Stash Queen

Top 5 Reasons

For Not Getting Much Knitting Done Since My Last Post.

5.  My mom was here for a week while my dad and niece went deer hunting on Manitoulin Island.  (They didn't get a deer but had a good time anyway seeing family.)  This isn't a really good reason for not knitting, since my mom is not someone I have to fuss over or entertain.  She knits too and was working on this beautiful baby blanket while she was here.  It's the Fan Pattern Afghan from the booklet Lacy Baby Afghans by Jeanette Crews Designs. 

 

I temporarily set aside my sister's scarf and did some mindless knitting instead.  I'm making the mitten scarf from Pints and Purls.  I think it's such a cool idea.  You don't really need a specific pattern for it; in fact, I changed the edging on the ribbed scarf and used a four-needle adaptation of my old faithful Patons pattern for the mitts.  The yarn is Patons Classic Wool variegated doing some neat pooling on the first half.  I hope I can get the second piece to come out somewhat the same.  The two halves will be grafted together.

4.  Having mom here involved driving to Sudbury two weekends in a row. This is a good reason for not knitting on the first trip:  I drove by myself, since my DH was busy making pasta for our annual Italian club fundraiser.  But on the second trip, he drove and I was able to work on my dad's Christmas socks.  The ribbed pattern calls for 80 stitches, quite a few more than I usually use, and the legs are longer and the heels deeper than my usual pattern too.  This is the first time I've had to buy more than 100 grams of yarn to complete a pair of socks.  Since I'm knitting both at once and was afraid I'd get all tangled up using both ends of the same ball, I bought two more balls of yarn, doubling the cost of these socks, even though they're a man's size small. 

 

3.  Too much shopping takes away from knitting time.  Mom and I went out a couple of days, shopping and lunching uptown.  I bought a comfy pair of Clarks shoes to show off my handknitted socks.  I haven't owned Mary Janes for thirty years.  When I told my daughter my reason for choosing that style, she said, "You're such a geek."  Yup, an unashamed knitting geek, right here.

Also, we stayed the weekend in Sudbury on the second trip and got some Christmas shopping done.  Probably for the first time ever, I did not buy even one knitting book at Chapters.  (Reason will follow.)

2.  I was sick for two days with a horrible sore throat.  I thought for sure it was going to develop into a bad case of strep just when I had to go to Sudbury for the weekend.  I was taking Advil Cold and Sinus for it, when my husband suggested I try a shot of a super-strong Italian liqueur made only in his home province of Abruzzi.  It's called Centerba, meaning 100 herbs, which should have some medicinal qualities, but its real strength is that it's 70% alcohol.  That would be 140 proof on the American scale!  We usually use it as a digestif.  It has a wonderful burn on the way down, and it must have killed every germ as it went, making my throat feel 140% better within a few hours.  I swear it's a miracle cure!  Too bad the LCBO doesn't import it; you have to know someone going to Italy to bring it back here. 

1.  I've got a piano!  A friend of a friend was willing to give it away to anyone who would pay to have it moved, so now it's in my living room.  I'm so excited!  I took lessons up to grade 8 but haven't had a piano since I left home after university.  I bought a Maran Illustrated Piano book at Chapters as a refresher course and a new songbook Acoustic Rock, since all my sheet music is over thirty years old.  This will cut into my knitting time in the new year, but being such a knitting geek, I'd like to make a runner for the top of it.

Christmas Spoiler, Sis

I often knit something for my sister for Christmas.  She loves wide scarves.  Back in August, when I was last home, she asked if I would knit the Blooming Cotton Scarf for her.  So I think I can blog about it, since it's not a complete surprise anyway.  She wanted it to go with her winter coat, so not cotton and black as the main color, envisioned a variety of bright contrast colors, and wasn't picky about yarn, suggesting that maybe I could use up some odd balls from the stash.  A nice thought.

