November Inspiration and an F.O.

November can be a challenging month to enjoy.  Once the beautiful leaves blow off the trees, the damp cold settles in, and the longer hours of darkness increase, I often find myself looking for inspiration.  One rainy afternoon I decided to look through some of my photos I took recently and they cheered me up.  I hope you don't mind if I share just a few of my favourite ones with you today:

Peace Fleece:  Marigold

Fibre Optic Yarns Paintbox Gradient

Julie Asselin Piccolo:  Arlequin & Voolenvine Wolke:  Faerie Hair

Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles:  Bramble

Of course November is the perfect month for knitting too.  Here is a pair of mittens just off the needles ready to be wrapped up for Christmas.  These mittens, knit in a bulky weight yarn, and knit up very quickly.

Pattern:  Antler Mittens
Designer:  tincanknits
Yarn:  Madelinetosh Chunky in Smokestack
Size:  Adult M
Notes:  This is my first time using Madelinetosh's Chunky yarn and I have to say I quite like it.  The knitted mittens are quiet warm and the variegation in the colourway is beautiful.

Antler Mittens by tincanknits

Now I am debating how much Christmas gift knitting I should do.  I have several bigger projects on the needles that are not intended for gifts.  Do I leave them aside for now and jump into more Christmas knitting?  That is the question of the day : )

F.O. Georgetown Cardigan and Some W.I.P.

Pattern:  Georgetown from Home and Away

Shawl:  Line Break

Designer:  Hannah Fettig 

Yarn:  West Yorkshire Spinners 100% Bluefaced Leicester DK 6.5 skeins

Colour:  Natural Brown
Needles:  4.5mm and 3.75mm for ribbing
Notes:  
1)  I really wanted a cardigan that I could snuggle into during the cold winter months.  The long range forecast in Ontario is for a very cold winter. Whatever happens I will be ready with this cozy cardigan.  I started this cardigan at the end of February and then put it away and didn't touch it until a few weeks ago. Then on my long trek to Rhinebeck I got a big chunk of it done.
2)  Hannah Fettig's pattern gives the knitter two options:  either seamed or non-seamed.  I decided to go with knitting the pieces flat and then seaming them together.  I find seamed cardigans are much more structured and the small pieces are manageable to cart around and work on.  Sometime ago I knit Hannah's Calligraphy cardigan, seamless from the top down, and I find that it continually falls off my shoulders.  I don't know if that has to do with the lack of seaming, but I am sure that it has some connection.  I also wanted to work on my seaming skills, and with this kind of yarn, it was great for hiding any mistakes.

3) I bought this yarn a few years ago on a wonderful trip to Scotland that I took with my family.  Isn't it fun to knit with yarn that you associate with good memories?  The yarn smells so sheepy too, which I love and has a lovely halo. It blocked beautifully and resulted in a very warm DK weight sweater.  It would be perfect for hats or mitts too.  Here's a child's hat I knit with this same yarn:

Gray Rose:  by Thea Colman

4)  The pattern is well written and easy to follow.  To be honest it was a bit boring, knitting all the rows of stockinette, and then 8.5 inches of ribbing for the collar.  However, I knew that it would be totally worth it, as it is one of those wardrobe staples that will get a lot of wear.

On the Needles:

Now that my cardigan is finished I have a number of items that I need to turn back and focus on. 

Antler Mittens by Tin Can Knits knit in Madelinetosh Chunky in the colourway Smokestack.  
I love the way the cables are popping on these mitts that I am knitting for a Christmas gift.  As suggested by Espace Tricot's blog I am going to knit a liner for them.  Anyone that lives in a city that has temperatures that drop down to -30 degrees Celsius knows that liners are essential to keeping warm.

Lanterns by Sylvia McFadden knit in the luxurious Sweet Fiber Yarns Cashmere DK.  As this pattern is written for a fingering weight yarn I have to adjust the pattern and figure out which needle size to go with. I started using a 4mm but I stopped because I wonder if I should be using a 3.75mm.  I have to play around with it for a bit, but I am anxious to get this gorgeous pattern done.

I hope you are all finding time to knit too!  Have a great week everyone and thanks for stopping by.

Knitting Disasters

I named this blog "Woolercoaster" because as many knitters know knitting is full of ups and downs. Well, my friends, I am in a bit of a knitting slump.  Two projects I have recently been working on are ready to be frogged although I have not had the heart to do it.  So they are sitting sadly in a bag waiting to be ripped out.

Disaster #1  I bought this yarn (Rowan Creative Focus Worsted) on a March Break trip to London and in my mind I was thinking I would knit some kind of vest with it.  Instead of listening to my gut I picked a lovely knitted sweater pattern by Glenna C. called Dundurn. After knitting a swatch I was all set to go.  I decided to knit both of the sleeves at the same time.  As I was knitting the sleeves a little voice in my head told me that this was going to be a warmer sweater than I first anticipated and/or desired and I should go back to my vest idea.  However, I ignored that voice and kept on knitting until I was about 3/4 done the sleeves.  By this point I finally listened to that voice and put down the needles.

Disaster #2  My next project I decided to do was the Grace Cardigan by Jane Richmond in a lovely fingering yarn called Caper Sock by String Theory.  After reading other knitter's comments on Ravelry I was warned that the lace section at the beginning of the cardigan was challenging for some.  Well it was challenging for me.  Without going into all the details I will just say that after several attempts I could not get the lace to go perfectly.  I usually do not give up on a pattern but I have spent way too many hours accomplishing basically nothing.  It's time to switch to another project.

Here is one project I did finish between Disaster #1 and Disaster #2.  It is the Chevron Hat by Kate Gagnon Osborn found in the knit.wear Spring 2013 magazine.  It was a very quick knit and I was very pleased with how it turned out.  I used a combination of Madelinetosh Chunky in Fathom and Fyberspates Chunky Scrumptious Solid.  You should try it.

Now I have to pick another pattern to work on. What do you do when a pattern is not working out?