F.O. Lake Effect

Have you ever looked at a pattern for the first time and knew you had to knit it? That's what happened to me as soon as I saw Lake Effect by Amy Miller.  

Sweet Fiber Super Sweet Sock in Chartreuse

I knew exactly what colour I wanted: Sweet Fiber Yarns Super Sweet Sock in Chartreuse. I fell in love with this colour after I knit my Cladonia.  It is a hard colour to capture on camera but, trust me when I say, it is gorgeous.   

Cladonia

I joined the the Very Shannon Summer Sweater Knit Along and got knitting. This KAL began at the end of July and ran until Labour Day Weekend.  I love this annual KAL as there are many enthusiastic participants and it is very motivating for me.

The pattern was easy to follow. Knit from the bottom up, using a 3.5mm needle, I used markers in between lace repeats which helped me spot my errors easily. 

When knitting the sleeves I went up a sleeve size as I always knit so much tighter when using dpns.  Unfortunately my first sleeve still came out tighter than I would have liked.  My friend Judy suggested I try knitting the second sleeve in the round.  That triggered an idea.  Instead of trying Magic Loop I decided to put the second sleeve on two circular needles....half the stitches on one circular needle and the other half on another.  Then taking a third circular needle I started knitting the sleeve.  Not only was I able to knit faster using this technique, but when I measured the width compared to the first sleeve, the second sleeve was turning out wider.  I switched back to dpns at this point as I didn't want to have two different sized sleeves.  However, this was a lightbulb moment for me as I realized that I would definitely use three circular needles for sleeves in the future as it would prevent me from having tightly knit sleeves and would speed up my knitting. So thank you Judy! 

One sleeve to go!

I love the comparison of the photo above pre-blocking and then the photo below after blocking.  Do you see how the lace just opened up?  Blocking is the best part of the knitting process for me.

All blocked

Now the weather just needs to cool off so I can wear it!  I hope you all are having a wonderful long weekend and are getting excited about the fall knitting ahead.

A Knitting Store Adventure

As summer comes to an end I wanted to share a funny yarn story with you all. When travelling to B.C. this summer, my husband had to first make a business stop in Calgary.  When we arrived he went off to the Calgary office and I decided I needed a long walk to stretch my legs.  Of course, a walk with yarn at the end is highly desirable.  I found a yarn store called Stash which was about 2.5 km away from the hotel we were staying at.  No problem, I thought.  It was a lovely sunny day, a perfect day for a walk.  

However, I noticed as I walked that the clouds were getting darker in the distance.  By this point I was closer to the yarn store than I was to the hotel.   By the time I made it to the yarn store and took a quick tour around, it was getting really cloudy, and clouds in Calgary are much bigger and darker than here in Toronto!  When I asked the young girl at the shop if there were any cabs around, she told me they really didn't get out this way very often.  I made a quick decision to head back to the hotel.  I started off jogging, but then ended up in a full run as I could hear thunder and then see lightning. Now, I have to admit I ran by people that didn't look concerned at all so I probably looked like a crazy woman. There was really nowhere I could take cover as the street only had apartment buildings, a park and a parking lot. Then when I looked up in the distance I saw a funnel cloud.  Yes, that's right.  A real funnel cloud.  I ran faster!  Thankfully, the tornado never hit the city and I got back to the hotel before the rain hit.  Now, to prove to everyone that I was not hallucinating here is a picture I took of the news in the hotel bar. This is exactly what I had seen in the distance.  My husband bought me a drink (or two!) and we had a good laugh about my adventure.  

It's been one of those weeks.  I really wanted to finish my Lake Effect cardigan as part of the Very Shannon Summer Sweater KAL (knit-a-long) I am taking part in.  I have until September 9th to complete it.  But instead of finishing up that last lace sleeve, I started knitting my Mailin in the gorgeous Plucky Knitter Scholar in the Twill colourway.  Knitting a cardigan with worsted weight is so much faster than fingering weight.  It is the kind of relaxing pattern that will be perfect as I head into September, which is a very busy time for me at work. I guess I really needed a break from lace knitting.  Hopefully by next weekend I will have finished my Lake Effect and have a F.O. to show you.

