The Conclusion of a Secret Project

After a temporary delay during which time I worked on my Gnarled Oak sweater, I finally finished the Secret Project last week. I machine washed (gentle cycle, cold wash/cold rinse, with basic woolwash – my washing machine is from the 80′s and doesn’t have a lot in the way of handknit-friendly options!) the blanket, hung it up until it was just damp, and then laid it out with blocking wires to finish drying.  There are no pictures of this stage as it was done mostly in the dark, and fully in dreary, gloomy weather. (As an aside, in a twist of the usual way of things, we’ve had a string of grey, rainy weeks with sunny, springlike weekends – not bad at all, but not conducive to after-work-photography-sessions.)

As part of my quest to improve my photography, I have been playing with my husband’s fancy camera.  I still have a lot of learning to do, and a lot of things to try with regards to staging, backdrops and lighting, but here are a few photographs to tide you over :)

More exciting news!

I am also happy to say that I have added a few more patterns for sale on Craftsy.com,, which is a very cool site. Check it out if you haven’t already. :)

Exciting news!

I am very excited to say that I have had a pattern go up on the Knit Picks site today! Click here to be brought to the pattern page on Knit Picks. If you have read this blog before, you have probably seen my Fulfilment bag .(ravelry link) I am so happy to have it available at Knit Picks because their Andes del Campo yarn is a very good choice for this project. The nice thing about buying it at KP is that you can buy the yarn and pattern all at once, and it will cost you $47.93US plus shipping. The good people at KP have it set up as a kit, which makes it simple to ensure that you get enough yarn.

As well as the yarn and pattern, you will need sturdy fabric to sew a lining with, bag handles, optional bag feet and as many pretty decorations as you like.

A Temporary Solution

In my previous post, I mentioned a Secret Project.  I have a lot of these going on at any one moment, and most of them are really, truly secret. This one is not actually a top-secret-secret, I’ve just been keeping it secret from a certain someone.  I have more to say about the Secret Project, which I will share once a certain someone has received it, but in the meantime I thought I’d share the temporary solution to blocking a large object I devised today.

This secret project is made with superwash yarn, and so I let it soak in a little woolwash and water in the tub of my washing machine today.

Once it had had a nice bath, I ran the gentle spin cycle of my machine to get the water out. However, I find this doesn’t do a fantastically wonderful job of getting ALL of the water out of a knitted item this large. When I pulled it out of the machine it was still a fairly sopping mess.  Far too wet for me to spread it out to dry, even with a sheet of plastic underneath it and a fan blowing over it.  It would take DAYS to dry, and I don’t have a big enough condo to give up this much real estate for days while waiting for it to dry!

So, I came up with this solution. I’ve carefully draped it over the curtain rod of our spare bathroom, and laid towels on the floor-side of the bathtub to catch the drips. I gently tugged it into alignment as well as I could manage given the constraints, and there it will remain for at least a few hours and possibly overnight, until it has stopped dripping.  I’ll change the floor-side towels once or twice as needed, and then once it has become “damp” rather than “dripping”, I’ll lay it out and block it properly to finish its drying.

I sure hope this works!

Obsessed? Me? Never!

It’s been awhile! Sorry about that.  I’m not teaching full time and yet somehow it is a full-time job. I am trying some new things during 4th quarter to try to bring back a work-life balance – wish me luck!

At Madrona, I saw copies of Coastal Knits everywhere.  However, I wasn’t in a book-buying (or much-of-anything-buying) state of mind, so I didn’t do more than glance at the pretty cover. What a mistake!

Last week, while I was at Trisha’s house for spring break (more on that another day), I was browsing Ravelry for a pattern to use with some beautiful DK weight yarn I have had for a couple of months now.  I’d knitted a swatch and found my gauge, so instead of searching for generic DK patterns I was just searching for patterns using this specific gauge. The beautiful Gnarled Oak cardigan came up, and I fell in love. Not only did it match my stitch gauge but it also matched my row gauge – almost unheard of for me! I knew right away that I needed to knit this sweater.

Unfortunately, the pattern isn’t available online so I wasn’t able to start then and there – but that was okay because I still had a secret project to finish (ahem. I still do. Shhhh.).  I chose to order the book directly from the authors’ website, and it arrived at my house on Wednesday, packaged very nicely with a sturdy piece of cardboard to keep it in pristine condition. Tucked inside the book was a lovely postcard and a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for each of the authors’ pattern stores (Knitbot and Never Not Knitting).

In addition to the Gnarled Oak cardigan, I can see myself knitting almost every one of the designs in here. It’s a beautifully done book, with gorgeous photography and layout, and I am just amazed that it is self-published.

Every detail of the book is well thought out, down to the schematics (click “view schematics” on the pattern page for an example) and the addition of an “AD” or “HF” watermark on each pattern to indicate who authored each one.  Each pattern has pages of explanation and maps to show the locations that inspired the authors.

I cast on for my Gnarled Oak on Thursday during a release day at work (I got a lot of work accomplished too, honest!) and finished the first sleeve that night.  Friday and Saturday saw me cast on for and finish the second sleeve, and today I cast on for the body of the cardigan.  I’m following the pattern exactly as written, with one exception – I don’t care for cardigans that are too tight around the hips, so I cast on for the next size up’s body hem and will put in a few extra waist decreases to bring it down my size in the bust.  As I had expected, the body is d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g for me (stockinette worked flat has never been a favorite of mine) but I’m still excited to continue making progress and eventually have a finished sweater :)

Frivolity and fun

Today I taught my first workshop at Knotty Needles. Oh my goodness was it fun. I got to meet some very nice and interesting people, and I tell you, it is like Christmas to open a treasure chest full of embellishments and watch what people make from them. The women today were so creative. And the baby! 2 week old baby boy who hardly made a peep but did all kinds of adorable baby stuff.

