Sunday, December 31, 2017

Year of Projects 7: Week 27


So my Brigit Socks are done and aren't they lovely?! This is exactly the sort of sock pattern that I love - lots of ribbing for a nice snug fit with some added interest from cable sections.

I did modify the pattern somewhat - as I mentioned in an earlier post - to eliminate puffiness at transitions from cabled patterns to stockinette, and, to centre the pattern on the leg.

The yarn is unknown MCN from stash, although I'd guess it's either Wandering Cat yarn or Studio June yarn. Either way it's gorgeous. I find MCN is a little thicker and loftier than plain merino/nylon blends which works nicely with this pattern to avoid holes at the crossed stitches. Although it's beautiful to work with, these days I don't buy much MCN as I find it doesn't wear as well as plain merino/nylon. I've got a lot of very pilled socks in my sock drawer! They're still comfy but it'd be nicer to see the stitch pattern still :)

Back to the yarn... I only wish I had another half skein. To my way of thinking both the leg and the foot of this sock could use another repeat. Unfortunately, with my giant feet in mind, there's never enough yarn for that. I read somewhere that socks look best proportioned when the leg is at least as long as the foot, and I've found that to be true. For this sock I lengthened the foot by adding 12 rib rounds (similar to the cuff) as I didn't have the yarn for another full repeat. I'm happy enough with the socks but they're a bit small for me. They'll have to go on the gift pile.

A little more progress on my Mad Mix Socks but not enough to justify another photo. The last couple of weeks have involved a lot of travel knitting, which was better suited to a simple chart like Brigit than multiple charts like Mad Mix. Not to worry, now that Brigit socks are off the needles, I can turn my undivided attention to Mad Mix.

Er, did I say undivided attention? Well, that's not really true. I celebrated a birthday a couple of days ago and unwrapped some lovely yarns. From my brother I received some Ploome Fiber Arts DK Merino Single yarn. Mark met the yarnie, Anna Matthis, at the Boyce Christmas market in Fredericton and picked out a couple of lovely skeins for me. I couldn't help but wind one skein and cast on a hat just to see how it would knit up! The yarn colourway is quite busy so I decided on Violet Waffles hat -  a simple, straight forward hat. At the moment I'm about an inch away from starting crown decreases. If I'm not mistaken I'm going to have enough left for a matching scarf or cowl. Pretty, huh? It's a gorgeous base too - really nice hand with lots of sheep-y lanolin - an absolute pleasure to knit. Right now I'm picturing it with one of those big, fluffy faux rabbit fur pompoms; once it's done I'll see what I think on my next visit to Lens Mill Store.

Not shown is another skein of birthday yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts Purple Label Cashmere Sock yarn in a bright and happy colourway called "Papaya". Mmmmm, Tanis + Cashmere!!!!! I'm spoiled and I know it!

On Ravelry I'm part of a "Canada Let's Swap" group. I don't participate in the swaps but I have signed up for a KAL: 2018 Paper bag Project Year Long KAL/CAL. You take 12 month-long type projects you’ve been meaning to knit/crochet, and put each in a bag you can’t see through. Each month, you pick a bag and get knitting (or crocheting)! My 12 projects are bagged - they'll all be socks and they're mostly from my YoP list above. So we'll see how that goes, but I think it'll be fun. If this sounds interesting to you, and if you're a Canadian 18 years or older, well then you're welcome to join us.

That's it for me for today. Have a great New Year everyone. Gavin and I will be toasting the new year at about 9:30pm and calling it an early night shortly thereafter. Gone are the days of staying up all hours!
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Sunday, December 17, 2017

Year of Projects 7: Week 25


Today finds me in that happy place where I've got a couple of pairs of socks on needles, and I'm loving both! First: Mad Mix Socks. These are not so much a pattern but a patchwork of other patterns, where you knit a couple of inches of one colour and one pattern, then switch to a second colour and a second pattern and so on. Switching patterns every couple of inches keeps the knitting interesting. And switching yarns every couple of inches is fun and great for using up those sock yarn leftovers! I've started sock one after selecting a range of purple semi-solid leftovers, but I'm still undecided whether to match that colour scheme on sock two or go in an entirely different direction.

Also on the needles are Brigit Socks. When I came across a full skein of unknown cocoa brown MCN it seemed the perfect choice for the pattern and for the December SolidSocks KAL on Ravelry. After reading through the helpful notes amongst the Ravelry projects for this pattern I've made a few modifications. Like other knitters I shifted the heel to centre the pattern across the instep. And instead of a plain stockinette heel, I decided to continue the ribbing down the heel flap. The pattern is written and not charted, but thankfully another Raveler created the missing chart and shared it - the designer has added a link right on the project page.