But I don't tend to knit for myself with bright pink, yellow, orange, lime green etc.  And I didn't want to make such a nice project with acrylic.  I also didn't want to burden her with a big scarf that would have to be hand washed.  I needed 8 colors, 11 balls total, and didn't want to spend a hundred dollars on it either.  I looked all fall for a range of bright colors in similar if not identical yarn and came up short.  So what I've come up with may not be exactly what she imagined, but I think it will be beautiful, and I hope she will like it anyway.

I ordered colors I thought I could use from Knit Picks in Swish worsted so the scarf would be easy care.  Here they are, more like jewel tones, as bright as I could find in that fibre:

The second and third colors from the left are too similar to use together.  I wasn't sure what would work, so I ordered three more balls:

I played around with all the colors and their order, and ended up using two of the new balls in this arrangement:

Here's how it's going:

Since these photos, I've actually used all the colors to the middle bubble and started the next bubble going back through all the colors in reverse.  The scarf is going to be even wider than it looks in the magazine photo, and it's hard to tell how long it will be, since it's bunched on the circular needle.  Thank goodness I bought the extra 40" cord for my Denise set.  Each row seems to take forever with 400 stitches, but the scarf is actually growing quite quickly.  It's the first time I've knit a scarf lengthwise and it does take some mental adjustment.  I think it's going to be exciting when I can finally cut the straight knitted section and unravel those stitches for the fringed ends and see the final product. 

Belated Halloween

I know I should have blogged sooner, but I still want to share my Halloween photos, especially for family members who check my blog.  How cute is the little dude as a lion!

Bub refused to put on his new monkey costume and insisted on being a bat again.  Last year's costume barely fit.  He also insisted on leaving on his Azzuro (blue) Italia hoodie "because I love it."

My daughter designed and sewed costumes for herself and her husband.  She even made her Egyptian necklace and earrings.  She is a big fan of the HBO series Rome.  And we joke that we've been trying to turn her French husband into an Italian ever since they married.  So here are Cleopatra and Mark Anthony.

Nana handed out treats at their house while they took the kids out, and babysat later while they hit a few Halloween parties.   Then the next morning we all went for brunch with my husband's cousins, Father Luigi and his sister Vittoria.  Father Luigi is an  Italian priest on leave from Brazil where he has been a  missionary for 42 years.  He is a wonderful man, with the peaceful face, ready smile, and lively laugh of a man who loves the life he has chosen.  His sister spends half the year in Italy and half in Canada and is, as my husband says, "a real firecracker."  We had a wonderful visit together.

Vittoria used to be a top seamstress with Jantzen sportswear and created the samples for their knitted line for years.  She recognizes good materials and workmanship and was very appreciative when I gave her the Squall mittens that I recently finished.  That's the only knitting related content for this post.  Too busy, but I've got to get cracking on the Christmas knitting. 
 

All Over the Place

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in the Laurentians area of Quebec, north of Montreal.  Look who also came for dinner! 

 

These two little guys and one much bigger raccoon showed up on the deck almost every night to scavenge the seeds from the bird feeders.  We also enjoyed watching woodpeckers, grackles, chickadees and chipmunks throughout the long weekend.  We drove up to Mont Tremblant for the fall colours and spotted a deer on that outing.  Then we went to Ottawa for a couple of days to visit my cousin and his wife.  No wildlife there, but I did get to see his two grandsons, whom I missed seeing on The Island this summer due to chickenpox.  It was a wonderful little holiday before winter sets in.  Knitting from the gift bin was dispersed:  green Patons Stretch socks to my Quebec hostess, and the Thrill mittens and two dishcloths to my cousin's wife.

Trip knitting included these two things, neither of which I've got back to since then.  Another Aestlight shawl, since its first two sections are fairly mindless and perfect for car and company knitting.  I haven't had the time to concentrate on completing its fiddley edging since I've been home.  The multicoloured yarn is sock yarn handpainted by my former LYS owner, Betty Ann.  It's looking great in this!

When I had to set the shawl aside, I switched to a pair of socks for Dad for Christmas, The Classic Sock from Melissa Morgan-Oakes 2-at-a Time Socks book.  The yarn is one of the Kroy Jacquards.  These socks will be my "grab and go" KIP project for the next while.

