Five Things I'm Loving Right Now

Me in Tree Pose last summer after I hurt my arm.

 Shelagh is enjoying warm weather in Florida for a few weeks, so I'm writing this as I prepare for a few days volunteering at The Yoga Show and Conference. This is the biggest yoga show in Canada—seriously, it's crazy big!

This is my second year volunteering and I love it! But I still get the "what if I forget something" anxieties creeping up on me now and then. Never mind that I'll be in a major city and will be able to get anything I want, organizing myself and packing is still fraught with potential crises until I walk out my front door.

What that means is I'm not really focusing on any of my knitting projects or our social media accounts. So, no we haven't dropped off the planet. And no, the changes to Instagram haven't affected our feed. 

So I thought I'd do a quick roundup of what I'm loving right now:

1. Yoga and meditation – I mean, of course!
   
2. Goodreads – Have you checked out this site? I want to read more, and this site lets me (a) list everything I have ever read in my life and continue to add to it; (b) interact with friends who read; and (c) set and track a reading goal for myself every year. This year my goal is 20 books and I'm already at 7 complete and two underway.
   
3. Podcasts – I know podcasts have been around for a while, but I really discovered a bunch last summer while I waited for my arm to heal and couldn't knit or do yoga. My favourites (in no particular order) are "Question of the Day" with James Altucher and Stephen Dubner (of Freakonomics fame); "Happier" with Gretchen Rubin (of The Happiness Project); "Magic Lessons" with Elizabeth Gilbert (the focus is on creativity); and recently "The Lively Show."
   
4. Video Podcasts – Two of our knitting circle friends have begun a very cool podcast on Youtube called "Dye Another Day." If you are into knitting, are interested in patterns, dying yarn, KALs (knitalongs), then these two smart, funny ladies are worth checking out. You may already know them as The Yarn Enabler and The Cozy Knitter on Facebook or Instagram. If you start from the first (they've done about five or six so far), you will also discover other knitting Youtube podcasters that they follow.
   
5. Netflix – Yeah, I'm late to the game here too. My husband and I have begun binge-watching House of Cards when we heard so many good things about the show. What an amazing show!
   

Do you like some of these same things? Do you have any suggestions for books, podcasts, binge-worthy shows? Let us know below.

And Something We Don't Make!

For the last couple of weeks, I told you about some other things I like to make. But this week I want to tell you about some things I discovered I don't like to make. I'm talking about knitting socks.

Have you ever tried knitting a pair of socks? Many of the women at our Knit Night knit sock: lacy socks, striped socks, cabled socks. They are amazing--both the knitters and the socks, that is!

No heel. No toe. Button added to tell top from bottom.

So Margaret and I decided to give sock knitting a try. We figured the most difficult part of the sock would be turning the heel followed by creating a nice--and comfy!--toe. So we started with yoga socks because they don't require either a toe or a heel. I know, I know: that's the easy way out.

We used DPNs (double pointed needles) because we haven't learned how to use the "magic loop" method. Neither of us mind working with DPNs, but Margaret really doesn't like working with needles smaller than 4mm / US 6. And socks use sock yarn, which is usually 3.25 mm / US 3.

We made them! Check out Margaret's take after finishing them. You can read about it here, but she found it too fiddly. And for such small pieces they seemed to take forever--which is the source of her animosity toward small needles. Plus, when you finally get one sock done, there's one more!

However, we decided to give sock-making another try. This time it was pedicure socks: still no toe, but the chance to create a heel. We followed the Mary Maxim pattern, each of us with the correct yarn: mine in pink and Margaret's in blue. I even took mine on a family vacation to Florida. I managed to get my first sock done before Margaret, so we Skyped and I talked her through turning the heel.

Margaret modelling her pedi socks with matching polish. Note heels not showing!

Neither of us were happy with how our heels turned out. And using DPNs showed a little "laddering" effect in the body of the sock. We have heard this will be reduced in the wash. I guess we'll find out for sure because we decided to keep these socks for ourselves.

What's really great is the Knit Night ladies have different options for heels! Who knew there were choices!?!

But, the combination of time, small needles, DPN "laddering" and multiple heel options has meant we probably won't be making socks any time soon.

What are we missing? Do you think learning Magic Loop would help? We'll have to think about learning it! Maybe that will make a difference!