It's a sunny winter-y morning here, but the coffeemaker has given up - which constitutes an emergency around here - so we're headed out to pick up a new one, along with a few other errands. Happily the plow went through yesterday so we're no longer snowed in, but I think I'd better stock up on canned goods while I'm out shopping!
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Sunday, December 10, 2017

Year of Projects 7 - Week 24


Happily, I finished the knitting of Gavin's Scrappy Lengthwise Scarf on Wednesday. Unhappily, when I took it off the circular needle it was clearly too long. I had knit one many years ago on 400 sts and recalled that it was shorter than I'd hoped. So, I reckoned 500 sts might do the trick this go round.  NOPE. And the more I think on it, the more I think the first one on 400 sts was probably just right. But now what to do?!?! After sleeping on the matter it occurred to me that there was no good reason not to cut a steek (or two) to shorten it. I machine stitched to reinforce up and down through two adjacent columns of stitches and snipped off the excess. PERFECT. At the same time I conveniently snipped off all the ends awaiting finishing. BONUS. Gavin loves his new scarf and it suits him to a "T". Also, he's trying out this new beardliness - what do you think? 

Earlier this aft, I finished the latest pair of vanilla socks. The yarn - Sweet Skein O'Mine Sock - was souvenir yarn from New Brunswick from a local dyer. It's a very light fingering so I opted for an improvised pattern. Cast on 84 sts on smaller than usual needles, work K4P2 rib for a lengthy cuff, worked a decrease row by purling together those 2 adjacent purls, and then carried on for a vanilla sock on 70 sts. It all worked out fine, but there's quite a bit of yarn leftover which makes me wish I'd made the leg longer. Oh well, better leftover than short, right?

Poor Gschnitztal Socks ... still on the sidelines. I'd like to make some promises about getting back to them, but I'm just not feeling it. The light is poor and the pattern's finicky. Gah! I'd just rather knit something else. Maybe something like Mad Mix socks will fit the bill? I've cast on and we'll see where that goes. It's week 24 of this Year of Projects - nearly half way - so I'd better stop messing about and get to working at that list!


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Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Giving Tuesday and Yarn Canada


What is "Giving Tuesday"? This excerpt from GivingTuesday.ca explains:

Most people know about Black Friday and Cyber Monday … now we celebrate GivingTuesday, November 28, 2017.

It is a global movement for giving and volunteering, taking place each year after Black Friday. The “Opening day of the giving season,” it’s a time when charities, companies and individuals join together and rally for favourite causes. In the same way that retailers take part in Black Friday, the giving community comes together for GivingTuesday.

GivingTuesday harnesses the potential of social media and the generosity of people around the world to bring about real change in their communities; it provides a platform for them to encourage the donation of time, resources and talents to address local challenges. It also brings together the collective power of a unique blend of partners - nonprofits, civic organizations, businesses and corporations, as well as families and individuals - to encourage and amplify small acts of kindness. Across Canada and around the world, GivingTuesday unites communities by sharing our capacity to care for and empower one another.

This year YarnCanada.ca is getting involved. They're giving away yarn to groups and individuals who knit or crochet for good causes. TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS WORTH OF YARN!!! One of the groups I knit for - The Warm Hands Network - has applied. And I've applied as an individual asking for yarn to knit children's sweaters for my local knitting group - Warm Up Haldimand. If you or your group can put donated yarn to good use, then you'll find the link below the screen snapshot below for the entry as well as an excerpt from YarnCanada's website with all the details.


We're Giving Yarn To Your Good Cause

We know so many wonderful people knit and crochet for good causes. We'd love to hear your stories and help out! We'll be choosing 12 individuals and groups to get a total of $2000 worth of yarn to use towards their projects. Since we get requests from all over, and we'd like to do something nice for our neighbours, this is open to Canadians and Americans.

Here’s the yarn we’ll be giving away:
  1 x $500 of yarn to a Canadian group who knits or crochets for a good cause
  1 x $500 of yarn to an American group who knits or crochets for a good cause
  10 x $100 of yarn to Canadian or American individuals or groups who knit or crochet for a good cause

All you need to do to apply is fill out the form... and tell us your story. What will you use the yarn for, what impact has this or previous projects had, and anything else important to your story. If you have any photos we’d love to see them too.
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Sunday, November 26, 2017

Year of Projects 7 - Week 22


Over the last several weeks there's been knitting, but not much blogging has happened. So this is going to be a picture heavy catch up post.