Back home, I had a few days before my high school girlfriend and her husband came up for the 34th annual Abruzzi Night, the most gala event of our Italian Club.  (Don't ask how many pounds I gained. Who could say "No" to any of those mouthwatering courses!)  I felt I should finish the projects that were so near to completion that they were not sufficient knitting to take for the  week out of town.  So I did.

The Fresh Isle Fingers Scarf, good to the last few inches of yarn.

And two Squall mittens.  I had to buy an extra ball of the Classic Wool just to cover the final thumbnail.  If I'd made the cuffs two rows shorter, I'm sure I'd have been good with one ball.

Then I got distracted.  Sue in Ottawa liked her mother-in-law's Thrill mitts so much that I decided to make her a pair and then realized I wouldn't have enough of the burgundy yarn.  I'll search the stash for a look-alike when I get a chance.  Or maybe just start a totally different pair when I'm in the mood.

I also had a request for mittens decorated to look like bugs, a la Morehouse Farm Merino Knits.  These will be the base for the little dude since Bub can still wear the ones I made for him last winter. (And hasn't lost them, hallelujah!)

Somewhere along the line, I knit a couple of dishcloths, inspired by my knitting girlfriend Anne Marie,

and had a new toilet and vanity installed in the bathroom we've been remodelling for weeks.  Now I'm getting ready for the arrival tomorrow of my husband's cousins, a missionary from Brazil and his sister from Italy.  Things are good but busy here in the north.  By the way, we've had snow on the ground since last Thursday -- not whining, just mentioning.
 
 
 
 
  

Finito

I am pleased to report that progress has been made.  I have FO's to show you!

Charlie's Jojo jacket, modeled by Prayer Bear.  His Nona is taking it to him on her Thanksgiving visit.

Bub's new blankie, ready to go off to daycare each day in the Lightning McQueen backpack.

And another Blowsey Ruffles scarf, since I gave the first one to my daughter.  It was beautiful, but had too much green in it for me.  So this one is - surprise, surprise - more blue.  It is another colorway of the Mille Colori that I used for my Mom's hat and mitts back in January.

I have one Squall mitten completed.  (Pattern purchased from Patternfish.)

I adjusted the pattern a bit for a better fit for my hand.  I used a full repeat of the first rib section before the thumb opening.  Otherwise the cuff did not stay down at the wrist.  And I found that I did not need a full repeat before the top shaping; the mitt as written was too long for my hand.  But I really like the pattern.  I don't like baggy mittens, and the ribbed sections make it fit really well.  The crossed sections are composed of three rows of one-stitch cables, good for practising cabling without a cable needle.  Can't say I'm very fast at that yet, but I'm determined to master the technique since I've never enjoyed fiddling with a cable needle either. 

This past weekend was our annual Northern Ontario Italian Ladies Auxiliaries convention, held at the Caruso Club in Sudbury this year.  I had a great weekend with my gal pals.  Too much food, just enough wine, and pajama parties back in the hotel each night.  I needed some super easy knitting for the bus trip and knew I couldn't handle the temporarily dropping stitches for the cabling of the mittens - not on Highway 144 with its twists and hills, bumps and potholes.  So I started a scarf.  The pattern is Fickle Fingers, from Interweave Knits, but I'm calling mine Freshisle Fingers after the lovely hand dyed yarn.  It's perfect for this, and the unique fringe attracted a lot of attention from knitters and non-knitters alike.

This weekend it's off to Quebec for Thanksgiving with friends.  Gotta get out of town a few times before the long winter sets in..
 
 

 
 
 

Children First

Oh for the lazy days of summer, even if they weren't very summery this year.  We're having a fine Indian summer up north, but everyone is very busy.  Daughter is back in second year of the nursing degree program, including one night course and one morning that begins at 6:30.  Son-in-law is working overtime seven days a week during the mine's annual shutdown/maintenance schedule. The grandkids are back in daycare four days a week - when they aren't sick -  which both have been already.  It's a germ merry-go-round.  DH seems to be the only one with any spare hours to fill.