Plucky Knitter:  Scholar

After I finish Lake Effect I will cast on a Brooklyn Tweed pattern called Slade, by Michele Wang, for my very patient son who has been waiting for me to knit him a cardigan for a long time.  When I chose this pattern I knew exactly the yarn I wanted and when I was out in Vancouver I visited one of my favourite B.C. yarn stores called Urban Yarns to buy it. They carry a yarn by Harrisville Design (the same company that produces Brooklyn Tweed's yarn) called Watershed, a 100% wool worsted weight yarn. This yarn is described as a softspun, minimally processed heathered woolen yarn. The shade I chose is called Granite, a medium gray flecked with an interesting combination of colours.  Have a look:

Harrisville Designs: Watershed

Colourway:  Graphite

Depending on the light I can see red, blue, and yellow flecks, to name a few. This yarn is very lofty, and I am really interested to see how it will knit up. 

And lastly, look at this interesting skein of yarn that I could not resist buying recently from the Madelinetosh store.  It is called Electric Rainbow in DK Twist.  I am thinking of some mittens or a hat for one of my nieces.

Electric Rainbow: Madelinetosh DK Twist

I hope you all have some exciting knitting projects set up for September.  Fall knitting here we come!

FO: Caroline

Ta-dah! I finished my Caroline and it fits! When I knit a sweater and try it on for the first time I feel a bit of fear that all those hours knitting were wasted.  I am still at the stage of knitting where I am surprised when I knit a sweater that actually fits me properly.  I am very happy with the fit of this one.  I guess swatching does work!

This sweater was knit for the MadMay KAL, an annual knit-a-long, where during the month of May knitters sign up to make something with the very popular Madelinetosh yarn.  Sweaters are just one of the many categories.  Here are some other sweaters that were completed.  

Cables go up the sides both in the back and front

Caroline, is a seamed sweater, by Amy Miller, knit in fingering weight yarn.  I chose Robin Egg, a newly discontinued colour in Madelinetosh Merino Light. The colour is hard to capture on camera but it reminds me of candy floss. This sweater pattern was a very simple pattern to follow and made for a relaxing knit. However, the main reason I chose it was to practice my seaming skills. The front and back and sleeves were all knit separately.  Before attempting to seam this sweater I rewatched Sally Melville's Craftsy video called Essential Techniques Every Knitter Should Know. This video has helped me so many times with many different knitting techniques.  I highly recommend it.  I am always surprised at how long it takes to seam a sweater. You can do a beautiful job knitting all the pieces of a sweater but it's those last couple hours seaming that are the most important. I definitely want to practice more.

Caroline by Amy Miller

The only modification I made to this sweater was to knit the body in stockinette, instead of the reverse stockinette suggested in the pattern.

 
I enjoyed the process but I think I need to knit with thicker yarns for a bit before I go onto Lake Effect which will be my next fingering weight cardigan project.  I seem to gravitate to fingering weight sweater/cardigan patterns but knitting them is a slow process.  I need some instant gratification that a thicker yarn can provide.  So the pattern hunt begins!  

Toronto Knitter's Frolic 2015

I made my annual venture to the Toronto Knitter's Frolic on Saturday.  My friend and I got there early enough that we were near the front of the line.  When they opened the doors at 9a.m. there was a big cheer from the waiting crowd.  Talk about passionate knitters! This annual event is a favourite of mine as all knitters know that it is so much fun to actually see and touch the yarn that you only have access to from the internet.  Here are a few things I enjoyed:

There was so many beautiful yarns to look at.  The yarn pictured above was all from the Sweet Fiber Yarn booth.  The colours were even more beautiful in person than on the internet.  Melissa Thomson brought a variety of her yarn, Super Sweet Sock, Cashmerino 20 and Coastal, a beautiful silk/merino blend.  I also enjoyed looking at the knitted samples that different vendors brought.  The Warrior Shawl caught my eye in The Needle Emporium's booth. It was a really interesting shawl pattern. Eweknit, my favourite Toronto based yarn store, brought a Madelinetosh Pashmina version of Brooklyn Tweed's Statis Pullover. It would be so amazingly luxurious to wear.

