Toronto Knitter's Frolic

Well, the Toronto Knitter's Frolic was good to me this year.

I got a few different yarns, as well as a drop spindle that I'm currently trying out (there will be more on that later, I promise!)

First, I got two skeins of Juniper Moon Findley in "Snow."

Unless I completely change my mind, it's going to be a DROPS Morning Sky Cardigan.

I also got a skein of Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label, in her new standard colour "Aurora" (If you remember, I got several skeins of Aurora in her Etsy update, and I'm really glad this is becoming a standard colour!)

This going to be a pair of Birch Leaf Socks, from the book "A Gathering of Lace". I originally planned for these to be made with my leftover skein from my Gox Socks, but then I used my other skein to make the Foare socks, and I think the lace will show off the variegation really well.


Last but not least on the yarn side, I also got a skein of Angel Lace from TurtlePurl Yarns, in the colourway "Deep Ocean".  It's gorgeous stuff! At 1312 yards per skein, it goes a long way!

This is going to become a Roseleaves Tunic, also from "A Gathering of Lace."  I've been meaning to make this for a while.  Originally I was thinking I'd do it in a superwash merino lace, but this just was too awesome to resist, and it's not like I'm really going to machine wash a lace tunic, anyway.

I do have one lesson learned, though -- next time I go to the Frolic, I'm going to try and bring a lot more cash. The credit/debit terminals can get cranky with so many wireless signals, and not all vendors take credit/debit.  But the Frolic is still absolutely awesome, and I'm definitely intending to go again next year. :)

Very Late Cast On and Early Cast Off

Hello, and happy Easter all!  I hope everyone got something awesome from the 'Easter Bunny', be it yarn, or chocolate (I got both, so I'm quite content!)

Anyway,  I finally bothered to cast on for my Lace Band Bracelet.  It`s an entry into yet another of The Yarn Attic`s KALs.  But with a deadline of April 30th, I may have left this a little tighter then I would like.

That being said, I`m amazed at how far a skein of Malabrigo Sock goes!  I got my Evening Star Cowl, my Stella By Starlight Headband, and now the Lace Band Bracelet, out of it, with still more yarn left in the ball.   It`s actually really impressive.

What's even more impressive is how my Ethereal Shawl turned out.  With a cast off of 500 + stitches, it was rather daunting.

This is it before blocking:

And this is it after blocking (and later in the day). 

It didn't even really fit spread out on the couch after I'd blocked it.   I'm glad it's a symsetrical pattern, since I had to fold it in half to get it to fit on my blocking mats!  Note to self, I need more of the mats!

But I got it done with over two weeks to spare before the deadline.  I'm quite proud of myself for that!

Notions Pouch is Done!

So despite my posts about it being an oddly written pattern, my Sundance Notions Pouch is done.

It came together quite well, once I found a written out version of the pattern on Gemmington's project page on Ravelry.   If you're reading this, thank you -very- much!

It's now holding my sewing/knitting notions, including scissors, cable needle, tapestry needle, and tape measure.

I will say, however, that I don't think the Sweater yarn was the best choice for this.  It's not very stiff, and I think this pattern would benefit from a stiffer yarn.   But since part of this was just using up leftovers from other projects, it's still alright by me.

With this done well before the KAL deadline, it frees me up to work on some of my longer languishing works in progress.  With a bit of luck, I'll finish up my other projects as well.

More Very Long Rows

I've come to a conclusion about projects with 400 or more stitches on the needles.

On the one hand, they usually turn out awesome.

On the other hand, when my method of doing chores is 'knit one row, do a chore', it means that I get a lot less done around the house!

Such has been the case with my Ethereal Shawl, but it is still coming along.  I'm onto the last chart of the pattern; and while each row takes about half-an-hour, I can see that the result is going to be stunning.

The current picture doesn't do it justice at all.

For one thing, this picture is old and I've come a lot further.  For another, the lace is all scrunched up and won't show the pattern until it's blocked. 

I'm actually really excited about the blocking process.  I have my blocking mats, and I bought some rust-proof t-pins from EatSleepKnit a while ago, so I should be good for blocking my first lace-weight shawl. I actually don't want it to grow a lot, so I'm probably not going to stretch it out a lot.  

It'll be an adventure!

Ribbed Bag the Second is Done

I realized that, shockingly, this is my only post about my Second Ribbed Bag.

It's the same pattern as the Ribbed Bag I made for my roommate; just this time, done in variegated acrylic.

I'm not actually sure what the yarn is, it's old enough that I've lost the ball band.

But this will become a dice bag, and a Birthday present for a friend in my gaming group who often forgets his dice.

Audio Book Knitting!

With two KAL deadlines coming up, plus having to finish my One Cable Mitts by May, I was looking and hoping for a way to have more knitting time.

I think I found it.   My church is doing a bible study/book study, and we're looking at "The Heart of Christianity" by Marcus Borg. It's definitely an interesting read for those who are interested, but there's a lot there to unpack.

(Also, I can't help but think of The Borg whenever I read his name!)

All tangents aside, though, a friend of mine who is also in this study, happened to have the audio version; of which she was kind enough to lend me a copy.  This has proven incredibly useful, as I can sit with my headphones on in my computer chair, and just listen and knit.   I'm actually glad I'm listenening rather then reading, the material is pretty dense.

Regardless, though, it gave me my knitting time;

My One Cable Mitts progressed really rapidly, I'm now done the left mitten except for the thumb:

and my Business Casual Socks are now past the heel and onto the gusset decreases for the foot.

 I have to finish these by March 31, to make the KAL deadline,  so I really don't know if I can do it.  Then again, I have finished a mans sock in ten days, so maybe, maybe I can pull that off. If I can't they're actually for a summer birthday, so I've got lots of time to actually finish them, if I just can't finish them for the KAL.  But I'm going to try!

Finally, though there's no new picture, I'm done the thumb gusset on the first of the Vancouver Fog Gloves. They're also for a knit-along with a deadline of April 1, but they seem to be knitting up a lot faster now that I'm actually paying attention to them!

More Birthday Knitting (with an actual deadline)!

I started yet another project.  Yes, this means that I have oodles of works-in-progress, but I couldn't delay starting these any more.

They're for a birthday in May, and they're for a friend living in Ottawa.  Her apartment often gets cold, and so I've been told that fingerless mittens are always a good idea.

However, the pair I made her last year are made of stash acrylic.   While they are pretty, and she quite likes them, they're not superbly warm.

This year, I wanted to go for warm. 

So, I'm making a pair of One Cable Mitts.  The pattern is free from the Blue Sky Alpacas Website. (Rav Pattern link is here.)  It's designed to use just one skein of Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes, which is a wonderfully squishy 50/50 merino/alpaca blend.  And I picked up a skein of this ages ago while it was a power-boost yarn at EatSleepKnit.  I was already thinking about fingerless mitts, with it, and the pattern worked out well. (I think this is the first time I've used the exact yarn recommended in the pattern!)

My giftee likes purples/blues and that end of the colour spectrum, so the colour seemed to suit quite well.    And though these aren't machine-washable, I'll probably just have to remind her of that when I see her.  She's one of the few people on my gift list who I will give things that are hand-wash/dry clean only to, because I know she'll make every effort to remember, and knows how to do so.  And these shouldn't need oodles of washing, anyway.

These are also going to be my second attempt at knitting two-at-a-time, as long as my circular is long enough.  It should help keep me from suffering from second-mitten-syndrome.

It's funny, though.  All of my other current birthday/Christmas knitting has been started absurdly early via various knit-alongs.  This, however, has an actual and upcoming deadline.  Hopefully I can finish in time!