Occasional knitting progress has been made, but there are no new finished items to show you.  Bub's blanket has three strips sewn together. 

The fourth and final one is underway, then it will get garter stitch borders.  It's slow going because I find the cotton chenille very hard on my hands.  I'm using a size or two smaller needles than the ball band calls for, as always because of my own gauge but also because of chenille's tendency to worm.  I'm pleased with the blanket though.  Bub is old enough not to mind the seams from my chosen method of construction.  If I were knitting this for an infant, I would probably use the intarsia method specified in the pattern to avoid thick seams rubbing sensitive skin.

Currently I am knitting for a friend's new baby grandson, her daughter's first child.  This is Holli Yeoh's JoJo jacket, similar to the Devan V-neck cardigan pattern that is available free from Knitty.  This version has pockets (placement marked by the the pink lines) and a round neck with a flap collar (only partially knit in the photo).  I'm doing the 6 months to 1 year size.

 

You may recognize the same Kroy yarn that I used for socks this summer.  I love this colorway.  This time, I'm pleased to report that I was not fooled by the two different turquoise sequences and there were no nasty knots disrupting the color flow.  Matching the fronts was relatively easy.

Actually I do have one finished item to show, though unfortunately not two.  The Second Sock Syndrome which I have been suffering from for over a month has mutated into a new fall virus - Second Mitten Syndrome.  First symptom showed up after perusing the newest Rowan magazine.

 

I had one ball of each color in the stash and expected that to be enough for fingerless mitts.  With the long plain cuff, however, I used well over half the ball of brown and that means that I will have to order some more Telemark from Knitpicks before I can finish these.  So I've started a new pair of full mittens, not far enough along to be pictureworthy.  Here's the pattern; mine will be from cream colored Classic Merino rediscovered in the stash.  More on them next time.

The Infamous Yarn Room

Baa, baa black sheep, have you any wool?  Yes sir, yes sir, four walls full.

The stash never gets any smaller, folks.  

Fall is prime time for knitters.  I spent a day and a half in the yarn room, reorganizing, trying to prioritize, to decide what I would really like to have to wear (product rather than process knitting), and what and for whom I would knit for Christmas. 

I didn't get all those decisions made, but it was nice reacquainting myself with the stash, periodically necessary.  I feel remotivated to knit from the stash and resist ordering online.  And I have UFOs with great potential, in bags, baskets and boxes, crying for attention.

I still have lots of yarn and a couple of books to explore more lace knitting, but I want to get back into some Fairisle too.  I brought out all my reference books and historical books on Fair Isle and Scandinavian knitting and spent an evening browsing and dreaming.  (Hardcover knitting books have a shelf of honor in the family room bookcase, not seen here.) I culled a lot of old eighties yarn company publications (Pingouin, Phildar, Bergere de France among others) and looked through my years of Knitters, Interweave, and Vogue subscriptions and other newsstand purchases.  I rediscovered some patterns that are still attractive and some ideas that could be updated or incorporated into new projects should I become a little braver about modifying and designing. 

 

It's nice to have the room tidy again, to be able to walk around in here, and to know where things are.  Who knows what you'll see coming out of this effort.

Mostly Socks

The lovely pink and grey wool silk socks are snoozing in the knit-in-public bag while I work on some other yarns at home.  I finished one Galaxy Coriolus, using the rib top from one of the other master patterns in Bordhi's book.  I love the sock, but having chronic SSS, I have not begun the twin yet.  Some of Dad's ducks are keeping the lonely socks company.

 

A while ago, I asked my local LYS owners to try some Poems sock yarn, since they carried the worsted weight Poems.  When it came in, I felt honor bound to knit some up quickly and report on my feelings about the yarn.  I used the Child's French Sock (Ravelry link) from Nancy Bush's Vintage Socks.  Like the Noro, this yarn is very thick and thin, not a great feature for sock yarn IMHO.  The halo is nice though.  Of course, it's the colors that seduce us, but are they enough to make up for my reservations about the wearability of the yarn?  We'll see how long these socks last. 

