WIP Wednesday—Well, Sort of. . . .

I don't actually have a new project on the go at the moment--the Spring Greens Shawl is still on my needles, patiently waiting for me. However, what I have is a couple of skeins of amazing yarn I've been itching to get my hands on!

Back in April, Shelagh and I a a few of the Knit Night Ladies went into Toronto for the Knitters' Frolic. It was heaven for anyone who loves working with fibre, including us. It was there I purchased some beautiful yarn from Fleece Artist, a lovely blend of superwash Merino wool and Tencel, which she refers to as "tree wool." It is a pretty blend of matte and shiny, with the shininess coming from the tencel. I've never worked with that fibre before, and Fleece Artist's spun and dyed yarn really caught my attention because of the sheen, the softness, and the name: Beach House. Isn't that perfect?

So, for World-wide Knit in Public Day this past Saturday, I thought I'd do a little test swatch to check what it's like to work with and, more importantly, how many stitches and rows per inch I will get from the yarn. 

I do have a project in mind, but it is from a magazine so uses a more standard yarn. You can see what I've completed of my swatch so far, but I wait to share the pattern until I know for sure it is the right one for this yarn.

What's on your needles?

Manic Monday - Knitters' Frolic

Clockwise from top left: two skeins of MerGoat Sock yarn from Indigo Dragonfly; horn and seed pod buttons; two skeins of Tree Wool yarn from Fleece Artist; one skein of Special Edition Merino sock yarn (Pinot Butter) from Indigo Dragonfly; one skein of Athena Sock from Luna Grey Fiber Arts out of Colorado; and one skein of "Copper & Zinc" from Riverside Studio.

Toronto Knitters' Guild organizes a Knitters' Frolic held at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre. This year was the 18th year and the first year that Shelagh and I went along. We decided to go because the Knit Night ladies from our LYS went last year and raved about it!

We marked our calendars a year ago--and we were not disappointed!

The colours . . . the textures . . . so much fibre-y goodness!

Five of us travelled with Shelagh in the "party" van (and by party, I mean knitting) and, after figuring out the detours with road closures, we arrived ready to search and shop! (FYI: Toronto has two seasons: winter and construction.)

Shelagh had printed off the floor plan and she and I had already decided we would spend our time looking at hard-to-find yarn, particularly those from indie dyers we had heard about. The photo above is my haul (Shelagh purchased some, but I went crazy). I was thrilled with my purchases: I've been wanting to find yarn from Indigo Dragonfly for a while, and the yarn did not disappoint. I've seen yarn from Fleece Artist--and Shelagh loved making a shawl from some of their yarn--so I wanted to try some myself.

As for Riverside Studio, I hadn't heard of her before but I immediately fell for her colours. It was hard to settle on one, but that Copper & Zinc really spoke to me!

All these new skeins are added to some new yarns I ordered from Georgian Bay Fibre Co. earlier in April. So, now my only problem is: what will I work on first!?!

WIP Wednesday - Thrums!

The yarn project and the yarn bowl were Christmas gifts from my family.

This Christmas I received two Fleece Artist kits to make Thrum Mittens from my youngest son! I was excited as I had never made these before but had always wanted to. No excuses to not make them now!

Thrum mittens are knit with wool and roving, which is the unspun wool. In these mittens, the roving sits on the inside and small portions pulled through to the outside. It makes the mitt full and incredibly snuggly and warm.

I read through the instructions and pattern a couple of times to make sure I understood everything, then started trying to pull apart the roving into the strand sections like the instructions described. Not as easy as it sounded. I did divide the roving in half, figuring I needed to have enough for the each mitt, but was still rather thick and difficult to "lightly tug out" the required strand. I did a couple of lengths of this and then tried to "gently twist to similar thickness of the yarn" as instructed. It was still too thick when twisted and trying to knit it into the stitch.

I frogged my first attempt.

Second attempt; another cast on. After my first try, I realized my sizing had to change and knew that the adult small would be a better choice this time.

With my second attempt underway, I knew the roving was still too thick to work with properly. So I decided to ask my Knit Night Ladies about the issue. They are a wealth of information and all so willing to share and help when you feel you need it! So I asked and received lots of info: just the feedback I was looking for. Thanks ladies!

I frogged my second attempt.

Third attempt; third cast on. And--hooray!--I am almost done my first mitten! I'm excited to see it coming together finally!

Although I am following the pattern given with the yarn, I'll see what I think of it as a whole once I finish the first kit. For the next kit, I might adapt the pattern a bit: maybe I will add a larger cuff (I do feel a bit of a longer cuff is better for mittens and gloves). Or maybe I'll try a different pattern altogether.

Have you made Thrum Mittens? What pattern did you use? Were you happy with it? We'd love to hear your stories.

A Travel Yarn: Nova Scotia

This is the first in an occasional series about knitting and yarn and travelling.

In September 2013, Shelagh and her husband took our father and step-mother on a trip to Nova Scotia. They flew to Halifax and then rented a car to tour around. Of course, the tour included several days along the beautiful Cabot Trail, ending in the small town of Badeck. 

Before travelling to a new place, I like to research local yarn spinners and dyers as well as local yarn stores. I like to support local small businesses anyplace I visit. 

I discovered a store playfully named Baadeck Yarns, which sold yarn from a Nova Scotia spinner/dyer Fleece Artist. The company was established in 1979 and is still going strong; they sell yarns throughout Canada and the United States.

When I first walked into Baadeck Yarns, I was drawn to a green and purple variegated yarn. The store owner saw my interest and started chatting with me. She told me the colourway was called "Scottish Thistle," which made me love it all the more because of my connection to Scotland: I have family there I've visited several times! She also told me about the yarn maker, Fleece Artist, who creates a variety of different yarns. The one I was drawn to was from the Tosca line and is 96% Merino and 4% nylon, spun and hand dyed into a thick and thin, slubby yarn. The store owner suggested knitting something using a simple stitch to emphasize the texture of the yarn. She suggested a knit2, purl2 variation on seed stitch.

When I got home, I tried the pattern: it's simple but it really does show off the texture of the yarn. And the Tosca is lovely to work with because of the Merino. That's because Merino is a fine wool with a smooth finish. Merino is one of the wools that has what's called "next-to-the-skin" soft, and it's both warm and breathable. Mixing Merino with nylon in the spinning process makes the fine wool slightly stronger and more likely to keep the shape of the final, knitted item. I loved working with it to create a lovely scarf; here's a detail from the finished scarf.

Another Tosca yarn that caught my eye was dyed in a purple/blue colourway called "Lupins." I used the same simple pattern to make another scarf but didn't make it as wide. Again, the yarn was wonderful to work with—soft and strong—but this time in richer colour.

Next time I visit Nova Scotia I want to visit Fleece Artist in Mineville. In fact, I'd love to do a yarn tour of that province!

I did so much yarn shopping at Baadeck Yarns that I now research yarn stores and local fibre artists before travelling anywhere! I know I'll be able to make something special from each journey.