Woolercoaster's Wonderful World of Wool: September 18-24

I love this time of year. Although it is still hot where I live, I know sweater weather is around the corner.  There are so many beautiful new patterns and yarns cropping up on Ravelry each day.  Here's my picks for the highlights of the week:

Hot Patterns:
1.  If you are looking for a shawl that uses up some smaller quantities of yarn check out Melanie Berg's new pattern called True Colors.

2.  Thea Colman has come out with a new cabled cardigan pattern called Nor'easter.

3.  Josie Paquin and Heidi Kirrmaier have teamed up to create the Strong and Free collection which consists of 3 cardigans, 3 pullovers and 4 accessories all knit (or dyed) in Canadian yarn. I really like the Mount Pearl hat pattern.

4.  And if you are in the market for a baby cardigan pattern here's a cute one:  Aimee's Rainbow unisex cardigan by Nadia Crétin-Léchenne


Free Patterns:  
1.  Knitty Deep Fall 2017, 12 free patterns from designers such as Laura Nelkin, Julie Crawford, Carol Feller, and Amy Christoffers.  Check out Julie Crawford's cowl pattern below.

Alicorn by Julie Crawford
©Knitty Deep Fall 2017 

2.  The East Coaster Cozy is a free pattern until the end of September.  This cup cozy looks like a perfect gift.

3.  The Espace Tricot ladies have done it again.  Using the leaf pattern from the sweet cardigan Norwegian Fir they have created a baby blanket called Petits Pins.  It is so pretty, isn't it?

Clubs:If you are a fan of Julie Hoover's designs then you may be interested in her Sweater Club 2017 which was introduced this week.  By joining this club you will get two exclusive sweater patterns (one cardigan and one pullover) featuring a Woolfolk yarn in the quantity you need.

Yarn Festivals:

Gauge Dyeworks (available at Knit City)

One of my favourite things to do is to go to a yarn festival.  There is nothing like being around other knitters who are as passionate as I am about all things knitting.  I love having the opportunity to touch and feel yarn that I have only seen on the internet. For example, new colourways by Gauge DyeWorks will be available for purchase, such as the gorgeous colourway above. I am excited to be going to Knit City for the first time this year and I will be sure to write a blog on the event.  The Canadian west coast yarn festival, an annual event held in Vancouver September 30-October 1st.  Besides the amazing yarn market there are so many designers, classes, speakers and vendors. I can hardly wait. 

YouTube Videos:
If you are looking for some company while knitting check out Andrea Mowry at the Yarn Pimp's store.  Interview here.

That's just a tiny drop in the bucket of what is new in the knitting world.  Please feel free to add your own favourites in the comment section below.  Happy knitting!

F.O. Goode by Julie Hoover

Let me share with you the facts about a sweater I knit over several months that I have a terrible feeling I am going to rip out.

Pattern:  Goode

Designer:  Julie Hoover

Yarn: Purl Soho Linen Quill (50% wool, 35% alpaca, 15% linen)  4 skeins

Purl Soho Linen Quill

Colourway: Oatmeal Gray

Goode

Needles:   3.25 mm

Ravelry:  Link

Added Notes:

1. The Yarn:  One of the things I absolutely love about knitting is trying new yarn, especially with a combination of fibers that I have never knit with before. I first heard about Purl Soho's Linen Quill through Karen Templer's Fringe Association blog. She knit a gorgeous cardigan using two strands of this yarn. See it here. Her rave review of this yarn interested me enough to pick up a few skeins on a visit to New York. The fabric this yarn creates is lovely. Light and wooly with a slight halo, I would highly recommend it.  It is listed as a fingering weight yarn but I thought it was more of a light fingering.  

2.  The Pattern:  Julie Hoover's pattern, Goode, was well written and easy to follow.  Front and back were knitted separately, bottom up, and then the two pieces were seamed together.  The last step was to knit the ribbing around the sleeves. That's it. Simple. 

3.  The Problem: The modelled sweater has an ease of 7" and I chose the same ease when picking my size.  I don't know if I picked the incorrect size, the wrong style of sweater for my shape, or my swatch lied to me, but this sweater is huge on me, even the sleeves fall below my elbows.  Maybe if I was six feet tall this sweater could work.  But I am not that tall!   Right now it is sitting in my time out bag, awaiting it's fate.  You would think that after years of knitting I would have figured out that this sweater wasn't going to work for me a little earlier on.  At times like these I think that top down sweaters might be the way to go...you can try them on as you knit.  Sadly, I think I will be frogging it.  The yarn is way too nice to waste.

If this was my first sweater I had ever knit I would be devastated at the thought of frogging it.  However, I have made enough sweaters over the years that it does not bother me as much.  What's a knitter to do?  Pick some other yarn and cast on a new sweater of course!

Happy knitting.

Year End

Well Christmas has come and gone.  I managed to finish my son's scarf and my mother-in-law's Marin shawl in time.  I used Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Tart.  My mother-in-law wore the shawl on Christmas Day...she seemed to really love it which made me feel great. It was worth all those early hours of knitting before anyone else woke up in the house.  I proved to myself that I can knit fast when under pressure because I basically finished this shawl in about two weeks.  The fringe on this shawl took forever...it was supposed to be four inches, but after three inches I was happy with how it looked and cast off.  This pattern makes a cozy shawl that is big enough to snuggle into on a cold day.

Marin in Madelinetosh DK Tart

My son asked for a scarf that was not too long.  I used the pattern called Forever Ribbed, a free pattern by Julie Hoover using a yarn called Mirasol Paqu Pura and combined it with Madelinetosh Prairie in Charcoal.

Forever Ribbed

The one thing I didn't finish in time was my Christmas wreath.  Time just got away from me.  It was very easy to do but just time consuming.  I ended up finishing it on Boxing Day.  I basically took a styrofoam wreath, wrapped a beautiful ribbon around it and then glued some lovely glass ornaments on it. (I bought all those ornaments for $6, a real bargain).  I am very happy with how it turned out and now I will have it ready for next year.

My husband gave me a great gift.  Just look at it below.  It is a circular needle case from Della Q.  Just looking at it makes me happy.  Look how cute the outside is:

Della Q Circular Needle Case

There is so much space to organize a variety of needles.  Usually my needles are kept in a box spilling out all over the place.  The only downfall with this case is there is no velcro to keep the individual pockets closed.  I think I may add velcro myself....it will really help keep the pockets closed that have more than one needle.

Look at all those pockets!

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and all the best in 2014. Thanks for visiting my blog this year and I hope you pop by again in 2014.