A curious gap

A knitter’s “career” goes through different stages. There are certain knits that I believe signal a certain rite of passage. I started off with the basics, stockinette, simple construction, then colourwork, some lace, more intricate constructions for garments, but to this day I am yet to attempt making mitts or socks. Crazy, right? 

Mitts were never really on my radar, I never felt that I MUST knit myself a pair of mitts, but lately my Instagram feed was flooded with beautiful images of mitts thanks to Leighsideknits prompt and challenge #leighsidemittskal2017 . And these pictures sparked something. I am not setting the bar quite as high, I won’t attempt colourwork mitts as a first experience (even though a bit of a challenge never hurt anyone, right?). I am going to start with a more basic, reasonable pattern. I have set my sights on the “Ossify” pattern by Stone Wool.

The pattern has enough texture to keep things interesting and is what seems a pretty basic construction. What I also came to realize in researching patterns is that mitts are a wonderful way to use up those lonely skeins of worsted weight wool that you may have lying around at the bottom of your stash somewhere.  My choice for this pair is a skein of Plucky Knitter’s Scholar in Lonesome Highway ( a great name isn’t it??)

I have just started knitting these up, but I am loving it so far and would like to line up a few more patterns to try. Tell me, what are your favorite mitt patterns? Complicated or simple, what else should I try?

Discovering Portuguese yarn

For me, no trip is complete without a visit to a local yarn shop. Prior to our vacation in Portugal I did quite a bit of research to decide on which one I would duck into during our stay in Lisbon. There were a few to choose from, but as much as I would love to do a yarn crawl in many destinations, there is no way I could expect the family to join along with the same enthusiasm such an endeavor would elicit in me. 


I chose to go to “Retrosaria Rosa Pomar”  and let me tell you, I was not disappointed by my choice.
If, actually no, WHEN I go back to Lisbon I would love to try one of her classes and see if I can learn the Portuguese style of knitting, which she teaches at her shop.

It is a charming yarn shop, tucked away on the second floor of a building in the lively Baixa neighborhood. The space is airy, with yarn spilling from vintage suitcases and off rustic tables. The choices offered are also great. I am starting to become increasingly fascinated with trying locally sourced yarns. I like the idea of  supporting a movement that is bringing focus to sustaining and bringing back to life an industry like the one behind  sheep and wool. My decision to visit this shop was cemented by this post on the Tolt blog a while back where Rosa and her shop were introduced. 

I could not leave the shop without having invested in a few well-chosen skeins. This lovely fingering weight Mé-Mé 2 Ply yarn is currently on my needles and turning into a beautiful Guernsey triangle.

Then there’s a sweater’s worth of worsted weight Beiroa yarn, made from the wool of Bordaleira Serra da Estrela sheep (doesn’t that just roll off the tongue ?) which I have earmarked for Carrie Bostick Hogue’s Shore Cardigan.

And last but not least I convinced a friend visiting Portugal only a few weeks after me to stop by and bring back enough of this yarn to possibly make Hannah Fettig's Gable sweater.

I cannot wait to be able to show you the FO’s once done, and hopefully not a year from now!

More Inspiration - Macaron cardigan

Since we've moved to the suburbs, venturing out into the city is considered "an outing" in our house. We all enjoy our little trips, and make an effort to keep things interesting. 

Before the start of school, we took the kids to one of Montreal's prettiest outdoor markets, "Atwater market". 

It is always such an enjoyable experience. Fresh produce everywhere, the smells and colours all delicious and tempting. My favourite spots is this little patisserie, tucked away in a corner. We always make a pit-stop there, to enjoy a cappuccino or hot chocolate and a macaron.

When I walked in this time, and saw their display, it hit me...this would be a perfect colour combination for a girl's cardigan. Inspiration is funny that way, it lurks in the strangest places.

My project is a girl cardigan called "Semis de printemps". It is another gift for my nieces. Their mom had asked for a simple go-to cardigan that can be used any-time, and this pattern is just that.

The yarn I chose to use for it is Noro Tayo Sock, in a colourway that perfectly suits my inspiration. 

If you recall, I just spoke about colour inspiration in my previous post. To me, it is such an important part of choosing a project to work on.

I'm wondering...what inspires you when you choose yarn for a project?

When knitters get together

As you know, I am a mom. A mom of 2, whose son is quite the sporty type. We have soccer, swimming, hockey, power-skating lessons... it busy, very busy. And as my daughter grows, it's only going to get worse. So finding a day when my schedule is clear is no easy feat. But it worked, for myself and my knitterly friends. We all cleared a Saturday, and gathered at Lilian's place for an afternoon of ....yarn-dyeing.

Lily and I took a workshop together a few years ago, and since then we've been hooked. And sadly enough it's taken us this long to get organized and meet to do it again. This time around however we wanted to try something a little different. Instead of acid dyes we used natural, plant-based ones. 

We had tea, onion peel, pomegranate, turmeric and cabbage. These were not our snacks, but our dyes. It was fascinating to see everyone's imagination take flight and experiments turn out. 