It was a very fun day, and I am happy to have been asked back to teach a sock workshop or two in May and June. Head on in to Knotty Needles to sign up if you are near to town, I would love to see you there.

Oh, I almost forgot the craziest thing that I learned today. Drennen had ordered cupcakes for the class and eats them in the most interesting way. She breaks the bottom section off, and smooshes it into the icing, flattening the whole thing into a cupcake sandwich so that there is icing in every bite. I like Drennen. :)

Trunk show and workshop!

I am very excited about this weekend coming up, and the next one, and the one after that. This weekend at Knotty Needles (Facebook link) I will be teaching my first ever workshop! In the 5 hour class, we will be knitting (at least most of) a Frivolity hat, and preparing the embellishments. The hats will be fulled by their owners at home. There will be snacks provided by Drennen, and lots of pretty yarn and glassware to drool over. My two workshops will be this Saturday, the 17th, and Saturday the 31st from 12-5.  Register in the store. Cost is $75 and includes the pattern, yarn, and embellishments.

The weekend in between is the Grande Prairie Women’s show, where Drennen will have a table, and will be displaying my samples! Printed copies of my patterns will be for sale at her store, including those published by Three Irish Girls, starting this Saturday at the store, until closing on the 31st. She will also have them at the Women’s show.

Beauty and Love

A few weeks ago, 2 friends of mine got married. The ceremony was simple, but meaningful. The bride wore a dress borrowed from her best and oldest friend, and I am honoured to say that she wore a shawl that was designed and knit by me. She asked me to knit her a shawl, but when she described what she wanted, I realized that I already had just the thing.  My SOS shawl in Mulled Wine from Three Irish Girls was just the colour and style that she wanted. The wedding photographer took some gorgeous shots that she graciously has allowed me to use in my pattern, on Ravelry and here on the blog. (If you live near Grande Prairie AB and want some photos taken, look up Rebecca Ford. She’s very very good, and I have been told that she really sets people at ease while she works.)

What am I doing?

Well, I will tell you! I am not packing up all of our posessions to to get ready to move. I am not carrying heavy boxes either out of or into a house. I am not unpacking and deciding where each thing should go, which is a lot of fun when there is enough room for it all. (For example, the pots and pans fit in a cupboard near the stove now. They aren’t precariously balanced and you don’t have to slam the door hoping that they won’t all topple out when you walk away.) I am not cleaning, taking phone calls from realtors who want to show our house at dinner time or bedtime.

I am (almost) knitting! I have spent the last several days finishing the new Fulfillment bag, which Tesia so graciously knit for me. I tell you, I owe her big time. She did a phenomenal job. I did a small photo shoot yesterday with a friend, but I need more pictures in better lighting, especially of the inside. Tonight I sat down and reformated all of my self published patterns, updating some photos and streamlining them somewhat to get ready for printing, because I am teaching 2 workshops on my Frivolity hat pattern this month at Knotty Needles in Grande Prairie AB where I live. I am super excited about this. There are still spaces available if you live in town and would like to sign up. Tomorow I will take my samples to the store and hold my breath for the next 3 weeks that none will be stolen.

And tomorow night, after our taxes are done and the kids are in bed, I will knit. I will knit a new design that has been brewing in my mind. Or maybe I will knit another sweater. Or finish one of the 2 pairs of socks that I have going. I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care which it is. I just can’t wait to get back to knitting. Moving was too tiring and busy and the stuff had to be packed so it has been weeks since I have had a proper knitting time. Not since Tesia’s house when I was out there for Madrona. I miss it.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from yesterday, just for fun. Fulfillment and A Lady’s Bumbershoot.

It’s been a while. Again.

Hello! How have you been? Have you missed me? I have missed me. This year has been flying by, with all kinds of craziness popping up on all sides. Early this year, my husband came home from work, sat down tiredly yet determinedly in his chair, and told me that he is done renovating. He has put a lot of work into our house, which is really what has made it a home. But he works long shifts away from home, and wants to spend his days off with us, not having to do more work. I respect that. So we decided to move. A month later, our house was sold, a new house found, and the nightmare… I mean blessing… of moving had started. Thankfully, my husband holds the clutter in check. If it were up to me, there would be a LOT more stuff to sort through and get rid of than there is. We are in the final stretch now. 2 weeks from today we will say a tearful goodbye to the house where my babies grew out of diapers. Where they learned to ride bikes. Where they learned to play hockey, started school, learned to read, and left a lot of Lego scattered around in every corner. Two weeks from today we will say hello to the house where they will, God willing, do homework, play hockey, scatter Lego in every corner. They will learn to drive. They will go on dates. They will grow up, move out and bring their families to visit. Because I am never. ever. ever. moving again.

While all of this has been going on, I have had less time to knit than usual, but the sweater lessons have been ongoing. I have almost finished the Murcott sweater. Well, it’s finished. But the sleeves are not flattering. Not at all. The oversized sleeves are not meant for me at all. When I feel up to it again, I will be removing the sleeves and reknitting them much smaller.

I did finish a Jacqueline sweater. (link to my project page with bad pictures.) I didn’t have enough yarn to make the big collar, which is what I loved about the pattern to begin with, but I don’t mind. I love it. Love love. The style is perfect on me. I keep promising good pictures, but with no one around to take them, that hasn’t happened. This weekend I will be at Tesia’s house for Madrona, and will have pictures taken then.

Finally, I am alonging the Owls sweater with my friend Dawn. We are using a yarn that claims to be bulky, but isn’t, so we are both knitting larger sizes at tighter gauge to make it work. I have one and a half sleeves done, and hope to get a lot more done this weekend. Pictures when that happens.

Anyway, that is all my news. I have missed you. :)