Beating Blue Monday

Colouring or anything creative this time of year will help beat the blues.

Have you heard about Blue Monday? Well a few years ago some group used an algorithm to identify the saddest day of the year for those of us living in the northern hemisphere. And this year, that day is January 18. It is the confluence of cold weather, time between holidays, lack of daylight, and influx of bills.

But Three Sisters Knit is all about the happy! So what are we doing to maintain our happiness levels? Well, I think we spend a lot of time with one another. Although we work from our own homes, we chat online constantly. Occasionally we FaceTime, especially when we want to show each other a yarn or an almost-completed project. I think Shelagh even mentioned the time we video chatted online while she was in Florida so she could show me how to turn a heel on a sock! We are the greatest supporters, sounding boards, and cheerleaders of one another. And fortunately, on the odd occasion we do feel blue, it's at different times.

Of course, we focus on doing what we love—knitting! So we look at patterns, check our stash of gorgeous yarns, and plan what we'll work on next. This year we are working at being focused and organized about implementing out ideas. Oddly, this doesn't take the fun out of our projects: it leaves me really excited to think about all the beautiful things we're about to make. It's as though the passion Shelagh and I—and before that, our mother and Irene—share for our craft burns brighter and stronger. Being focused on our plans actually allows time for our creativity to flourish.

And I think the final activity we do to maintain happiness levels is practising gratitude. This one is actually something I am working on strengthening in my life. I was doing really well there for a while in 2015, but then I kind of got out of the habit of being thankful and I need to get back into the habit. Shelagh and I are following a suggestion from author Elizabeth Gilbert: at the beginning of each year, she—and now we—find a big, empty jar and label it our HAPPINESS JAR. Here's some of what Ms. Gilbert wrote:

Every day, at the end of the day, I write down the happiest moment of my day, and I put it in the jar. . . . There is no simpler or less-demanding spiritual practice in my life than this one—when I literally take note of my gratitude for a moment in my day when things felt good, or I felt lucky, or I merely remembered that I was alive.

It has been almost two weeks and it's amazing how wonderful it is to see all those little pieces of paper filling up our jars! I keep my Mason jar on my desk, so when I'm working online I can look up at my jar and instantly feel thankful—and a little better too.

So what do you do to tackle the January blues?

A Gift for a Friend

Our sister Irene was always looking for something special with peacocks on it for her sister-in-law; Teena loves peacocks and are quite meaningful for her. Irene always had a good eye for hunting down something unique for Teena, so when I saw some yarn the Yarn Enabler dyed in a colourway she named "Peacock." I knew I had to get some to make something for Teena.

Then Yarn Enabler brought a couple of skeins of the "Peacock" yarn to Knit Night at our local yarn store. She had dyed a couple of different yarn bases and they were both beautiful but slightly different. It is amazing how different each yarn base affects how the dyes absorb. The woman who had ordered the colour originally bought the ones she wanted . . . but there was one left that she didn't want. It was 75% Superwash merino and 25% nylon sock yarn! Soft and squishy! So I said "Sold!"

Now that I had a skein I had to find a pattern to do this gorgeous colour justice. Baadeck Yarns posted a free pattern that intrigued me. I looked it up on Ravelry and thought it a perfect match for this yarn and for Teena. The pattern is Seaglass by Jessamyn Leigh.

The pattern is written for using DK weight yarn and I was using sock weight. I knit it up to the initial specifications of the pattern just to get a feel for it. I loved how this pattern and yarn look together, but it was way too small. I frogged it after weighing the finished scarf, then figuring out how much to adjust the cast-on to make the scarf.

Once I made the pattern adjustments, the scarf knit up quickly. I worked on it while away on holidays: knitting in the car, by the pool, or just when having a quiet evening back at the room.

Back home, I took it to Knit Night and they loved how it turned out, including Yarn Enabler. But more importantly, Teena loved it!

Margaret's Green Sunray Shawl

It's finished! You may recall I started working on this project back in April. Yikes! Back then I named it the "Spring Greens" shawl because it seemed so timely. Now that I've completed this project, though, it's simply a green Sunray Shawl. No matter the name, I'm delighted with how it turned out.

While working on this project I came across this excerpt from "Answer to a Child's Question" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

But green leaves, and blossoms, and sunny warm weather,
And singing, and loving -- all come back together.
But the lark is so brimful of gladness and love,
The green fields below him, the blue sky above,
That he sings, and he sings; and for ever sings he--
"I love my Love, and my Love loves me!"

These few words really resonated with me because of knitting this shawl in April and seeing everything "green up" throughout the month. And the sentiment of this piece is just so . . . perfect. This shawl is exactly like Spring: green and bright and warming, both physically and to the heart. 

No matter the season, green is such an inviting and calm colour. It's great to surround yourself with green, sitting in the garden or wrapped in a shawl. Green allows you to be "brimful of gladness and love."

 

 

FO Friday—Summer Scarves: Two Blue for You

I was going to write the post about how much I loved making my Lace Bias Scarf (which I did love making) and how much I loved working with this new yarn (I did). This summer scarf was, in fact, as fun and easy to knit up as I'd hoped. And I definitely love the finished scarf, it's really pretty and a perfect accessory for summer fun. See the photo at the bottom of this post.

But a bit of serendipity occurred as finished and took the scarf to Shelagh's to block: She finished up a pretty little summery scarf in shades of blue as well! So both blue scarves were laid out on her ping pong table simultaneously! Funny! 