Somewhere Socks were done in time for that early November birthday. They fit her perfectly and she loves them!



Tuxie Love Socks are also done. I cut the cuff off the first sock, picked up the stitches and then increased from 64st to 70-72 sts for the three colourwork sections. And then knit sock two to match. These were a week late for the birthday, but in time for my first opportunity to catch up with the birthday girl in person, so all good. And she loves them too!


I joined a local knitting group - Warm Up Haldimand - and have so far knit a pair of mitts for donation to local charities. I decided to knit use sock yarn (from stash), and knit a folded-over cuff from a single strand of sock yarn, and then the body of the mitt and thumb from double-stranded. Makes for nice warm mitts, and puts some uncooperative pooling sock yarn to good use. There's another group meeting coming up, so I'd better cast on another pair soon!



Friends of ours are expecting their first child in the spring, and we're having dinner with them in early December so I knit a little sweater to welcome their baby girl. The pattern is In Threes which I have knit before. It knit up really large last time so I went down a needle size and knit the smallest size. As well I cast on more stitches than written to widen the neck opening. And I used up the leftover yarn making a hat, mitts and a little crocheted crown, which are not shown in the photo. It's all wrapped and ready to go. The yarn is Bergere de France Merino, and it is absolutely lovely to work with!



A couple of years ago I knit bunches and bunches of fingerless mitts to make use of yarn that I had been given by a friend whose injuries had forced her to give up knitting. About a week ago I got a facebook message from someone to whom I'd given a pair. Was I still knitting? she asked. If so, her sister was always admiring her fingerless mitts - could I knit a pair for her. As it happened I had a couple hundred yards of approximately DK handspun merino that might suit exactly that. So I knit another pair of Susie Roger's Reading Mitts. They were on and off the needles in a matter of days and are already in the mail to her.




I found myself in New Brunswick at the end of October without any knitting, so I popped into the Fredericton location of Cricket Cove to buy a skein of sock yarn locally dyed by Sweet Skein O'Mine in a colourway called Happy Hippy. It's a very light, high twist fingering weight yarn, and quite a busy colourway, so I opted for a vanilla sock on smaller than usual needles. I upped my primary stitch count to compensate. The first sock is done, and the second will be started in the next few days.



And last but not least, Gavin needs a scarf. So I collected up my blue and grey sock yarn scraps and started a linen stitch scarf. It's cold and windy these days, so I need to get a move on with this! I expect to knit this fairly monogamously for the next week or two.



Poor Gschnitztal Socks! Set aside again, although they are now well underway. Switching to shiny metal needles has made a world of difference in seeing the stitches in dark yarn. And a floor lamp behind me has helped with poor evening light. I'm not really sure when I'll get back to these.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends! I hope you're enjoying time with family and friends. We get Black Friday sales here in Canada now, and we almost bought a TV we don't need yesterday. Imagine $550 no tax for 55" 4K Smart TV! That's just crazy!
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Sunday, October 15, 2017

Year of Projects 7: Week 16


After a lengthy hiatus I'm back to my Somewhere Socks. This week I finished the first sock and made a good start on the second. I'm motivated to finish these quickly as they'll make the perfect gift for a friend born at the beginning of November.

The yarns are scraps from my stash. The pattern sample is shown from a rainbow of colours  - which is consistent with the Somewhere Over the Rainbow theme of the pattern as part of the Socks from Oz collection - but I was curious to see how the pattern would knit up in a range of neutrals. Thinking ahead, I ordered my scrap colours so that the cuff, heels and toes would fall as Kroy black yarn, since it's nice and sturdy. Quite handsome I think, and Gavin agrees, so that's saying something.

The pattern is super easy; it uses slipped stitches to create the pattern rather than stranded colourwork. It goes quick too, but oh, all those ends! Two for every colour change, so 28 ends to weave in per sock. *sigh*

After "finishing" the first of my Tuxie Love socks, I asked a friend to try it on just to make sure I'd guesstimated the size right. DISASTER. She couldn't stretch the leg of the sock over her heel. NOOOOOO! The sock promptly landed in time out while I swallowed my disappointed and reasoned out how I planned to fix it. Now that a few days have passed I'm calmer and am thinking that I'll cut the cuff off the sock, and a row of still-to-be-determined increases, adjust the colourwork chart to knit over the increased number of stitches and then reknit the cuff from the bottom up. It was my own fault. I knit the leg on smaller than specified needles because my yarn was a very light fingering. I was asking for trouble.