Y-Knot? A Night to Dye For

Shelagh and I are so fortunate to have such talented ladies in our Knit night group. One of the ladies, Jenn aka The Yarn Therapist, suggested something different than the usual knitting together: she offered to teach us to dye our own yarns! Of course, the entire group heartily agreed because, well, let's face it, we're all yarn lovers. And who wouldn't want to create a custom yarn?

Jenn is an avid knitter, yarn lover, and she dyes her own yarns. She and another of the Ladies, Amanda aka Yarn Enabler, walked us through the process while Christina, aka The Cozy Knitter, was one of our cheerleaders.

So Jenn ordered some yarn blanks in both fingering/sock weight and worsted weight; made up over a dozen containers of dye; and brought along lots of aluminum containers to use for our artistic adventure. Someone brought apple fritters; someone brought coffee; and Shelagh and I brought sangria--'cause that's how we roll.

Shelagh chose two skeins of fingering weight 80/20 Superwash Merino and nylon. I chose two skeins of worsted weight Superwash Merino. And then we spent at least half an hour deciding on colours. Honestly, when confronted by so much choice, it really is difficult to narrow it down to what we wanted.

Did we want a variegated yarn of one colour? Or perhaps chunks of different colours? Or maybe a solid base with speckles of different colours? The choices seem to be endless!

At the top and above, Shelagh "painting" her skeins.

Shelagh went with a different look for each of her skeins; I decided one look for both--I figured I'd need two the same to make something like a scarf.



The photo left shows my two blank skeins in one container as well as each of them after I dyed them using colour Silver Gray.

Below is a photo of my finished skeins wrapped scarf-like on our dressmaker's Judy. Can you see the teal, turquoise, purple and black that I added? When Jenn was showing us the colour options, I fell in love with what I thought of as "peacock colours," those bright colours at the "eye" of the feather. I knew they would look amazing on the platinum background.

Now I want to come up for an appropriate name for my yarn; although it will be considered a one-of-a-kind yarn, I think it deserves a lovely name.

I have some ideas, but what would you call it?

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?

WIP Wednesday - I Have a Bias for the Sea

You may recall I was working with a gorgeous cotton/rayon blend yarn from Blue Heron Yarns back in April. At the time, I was struggling to find a pattern and had tried making something on my own. I had a vision of a summer wrap, but it just wasn't working.

Then, one of the Knit Night ladies from our LYS commented on my post: she thought she had just the pattern for the yarn. Suzanne lent me her Spring/Summer 2011 edition of Vogue Knitting that showed a couple of gorgeous skinny summer scarves. I picked the one called "Bias Lace Scarf" and began knitting. . . and promptly fell in love with it! The cast on edge is a pretty lacy pattern--my one adjustment was to cast on with a larger needle size than the pattern called for. Then, as you can see in the photo above, it's mostly stockinette with a little garter and yo, ssk thrown in to break it up.

Currently I'm about 75% complete. And I'm really looking forward to the cast off because the pattern calls for a picot edge, something I've never done before. I love that each edge will be different. So cool!

Oh and the name I came up with for this scarf? "I Have a Bias for the Sea"? A big part of the pattern is the decreases on one side and increases on the other to create the bias look. Matched with the yarn name, Deep Blue Sea, I think it is the perfect name! 

FO Friday - Yoga Socks are Done!

You might recall that I started another pair of yoga socks a while back. I was inspired by my friend Wendy, who was beginning her first pair of yoga socks back in April. She told me about the Karma Socks initiative for The Hospital for Sick Children (aka Sick Kids). This initiative is to bring yoga to teens going through cancer treatments. And I also heard from our local yarn store about this Karma Project: knit and donate a pair (or two) of yoga socks for the teens.

What a brilliant idea! As an emerging yoga teacher (as is Wendy) and avid knitter, this seemed like the perfect meshing of my two loves . . . and to support young people going through cancer treatments, well, I'm there.

Although I used some stash sock yarn and not the yarn suggested, I did use the pattern . . . and I modified it. So, now I'm done and gave the socks to Shelagh to bring to Knit Night for the store to send along to the hospital.

My wish is for the wearer to accomplish Vrsksasana or Tree Pose. I love this pose because I feel simultaneously rooted and ready to take flight. I send my heartfelt wish for health and happiness and love and joy for the wearer. Above, I'm demonstrating a version of Tree Pose that shows off these fun socks knit with love.

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.