My inspiration came from a few evenings before, when I was having snack and tried to sneak in a few paragraphs from one of my favourite books. The colour I was hoping for is  a pastel yellow-pink-orange colour, and as you can see, it turned out pretty well. I used a combination of pomegranate dye, and onion peel.

It was so much fun! I came home with my mind buzzing with ideas, and thoughts and questions... I looked up articles and plants, and I am going to try this again. For sure! As soon as I can clear my schedule again! Hopefully it will be sooner then a couple of years from now.

As a side note, red cabbage is not a good choice... I guess there is a reason it does not come up as an example when researching natural yarn dyeing. It smells...

Stripes make me happy

It has been a tough winter, so I guess it is no shock that one of the first things I wanted to knit for my little one, was a cozy blanket, something to cuddle her in. I wanted to make an heirloom piece, that she would be able to use throughout her childhood, but then tuck away, to give to her own children one day.

But how to choose? There are so many beautiful patterns out there. I had to find a way to narrow it down. I wondered, should I go with a more intricate pattern, or something simple? To me, in order to show off an interesting pattern or stitch you are better served with a solid colour yarn, whereas if you want to play with colour you are better served by a plain stockinette or garter stitch, maybe even cables. Once I looked at it this way, I decided that I wanted a colourful blanket.

I had always admired these blankets by the Purl Bee, so I started researching yarn and colourways. I can tell you, I splurged....BIG TIME. Six skeins of Madeline Tosh Merino DK will set you back a bit. None of my LYS carry the colours I was looking for, so I had to take a chance and order based on how they looked on my computer's screen. I was a little nervous opening the package, but once opened I absolutely loved my choices. The colours are incredibly bright and intense, and the yarn itself, oh, so soft. The colours I chose are Calligraphy, Fragrant and Candlewick.

I cast on 140 stitches and off I went. I needed a mindless project like this, while I sat in the NICU waiting for my little munchkin to grow and get healthy.You would not believe how many moms and nurses approached me to ask, and talk about my knitting. I became known as the "knitting mom", and they would come and check in on my progress. Many stopped to chat about their own crafting (mis)adventures, and to say that they would love to learn, or re-start, knitting themselves. 

I am always amazed at how this craft can so easily bring people together. It speaks to a side of us that is open, kind and loving. Being able to connect over knitting, changed my relationship with them, it made it more open and, well...kind. Once again, proof that knitting brings people together. I am sure I have recruited some new knitters.

I finished the blanket a few nights before she came home. It gives me such joy to cuddle her in it now, and to think of what the future may hold for this little, and incredibly strong (and cute!) baby.

Charting new territory - Yarn dyeing

I believe I may have discovered a new obsession recently. It has been a while that I have been fascinated by the process of yarn dyeing, and that I have wanted to try it. So when I discovered that a Montreal based yarn dyer called Sweet Paprika Designs was organizing a workshop, I signed up. Two of my knit-night friends joined as well. 

Our teacher, Debbie, was wonderfully informative and patient. We each had brought photos with us for inspiration, but it took us a while to decide on what colors we wanted to use and to achieve the right shades. Debbie was extremely helpful in making our inspiration translate into reality. 

I was freshly back from my vacation in La Jolla, so my mind was still filled with bright images of flowers and the calming tones of the ocean. 

First we tried hand-painting yarn. We each had a skein of laceweight, 50% merino and 50% silk, of about 1100 yards, which is amazing yardage, enough for a shawl, and maybe even the Wispy or Whisper cardigans.Debbie carefully guided us through each step, and it was amazing to see it all come together. All three of us were thrilled with the results.

Then came a skein of superwash merino fingering weight yarn which we dyed using the immersion method. Not nearly as exciting as hand-painting but still a ton of fun. 

As I said, this was so much fun, that I decided I will certainly continue experimenting with yarn dyeing, I can think of a million fun projects and color combinations. Oh, to have the time. 

Now, does anyone know of a sheep I can adopt, cause I am going to need lots of wool!

Color Affection Shawl - Choosing colors

I have to say that half the fun of selecting a new knitting project is deciding on yarn and colors. I don't know if it's because I have been flexing me creative muscle more through this blog (my photography and my projects), but I am starting to find more and more inspiration in my surroundings.My recent trip to California has filled me with ideas for new color combinations, projects, oh so many ideas. But more on that in the weeks to come.

Though it can sometimes be overwhelming to narrow things down, I always enjoy the process of choosing colors. Sure there is always that nagging doubt of whether the color is indeed right, but so far, I've been happy with my choices.

To help me in this process, I have created a Color Inspiration Pinterest Board where I gather pictures of color combinations that particularly speak to me. We all know what a tremendous source of inspiration (and obsession) Pinterest can be. I also particularly enjoy browsing Design Seeds. I have used their palettes as a starting point in decorating, knitting, tons of crafty projects, even wardrobe choices.

My current endeavor is the Color Affection Shawl by Veera Välimäki. This is an increasingly popular project on Ravelry and one I could not stay away from. Also, it is a three color project, that literally begs for some funky experiments.

Now here's what I think. If your goal is to have a more muted, subtle shawl, choose tones that are "related", in the same color family. If you are feeling adventurous however, and want to go bold, let your imagination soar!