On Thursday afternoon I dropped in on a local knitting group "Warm Up Haldimand" who meet on the second Thursday of each month in Hagersville. The info I found online indicated that the group knits for local distribution, so I thought I'd better cast on something suitable like mittens. Seems to me that sock yarn might be just perfect for mitts - it's 75-80% wool so it's warm and a good insulator, it's 20-25% nylon so it's durable, and I've got lots of it! The green yarn is a handpainted yarn that I bought impulsively. It's been sitting in my stash for years for two reasons: it insisted on pooling no matter what pattern I tried, and the colourway was so much prettier in the skein than knitted. Much nicer as mittens, I think! As for the knitting group, the ladies were all very pleasant and some quite entertainingly funny, so it was nice to meet some local knitters. I'll definitely go again!

All in all it was a pretty quiet week, other than the dishwasher fail. Turns out our cabinet opening is non-standard and the dishwasher I ordered will not fit. That dishwasher has been returned and now we're trying to figure out whether we can source a dishwasher that will fit, whether we can make alterations to our kitchen to standardize the opening to fit a dishwasher without rebuilding all the cabinets, or, whether we were just not meant to have a dishwasher. Que sera, sera. After all, hand-washing dishes for the two of us is not that onerous.

We had a furnace inspection done and it was confirmed to us that the built-in electronic air cleaner was kaput. We had been alerted to that by the Home Inspector before we bought, so the news was not unexpected. The technician removed it and replaced it with a filter assembly. Otherwise the furnace was given a clean bill of health, so that's great. And the filter for the new assembly is a standard size, so we can buy replacements at local hardware stores so that's great too.

I hope everyone's week has also been mostly great! See you next weekend!

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Sunday, October 8, 2017

Year of Projects 7: Week 15


My Crosshaven socks seemed to be going swimmingly until Wednesday, when it was clear that I was facing a stunning loss at Yarn Chicken! Given that the skein I was knitting was labelled as 360M (400 yds) running short of yarn was the last thing I expected. In fact, as I was knitting the second sock I was musing about how I might use up the leftover yarn... a halloween-themed colourwork motif, maybe?

So much for that idea. I knit as far as I could on sock two, then picked out the grafted toe of sock one to rip back a half repeat on the foot. I salvaged enough yarn from the shortened sock one to complete a matching sock two. That's the good news. The bad news is that the shortened socks are now too small for my giant size 11 feet. Onto the gift pile they go - they'll fit someone with feet sized 7-9 I'd think.

The last couple of weeks we've been watching Ozark on Netflix, throughout which I've been knitting away at a vanilla-isa sock: Tuxie Love. I did have to pay attention through the colourwork on the leg, but the rest is vanilla enough to knit in a dark room, even with dark yarn.

I'm looking forward to getting back to Somewhere socks. I'm super happy with the way my yarn scraps are playing together, so my plan is to finish up sock one and get started on sock two this week. Hopefully I'll have something to show you in my next post.

The car has been acting up this week - an O2 sensor needs replacing and as a consequence the car is using too much gas. We're at the point where the car is so old that it's a decision about whether to spend money on it or trade it in for something new. The mechanic seems to think that we could get another year or two from the car so we're going to do the repairs and see. We did take some 2018 models out for test drives which has made us yearn for a new car with all the mod cons - in dash nav, heated seats, keyless entry, emergency braking... On the other hand, if the car lasts another year, imagine how awesome the 2019 models might be!

Gavin installed the dishwasher that was here when we moved in, only to discover that there is a part broken which causes it to leak. The dishwasher model was discontinued a few years ago; the cost to order the replacement part would be more than the value of the machine. Another consideration is that new dishwashers are far more water efficient and energy efficient than they used to be. So a new dishwasher has been ordered and is scheduled for installation on Friday. It uses 3.3 gallons per cycle (versus 18 gallons per cycle for the old one), and about $30 in electricity per year. With just the two of us, we only run the dishwasher about once a week so it won't even cost that. We have 16 place-settings of dishes and cutlery so that we can easily go a week without washing dishes. In theory, we should end up saving $$ on water. And won't it be nice to get the dirty dishes off the kitchen counter and out of sight!

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada which we are spending quietly at home. It's been unseasonably warm, so warm that I went swimming in the lake yesterday! Autumn chores are calling - especially raking up all the leaves and chestnuts. I hope your weekend is as pleasant and peaceful!
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