The Holiday Season

If you are a knitter, at this time of year, the possibilities are endless.  The number of new patterns cropping up on Ravelry are so tempting to try as well as the lure of KALs to join. Then there is the decision about whether you should knit some Christmas presents.  Who would appreciate a knitted gift, what can be made in the crazy, busy weeks before Christmas and how many are possible?  I feel a bit overwhelmed but in a good way.

I used to be the kind of knitter who could only have one project on the go at a time.  Those days are long gone!  So far I have started two Christmas projects.  The first one is the ever popular French Cancan shawl in Madelinetosh DK Tart for my mother-in-law.  I have finished the main garter section and am about to start the border.  However, I am hesitating as I am wondering if the shawl will be too small.  I only have two skeins of Tart and the directions say to do the body with one skein and the border with another.  The other option I have is to make the shawl bigger, using the second skein, and then use some Tart Madelinetosh Lace that I have for the border.  I wonder what the lace would look like doubled up?

French Cancan

The next project I have on the go is from the new Wool People's 6th e-book called Bough.  I am participating in the Tanis Fiber Arts Holiday KAL and am making the hat in Olive using TFA's Green Label.  This will be a gift for my sister.  Have you had a chance to look at the patterns in this book....they are absolutely gorgeous.  The photography is also amazing.

My son has been begging me for a scarf too.  I tried making the Noro Striped Scarf pattern with Plymouth Yarn Kudo, a cotton, rayon and silk blend but the yarn was terrible...it kept breaking as I knit so I gave up.  As my son wanted something very plain I used Julie Hoover's free pattern, Forever Ribbed, which is a ribbed pattern using Paqu Pura yarn (100% alpaca) by Mirasol.  I also added in a skein of Madelinetosh Prairie in charcoal.  The scarf feels soft and I hope he doesn't find it itchy.

Forever Ribbed

As a member of the Tanis Fiber Arts Year in Colour Club I received my final instalment of this year's yarn and pattern.  The yarn is the Yellow Label in Saffron.  Yellow is not a colour I usually buy but then I received the pattern Pemba Mitts by Julie Crawford...who could resist such a sunshiny pattern that would brighten even the darkest days of winter?  New memberships are available for 2014...you should check it out.  So now I have another pattern I would like to get done before Christmas.

December TFA Club yarn

I also recently bought an e-book by Romi Hill called the Great Oddments Knitdown. This subscription lasts a year. As all avid knitters know there is a always a variety of leftover yarn in your stash.  Romi's goal is to use a box of yarn she has to create various small items creating a total of 15-18 items.  If you are interested buy it quickly as the price will go up in the next fews days from $10 to $15.  It will be interesting to see what she comes up with.  Also I couldn't get over how friendly the group boards are for Romi's Studio site on Ravelry.

I hope you enjoy the upcoming season.  I look forward to seeing everyone's projects.  What are you working on?

Fall Knitting

Knotted Pine

I finished my Knotted Pine earlier this week and I was very happy with the result.  The ending of the pattern was a surprise since you basically graft together all the stitches and then sew the two corners of the hat together on the inside.  It actually lays quite well when worn.  As the weather turned colder this week I was able to wear it and I am sold on Juniper Moon's Herriot.  It is warm and soft, the perfect ingredients for a hat.

We are reaching the end of the pretty part of autumn here as most of the trees have lost their leaves. This is the tree in the front of my house.  When I went to work one morning this week all the leaves were still on the tree.  By the end of the day they had all fallen into this beautiful circular sea of golden leaves.  My photo really doesn't do it justice.

I visited Romni Wools in Toronto this weekend.  I was looking for some yarn to knit for a couple Christmas presents as I don't want to leave this knitting until the last minute.  Romni has a huge assortment of yarn and as the store seemed particularly full there was barely room to get down the aisle. I actually found it a bit overwhelming.  Yes, you have probably gathered by now that I have quite the stash of yarn and that I really didn't need to go to a yarn store and you would be quite right.  However, I really wanted a nice winter colour for a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law and I settled for a Madelinetosh DKweight in Tart.  This is a colour I have wanted to knit with for some time...it really is as gorgeous as I have heard.   I started making a very popular shawl pattern on Ravelry that I have had in my queue for some time called the French Cancan by Mademoiselle C .   It's great to knit a shawl in a DK weight for a change.

French Cancan in Tosh DK

How is your Christmas knitting going?  Have you started anything yet?  Have a great week everyone!

Knotted Pine Hat

I finally finished my Pull Me Over.  I enjoyed knitting this pattern although I wish I had not run out of yarn and been able to do the full length sleeves I had wanted to do.  This yarn really grew through blocking and my sweater is a bit big although it still looks good.  Sand dune is the Madelinetosh yarn colour I used but it is very hard to capture on camera.  You can read all about my sweater here.

Pull Me Over

I finally broke out the Juniper Moon Yarn I was saving and have started creating a new hat by Alicia Plummer called Knotted Pine. It's on sale for $2.00 for a short time so don't delay!  Here's what I've knitted so far:

Knotted Pine

There are a lot of pretty stitches on this piece including the honeycomb pattern on the front, embossed moss rib, a braid, and, on the back, a half twist stockinette stitch.  This is my first time using this yarn and I quite like the halo effect it creates.  Not to mention how warm it is.  You should check this pattern out.

Today I took a trip to Toronto and visited Lettuce Knit which is located in Kensington Market.  This yarn store really celebrates Canadian yarn dyers and has quite a unique and varied collection. The lovely woman working there gave me quite a tour and pointed out some of their unique collection.  One yarn I was introduced to was Julie Asselin's yarn called Hektos, a merino, cashmere and silk blend in a beautiful grey called Shining Armour. Unfortunately I do not have, as of yet, a photo to share with you that will do it justice.  I will show you next time!