger. But it's manageable.

Lucky for me, this was an absolute pleasure to knit (both the yarn AND the pattern), so the thought of re-knitting this is truly no big deal.

Lilacs and lace

At the risk of making a few enemies here, I must confess that I am not the world's biggest fan of lace knitting. I mean... I love knitting lace, but I just don't wear it all that much. Yeh know?

But THIS, I will wear.

Even if it is a touch too tiny.

Info for those of you interested in also copying my buddy Tara

Pattern- Henslowe by Beth Kling
Yarn- Swan's Island Fingering weight, 1 skein in shade 'Beetroot' (we have this at the shop!)
Needles- 4mm 80cm Addi Turbo

See? Small, but sweet.

And so my friends, I will leave you with a pointer in regards to making this shawl bigger, should you find the urge to do so.

It's a fabulously written pattern, and one that is SUPER easy to adjust the size on.

So if you're anything like me and hate reading ahead in patterns because you're just too keen to get cracking, I assure you that there is no tricky math involved in making this piece larger. So just do it. You can skip all the crazy math equations that are usually required to adjust the size of a project.

If math equations were involved, do you seriously think that I would be interested in making this any bigger!?!?!?

Pfft.

So my friends, life is pretty good. Not only do I now have a little shawl that I enjoyed the heck out of making...

The first peony showed her pretty face in the garden this week.

I'll cheers to that!

Eventually, We All Turn Into Our Mothers

As difficult as it is for some of us to admit, eventually, we all turn into our mothers.

Hear me out on this one. Back in March, my mom and I hopped on a plane to attend the Yarn Market News Conference in Baltimore. As we were settling into our seats, we each pulled out a ball of sock yarn that was intended to keep our hands busy throughout all of the lectures we had signed up for. Eager to show one another what we had each chosen out of our entire little shop of wonders (I mean... yarn), it turns out that we had both brought along with us the exact same yarn, just different colours.

Opal's new collection 'Sweet and Spicy' is what we had both independently landed on. However not to be completely identical (a relief for both of us- I'm sure), she ended up with something 'sweet' and myself, some 'spicy'. (Note- if you are someone who happens to know us both, I would appreciate if you would refrain from commenting on that point.)

Momma on the left, Lynn on the right

My husband points out regularly that I am just like my mother. Not a completely bad thing, especially when he likes my mom as much as he does. Often my rants, my obsessions and my interests tend to mirror that of my mom's. I spent much of my teenage-hood fighting this, but I have bigger battles to deal with these days. Besides, this is hardly one worth fighting anymore. Now that my teenage angst is far behind me (HALLELUJAH!), I realize that she is actually a pretty great gal.

If anyone could have predicted that we would end up as alike as we are today when I was 15, no one, and I mean NO ONE would have believed them. (Am I right Mom?)

To be fair, I do spend an unusual amount of time with my mother for a girl my age. And I do believe that if I spent that much time with anyone out there, they would eventually rub off of me, and vice versa. 

But the simple fact that we also happen to share the same DNA probably doesn't hurt.

Left- Opal shade 6756 "Plum", Right- Opal shade 6755 "Spice"

So while I am a little late here on this post (what else is new!?!?!) I would like to take this opportunity to thank my mom for rubbing off on me.

And I would also like you to please note that my tardiness is a not a trait inherited from her, but actually her father.

If it weren't for her... heaven only knows what kind of socks I'd be wearing.

At the shop on my wedding day

Happy Belated Mother's Day.

Lilacs outside the shop this week

May the lilacs in your garden continue to bloom year after year after year...

And your feet always have a pair of hand knit socks to keep them warm.

♥

November Is Sweet, Indeed

Sometimes a particular knitting pattern sweeps across the shop. The staff are knitting it, the customers are knitting it... and in no time, I'm usually knitting it too.

As was the case with this one.

This pattern is titled 'Sweet November', named after a movie starring Charlize Theron in which she wears a shawl similar to this one throughout the entirety of the movie. While I have never seen said movie, I must confess that I was somewhat drawn to the name of this pattern.

"Oh, but why?" you ask. "It's far too beautiful out there finally to be thinking of disgusting November!"

Well... November is when my birthday falls, and while it's generally a pretty terrible month (weather-wise I mean), I do look forward to it. No matter how old we grow, deep down we all enjoy being in the birthday spot-light juuuuuust a little bit. Come on now- admit it! It's true.

Not only does my birthday fall in November, but so does my husband's as well as my brother in law's. And as it turns out, so does our wedding anniversary AND my parent's wedding anniversary.

It's a busy month in our household in which lots of cake is consumed, making November oh-so-sweet, indeed.

The extra 'sweet' bit about this scarf/shawl is that I happened to hear through the rumor mill that Charlize Theron's mom is the one who made the crocheted version(s) that actually appear in the film. You can even get your hands on one for a pretty $298.00 if you so desire.

Lucky for me, I saved a bit of coin by casting this on myself.

Who doesn't love to feel like they've walked away with a deal!?!?!?

I do love me some fringe!

If you can believe it... I might even have enough cash left over to splurge on the DVD.

I would be most glad to pass it your way when I'm through with it.

Cotton/Acrylic blend- perfect for Spring!

Details For All of You Charlize-Wanna-Be's Out There (Don't you worry- I totally fall under this category too)

Pattern- Sweet November Knit Shawl by Caryl Pierre (available for free!)
Yarn- Four balls of SMC Solavita in shade 2101 (close to one entire ball for the fringe)
Needle- 6mm Addi Lace (but I should have listened to the pattern and used a 6.5mm)

So while I would like to argue that November is indeed a very sweet month...

Cherry Blossoms in High Park last weekend

For now... I think I'll stick with May.

♥