The yardage of the Poems sock is actually closer to that of laceweight, and I am thinking that I would like to try a small shoulder shawl if I buy this yarn again.

My friend has some Patons Classic Wool slippers waiting to felt, and the last time I looked, I could only find one of mine from last winter, so I worked up another pair from the extra skein I had bought.  This time I used red instead of green for the trim, but now I have at least three slippers in this variegated colorway, so chances of finding two when I need them are much improved.  This is the Bigfoot photo, pre-felting.

 

This blog was going to be called "All Socks, All the Time," but the title had to be changed after a request from a  VIBB - Very Important Big Boy. 

Bub has worn out his old chenille friend Blankie.  Trying to fix all the holes and runs would be next to impossible, and new pale yellow yarn would only emphasize the grayness of the old fellow.  I offered to make a a new blankie from some old Patons Super Chenille, 100% cotton, in my stash.  I expected to make a plain cream-colored rectangle, resembling the original as closely as possible.  To my surprise, I was given permission to use some of the black chenille too and put in some stripes.  Much more interesting for the knitter.  Someone on Ravelry had made the cover afghan on the first Vogue Baby Blankets book without the giraffes, and it made a very nice random patchwork blanket.  I further simplified the pattern by deciding to knit it in strips, so it's coming along quite quickly, despite the fact that knitting with this stuff makes my hands ache.

 

Bub expects his new blankie to be done ASAP, and you know Nanas always aim to please.  My daughter goes back to school soon for her second year in the nursing program.  The little Dude is old enough to go to daycare this year, so both boys will be there for most of the week, with Nana on duty only on Risa's hospital day.  The Dude got a new buzz haircut and is looking very grown up now. 

The new routine starts Tues. 

MIA

I've been out of town again, back down south, this time with DH and friends for a few days in The County - Prince Edward County around Picton, that is.  As usual, we stayed withe the best hosts ever, Ken and Gary at Renlea House in Bloomfield.  We visited  our favorite shops and spots: a day at Sandbanks Provincial Park, lunch at County Cider in Waupoos, evenings at the Waring House, Portabella, and the Devonshire Inn, an afternoon with our friend Harley in Wellington, and two stops at Rose Haven Farm Store.  I bought some Oasis Soysilk for my friend Ann Marie, a Handmaiden stole kit, a Perl Grey stickpin, Fibranatura Yummy and Poems sock yarn the first time.  I thought I could resist the Auracania Ranco, but it turns out I couldn't; hence the second quick stop before leaving town.

Before I left home, I was browsing the most popular patterns on Ravelry and spotted Aestlight.  It was perfect trip knitting for the first two sections, plain garter stitch triangle plus the very repetitive bird's eye lace border.  The final lace edging was trickier to keep track of, but was finished promptly at home.  The yarn is Estelle Cadenza, a trade with Ann Marie for the above-mentioned Soysilk.  I love this little shawl scarf and will be using this pattern again.

 

I'm still on a Cat Bordhi sock kick, sparked by my recent Blossom Top socks.  Before leaving, I finished the Jeweled Steps socks for my friend, but forgot to get a photo before gifting.  For myself, I  completed a pair of house socks using Poems worsted weight.  They are the Hearth and Home design using the Ridgeline architecture.  I'm OK with them not matching exactly; I used all the yarn and had none to spare for lining up stripes.  I did have to start the two balls at different ends to get them this close.

 

Still on the needles is Tall Tibetan sock, a Coriolis design.  I had used the free Coriolis pattern from Knitty Gritty in a heavier weight yarn before I bought the New Pathways book.  This time I'm using Regia Galaxy; the arch expansion of the design resulted in less pooling design, so perhaps it wasn't the best choice.  Hopefully, some squiggles will show up again on the leg.

 

We've finally  been getting our summer, with weather too nice to sit inside and blog.  Since I've been missing in action for so long, I thought I should have a big completed project to show you. I've spent the last two days on my afghan from the Manos Geometry booklet.  I used Octagon I and small squares to join them.  I chose my own color combinations and placement design.  To finish the edges, I preferred a three stitch I-cord instead of switching to crochet, and I'm very happy with the result,  It was very boring to do; good thing I had the new Greg Iles book, The Devil's Punchbowl, on Audible to get me through that long afternoon.