Super Sweet Sock

As for my purchases I tried to show restraint!  The night before the Frolic a new Spring Forward collection from Amy Miller for the Plucky Knitter yarn line was published.  The pattern Lake Effect caught my attention immediately and I knew exactly what yarn would look perfect with it, the chartreuse Sweet Fiber colourway I used for my Cladonia recently.  Thankfully Melissa brought some of that colourway with her.  Both my friend and I snapped up enough to make this lovely lace sweater.  If you haven't looked at this new collection of patterns yet you really should!  There are some beautiful patterns in it that you are going to want to knit.

This colour just glows in the sun

And I don't know if I mentioned it but I love buying interesting stitch markers.  I just could resist these pretty ChiaGoo ones.  Look how pretty they are!

I think my favourite part of an event like this is being surrounded by other knitters/crocheters who are as passionate as me about their craft.  I am not alone in the world!

Congratulations to Monica who was the winner of my contest and won a copy of the Hyperballad Cowl by Julie Crawford.  Yeah Monica!

In My Queue: Knitting Goals

New patterns are popping up on Ravelry everyday lately.  It's crazy!  There are so many beautiful patterns that I have added to my queue recently.  The choice is a bit overwhelming to be honest.  Apparently cabled sweaters are really in this fall my sources tell me.  A few of the patterns mentioned below include some cables.

Here's my list in no particular order:

1.  Endearment by Hanna Maciejewska, a beautiful cardigan with a cable and lace pattern in the front knit in fingering weight yarn.  I have wanted to try a pattern by this designer for some time.  I think some of my Sweet Fiber Yarn Super Sweet Sock in Sapphire would work well.

Sweet Fiber Super Sweet Sock in Sapphire

2. Capall Dubh by Carol Feller knit in a sportweight yarn.  This lovely cardigan has a lace shoulder and back.  I have been working on improving my lace knitting skills and I want to challenge myself in this area. This looks like the perfect pattern to do just that.  The designer is hosting a KAL (knit-along) starting in November and I find them very helpful and motivating. For this pattern I have some Madelinetosh Pashmina which Carol Feller has said would be a good substitute for the suggested yarn.  I am going to knit up a gauge swatch to see if it will work.

Madelinetosh Pashmina:  Baroque Violet

3.  Japan Sleeves by Joji Locatelli is a fingering weight striped sweater with a lace panel going up the sleeves.  I have some leftover Tosh Merino Light in Teddy Bear and I am thinking of pairing it up with Tosh Merino Light in Robin's Egg.

4.  Vector,  found in Wool People 7, by Tanis Lavalee.  This scarf pattern looks like a great project to do on the side, when I need a break from all that sweater knitting.  It is knit mainly in garter stitch using a finger weight yarn.  I have bought another Pebble Sock  Black Trillium Gradient Kit in shades of grey.  I think it will make a lovely scarf for a friend of mine.

Black Trillium Gradient Kit in Pebble Sock:   Crater

5. One last sweater that I think is stunning is Caroline by Amy Miller.  Guess what?  It's in fingering weight yarn again.  I must be a sucker for punishment.  I love the lines of this sweater and the cabling up the sides.  It is simply beautiful. I also like that it is a seamed sweater because I think seamed sweaters hold up the best.

Of course there are lots of beautiful shawls and cowls that I would love to do as well.  Too bad I work for a living!

As you can see I have hours of knitting ahead in the above mentioned patterns. It will really help me fly through the winter.  If only these patterns were knit in a sensible weight like DK or aran, not in fingering weight yarn!  Slow knitters like me would be crazy to attempt the above.

Call me crazy!

What's on your list?