I had lots of ideas but to be able to make them work I had to choose a yarn base that offered plenty of choices, and for that I went with Knitpicks Palette, after all they do offer it in 150 colors, surely something for everyone? I had several combinations I was considering, about 8 to be honest, and I looked at them for days, asked for feedback, and slowly eliminated them one by one. I even went as far as cutting up my Knitpicks magazine and playing around with the scraps of paper trying to decide. 

Curious yet? All right, well here it is, my yarn and inspiration together:

My colors (top down) are: Marble Heather, Opal Heather and Turmeric.

I find it is a very happy looking combination. Something that will put a smile on my face when I wear it, something to add some color to those dreary winter days.

If you are curious to see, here are some other combinations I was considering:

"Inversion Cardigan", a project 6 months in the making

I have never been great at multi-tasking, at least not when it comes to my personal projects.  I have never been the one to read several books in parallel, or work on several knit-projects at the same time. 

You may think that it’s maybe a good thing, but this, can back-fire. Case in point, the project I want to show you today. I started the cardigan last fall, October according to the notes I added to Ravelry. And it was only finished recently. 

There were times, I never thought I’d finish. Why? Because except for the borders, this is all stockinette stitch. And that is in the shape of a rectangle, so no shaping whatsoever. Even though I knit as a form of therapy, I still need a little more excitement then what stockinette can offer.

But I stuck by it, and slowly the pieces came together.

Details: Inversion Cardigan Pattern by Jared Flood

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Pea Soup Mix

 Project details on my Ravelry page

If you are planning on knitting this for yourself, the most important tool to have on hand, besides patience is blocking wires. They are essential! How do I know? I don’t own any, and boy, did I regret that. Once the pattern is knitted, in order to put it together properly and to have the right shape you need to block the pieces very precisely, the 2 mirroring pieces need to be the exact same size, and the third has to match. To my surprise my knitting stretched by 7 inches once blocked, so I was grateful that the instructions mentioned not binding off until the pieces were blocked, and even more grateful that I actually followed these instructions.

Then, came the fun part! Grafting the border to the stockinette portion and then using kitchner stitch to seam the mirroring pieces together. It took me 3 evenings to finish this step of the process. Granted, I'd never used the kitchener before, so this pert was especially slow, but I did it right, and in the end, I believe it looks quite good.

I am extremely happy with the end-result, and I have worn the cardigan a few times already. It's been admired by both knitters and non-knitters alike.

All in all, this is another amazing Jared Flood pattern!

Downton Abbey KAL

I think this project deserves its own, separate post. 

I, like many others have been utterly addicted to the show  "Downton Abbey" It has been a long time since I have been so absorbed by a show, and I have so  feverishly looked forward to each new episode. I can give you a million reasons why you should watch, the writing, the acting, the setting, the characters, the fashions, really, the list is endless, but honestly you simply have to try for yourself to understand. 

In honor of this show, and perhaps to provide us, Downton- obsessed knitters, a creative opportunity, Shannon of Luvinthemommyhood started the Downton Abbey KAL. All participants have picked a Downton- inspired pattern, and are working tirelessly to finish it prior to the deadline of February 6th. 

I took forever to choose a project, and finally settled on the Imogen Cowl, knitted in Quince & Co Tern yarn. The color is such a beautiful green, it reminded me of the vibrant green gardens that surround Downton. And the intricacy of the lace pattern (my first attempt at lace....ahem!) makes for a very sophisticated and classy cowl. These are the pictures that inspired me to make this choice. 

My yarn arrived late, so I am way behind on knitting the cowl, I will certainly not make the deadline, but that does not matter, the main thing is that I was a part of the discussions happening on the Ravelry thread, that I get to exchange ideas and connect with such talented knitters. Their projects, and oftentimes stories, are inspiring!I cannot emphesize it enough, how happy I am to be a part of such a wonderful community.

So here is how far I got for now. I am hoping that the conversation about the show will continue even after the KAL is closed. My dream is to be able to photograph this FO in its proper setting. A visit to Highclere Castle.

Mother's Day

I have attempted writing this post several times, and I have to admit I have found it hard. I was planning on writing about my own relationship with my mom, which is certainly not picture-perfect and about my own experience of motherhood, but it turned into more of a rant, a string of thoughts that is more appropriate for my journal then for my blog. So I decided to take a different approach.

Mother's day is about me! I hope that all you mommies out there are treated like royalty and spoiled by the men in your lives! I know you deserve it!

To celebrate, I treated myself to some scrumptious yarn. Now, it has not yet arrived, it is in transit, so I can only show you a picture of the listing, but look at it, is it not the most amazing color palette?

I really hope it will arrive on time for me to take on vacation, because I have some grand plans for it. To me, it looks like the perfect yarn to knit with on the beach.

Before I go off and enjoy the mother's day festivities I thought I'd share my son's theory on how he ended up in this world. He told me recently that he believes his dad and I went to a cave with babies and simply chose him. He keeps asking us why we picked him, and not a girl, why we liked him and not some other child. Maybe it's me, but I think it's adorable.

Another adorable thing is this bouquet of wildflowers he picked for me today. I really could not have picked better in that cave....