 

 

That's the last of my summer trips.  Hopefully it's not the last of the sunny weather -I'm hoping now for a nice Indian summer.  I should be back on track with blog.  Now I just have to get the eating back on track too!

Not My Fault

I recently got back from a trip down south with my daughter and the boys, to take my niece home after a two week visit and to give my mom and dad some time with the great grandsons.  The week passed pleasantly with no daytime rain (amazing luck), trips to the park and the zoo, and of course some shopping.

We got over to Port Perry to see Carole at Never Enough Wool.  The shop name says it all.  Any overspending is partly her fault for keeping such lovely yarns, so many that my local LYS doesn't carry.  Being able to fondle yarn makes it more irresistible than internet shopping, although I've been known to succumb there too!  I showed some restraint and only purchased sweater yarn for a predetermined project - the Silky Rib sweater from Custom Knits.  And I think part of the blame for that choice falls squarely on Brenda - hers looks so nice on her that she calls it "Slinky Ribs."  (Edited:  Duh!  That is the name of the pattern.  I kept thinking it was Silky Ribs because of the yarn.)  Then my daughter decided to try a pair of socks as her next project, won over by Cookie A's new book.  My daughter is not a timid beginner:  her first mitts, not plain but Chevalier's; her first socks, not plain but Angee's (Ravelry link).  So Risa's the one who found the OnLine sock yarn in wool and silk, but some came home with me too - her fault, see?

 

These are Spring Forward socks and I love this lace pattern.  It looks intricate but it's really just one simple line of pattern to learn and it only shifts once every twelve rows to offset the increase and decrease sections.  Check the chart - nothing to it, but so impressive!

I felt entitled to start these socks because I finished the other Blossom Top sock

and the plain socks knit two at a time on one circular needle (car knitting).

 

I had a love/hate relationship with this yarn.  It's one of the new Kroy colorways and I think it's unusual and more attractive than their former combinations.  Often I don't care if my self striping socks match exactly - I'm happy with kissin' cousins.  However, this time I tried to match the socks as I cast on both and I got fooled.  There are two different sections where turquoise follows black, as I discovered part way through the ribbing.  I tried to convince myself that I could live with another pair of unmatched socks and kept knitting.  Twenty-one rows in, I admitted I was unhappy:  I had wanted this pair to match, I tried to make them match and damn it, I would rip out one sock and reknit it to make them match.  So rip and re-cast on I did.  Not realizing that with both socks on one needle, it would mean slipping the other 60 stitch sock for twenty-one rows until I got caught up.  But I was stuck in the car for eight hours anyway, I hadn't yet managed to complete a pair of socks with this new method, and I didn't want to give up now.  So I persevered and was so happy when I could finally knit a row on both socks again.  Two rows later I encountered a knot followed by a MAJOR jump in the color sequence and was left swearing again.   After all my trials, I could NOT have unmatched socks.  Luckily it was the opposite ball to the one from which I had already wasted so much yarn, and I pulled until I found the next matching section and joined the yarn to carry on.  Please appreciate the perfectly plain but nicely matched socks shown above.  They did not come into being by chance.

I am not the kind of person who can finish two projects and just start one.  That's my nature  and I've accepted it.  It's not my fault either.  So here's the other pair of socks I've started. 

 

They are "Jeweled Steps," another new pathway from Cat Bordhi, made from the leftover Opal Handpaint that my friend bought two summers ago for me to knit her a vest.  The socks will be for her too, and I hope to have them done in two weeks when I go back down south with my DH for our mini vacation in "The County," Prince Edward County, Picton and surrounding area.

Notice the center stitch marker above:  Bordhi recommends using markers with alphabet labels and writes her instructions accordingly.  I found small beads at a local dollar store, A Buck or Two, that slip perfectly onto the Clover safety pin-type stitch markers and even match in colour.  Cool, eh!