You remember that Shelagh had about 65 g left of her Baby Boo Lace by Turtlepurl Yarns after making the Jamie Crescent Shawl. We found the “Here Be Water Dragons” pattern by Quinton Lime (akqguy on Ravelry) and she decided to try it. That's it blocking (above) and on our mannequin (below). They are both so lovely and soft and perfect accessories. Now that is a happy coincidence!

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 - My Catching Fire Cowl

Yes, I read all the books in The Hunger Games series before the first movie was out. I loved them! Who doesn't love a strong lead woman character? But I'm not really a movie-goer, so it was a while until I saw the first film.

I had seen patterns for a really cool-looking "cowl" referencing Katniss and the series on Ravelry. I always liked these unusual cowls, but it wasn't until I saw Catching Fire on Netflix that I knew I had to make one for myself. Remember the scene near the beginning of the movie when Katniss is hunting in the restricted area outside of her town? She is by herself, exploring, listening to the quiet of the natural world. And she is wearing the most amazing gray cowl that is perfect for an archer.

Starting on the pattern.

Back to Ravelry, where I settled on Ashley McCauley's Catching Fire Cowl, which I set it aside until I could find the right yarn. And a few weeks later I found some beautiful superwash chunky by Sweet Georgia in the colourway "Terra Firma": gorgeous earthy burgundies, which suit me more than the gray Katniss wore.

The pattern calls for a Bulky yarn and my chunky made the finished version a little bit smaller than it could have been. And I have to admit it seemed incredibly tiny while I was working on it! But, once Shelagh added the crocheted edging, it seemed to be a more "normal" size. (Note to self: learn to crochet, willya?)

I'm thrilled with the way it turned out! What do you think? Do I look like an archer?

WIP Wednesday - Road to Fangorn

"He led the way in under the huge branches of the trees. Old beyond guessing, they seemed. Great trailing beards of lichen hung from them, blowing and swaying in the breeze. Out of the shadows, the hobbits peeped, gazing back down the slope: little furtive figures that in the dim light looked like elf-children in the deeps of time peering out of the Wild Wood in wonder at their first Dawn."  

JRR Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings
Part II. The Two Towers

Shelagh and I purchased several yarns from Amanda at Serene Fiber Arts last November. I was drawn to the one Amanda called "Fangorn" because I loved how the shades of green looked online. But I also loved it because I loved reading The Lord of the Rings--yes, this girl loved the books before the movies came out. What can I say? I was an English major and I "had" to read them in high school and again in University.

If you are familiar with the stories, you know it is a quest tale: the hobbits must venture out of their comfortable lives into areas of their world they do not know in order to save this world they do not know. The hobbits must travel through part of Fangorn forest, an ancient woods seemingly older than time. Think of the redwoods or the Brazilian rainforest in our world. The colours in this yarn show off beautiful shades of green. They range from rich Blue Spruce blue-green to pale aqua green. All are set off by shades of bark brown.You can see most of the colours in the photo above--aren't they lovely?

I searched for a pattern and when I found this "Cobblestones" hat pattern by Susie Gourlay on Ravelry, I knew it would work. Even the name tied in perfectly with the quest idea. Although I doubt the hobbits walked up to Fangorn on cobblestones, I liked this connection and came up with the name "Road to Fangorn."

And because Susie showed a variegated yarn in the pattern, I knew the yarn would work really well. It's a straightforward pattern and, so far, it is knitting up like a breeze. I just have to decide if it should be a beanie or a slouch hat; Susie has provided options for both.

Oh yes, and the yarn is soft and warm and colourful. Perfect to wear on a quest.

My first shawl ever!

It's Finished Object (FO) Friday! So I'd like to share my experience knitting my first shawl ever.

A while ago, I was visiting one of my fairly local yarn stores with my sister Irene. She loved to peruse the yarns and patterns there. As I was leaving, I saw this little bundle of wine-coloured fluff. There were 10 tiny 25-gram balls in the bundle. I managed to feel a little bit of one ball of fluff: it was so soft. Although it was mostly nylon, it also had a bit of silk in it. I had never bought anything with silk in it before, and here was a good amount of yarn marked down. Sold! 

When I got the yarn home I realized two things: first, that I wanted to knit a shawl, although I had never made one before; and second, this bundle of yarn meant I had enough to dive in and make one. So I started looking at patterns. But I discovered most of them required me to start at the top and work my way down. Having never done a shawl before, I found the thought of casting on over 200 stitches very daunting. So I put the yarn aside for a bit . . . until I discovered that there was a yarn store in my own town! It was a five-minute drive away and had been there for a couple of years. I don't know what I had been during that time! So, on one of my visits, I told the store owner about this yarn and about my aversion to huge cast-ons; she suggested the "Bottom Up Birch" pattern.

I went home, found the pattern on Ravelry, and started knitting the shawl that night. Then another discovery: I noticed the yarn had tiny clear sequins! I loved it even more then. After all, a girl has to have some sparkle! The sequins have been so subtly placed that they do not take away from the either the pattern or the yarn.

See what I mean about the sequins not overwhelming the pretty pattern?

I have learned much from knitting this shawl. The main lesson is not to be afraid of lace weight yarn. There are many beautiful lace weight yarns and you usually only need 1 skein for a shawl. And, if you really want to try something new, just try it!