F.O. Clarke Pullover and Other Autumn Favourites

Here in Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend.  I am extremely grateful for all the special people in my life.  I also appreciate all the yarns and creativity I am able to enjoy.  I took some time this weekend to look over some of my favourite photos and I can see that autumn is a reoccuring theme.  So I have compiled some of my favourite photos to get you all in the autumn spirit. I have attached the links if you are interested in reading about any of these photos in detail.  (Left to right in a clockwise direction).

Clarke Pullover

Here's my most recent F.O. : Jane Richmond's Clarke Pullover knit in Malabrigo Rios in the Piedras and Cocoa colourway.  I can't tell you how happy I am with how this turned out and how comfortable it is to wear.  It will get a lot of use I am confident. I highly recommend this pattern.

Sweet Fiber Yarn Super Sweet Sock

Sock knitting in Sweet Fiber Yarns Super Sock, flowers at St. Lawrence market, Acer Cardigan by Amy Christoffers and a bag from Jenna Rose Textiles.

My Grace Cardigan by Jane Richmond , a walk in my neighbourhood woods, Capall Dubh: a knit-along by Carol Feller , and more Sweet Fiber yarn, Cashmere DK in Spiced Pumpkin and Super Sweet Sock in Monarch.

Malabrigo Sock in Primavera and my F.O. Line Break by Veera Välimäki

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians.  Thanks so much to everyone for stopping by my blog and sharing a part of your day with me.   I really appreciate it.

WIP: Clarke Pullover by Jane Richmond

Knitting Challenge: 
Problem #1:  To find a sweater pattern that would suit a variegated yarn.
Yarn:  Malabriogo Rios:  100% merino (worsted weight)
Colourway:  Piedras
Needles: 4.5mm

Problem #2 No skeins are identical and two of the skeins I own are very light coloured

Malabrigo Rios
Note:  I have no idea why how I didn't notice a leaf on my yarn!

Light skein on the left, darker skein on the right

I wasn't sure what to do with this variegated yarn.  I knew I wanted to knit a sweater, but I was worried that a sweater knit in solid Piedras might be too busy for me.  After searching through Ravelry, I thought the Daelyn Pullover by Isabell Kraemer might work.  I really like the back of this sweater as it is knit in garter stitch, which always makes a variegated yarn look great.  But I believed that, in order to get a consistent colour in my sweater, I would have to alternate a lot of skeins. Who wants to do that?

I made the decision not to use the two lighter skeins and to find a pattern that I could use with just my four darker skeins.  This meant that I would not have enough yarn to knit a sweater.  I knew I needed another colour to work with Piedras. 

That's when I found Cocoa in Malabrigo Rios.

Problem #3  Find a pattern that would well with two colours.  

I had another look at the Clarke Pullover by Jane Richmond, which had been in my queue since the pattern first came out.  Most people on Ravelry knit it with two solid colours and I wasn't sure that it would look good with variegated yarn. I just went for it, knitting big stripes in Piedras, alternating with four rows of Cocoa.  I am really pleased with the effect.  This pattern is so well written and easy to follow. It's also a great sweater to knit if you are a beginner, and I am sure it will get a lot of use.

Clarke Pullover by Jane Richmond

I have to admit that I like a yarn challenge.  It was fun for me to look try and find the perfect pattern for my yarn.  Hopefully I will have enough yarn to complete the sweater and that it will look great when it's done.  Trust me when I say that I do not go through this much thinking everytime I pick out a pattern to knit.

What will my next knitting challenge be?

Spectrum: Joji Locatelli

I am funny about spending money.  I don't hesitate to buy a skein of yarn that catches my eye, but I have had the same raincoat for over 20 years. I never liked wearing it.  It is a well built raincoat, timeless in its design and did an excellent job of keeping the rain off.  But the colour was not one I enjoyed wearing. Everytime I put it on, I groaned inwardly. But the practical side of me just couldn't see spending money on a new one.  

Well I am glad to say I finally bought myself a new raincoat that I love.  Once I bought it I knew, as any knitter would, that I just had to knit an accessory to go with it.  I chose Joji Locatelli's Spectrum, a two coloured garter stitch scarf that was perfect for my raincoat.  It is knit in Indigodragonfly Merino Nylon Sock in a beautiful navy called Tardis, combined with Malabrigo Yarn Sock in Light of Love I happily knit away and tah-dah here is the finished product:

In progress

Once I got the shawl off my needles I was worried about the size of it.  The pattern states that the finished shawl should by 72 x 23".  I expected mine to be smaller, as I had chosen to go down a needle size.   I used 3.75mm instead of the 4mm suggested.  I was worried when prior to blocking it only measured 44 x 17"...but thankfully it grew to 60 x 20".   I didn't expect it to grow quite as much as it did as I was not aggressive at all when pinning it out. But the size is perfect and the beauty of the shape of this shawl is that you can wear it several ways.

Now I had visions of modelling it for you in the rain, with an umbrella over my head but I don't know about where you live but we have had very little rain lately and there is none in the forecast.  So here it is pictured on a beautiful sunny day.  Bring on the rain!

Fun Colours on a Gloomy Day

It is a cool, rainy, spring day here and I don't know about you, but I am craving a bit of colour.  I checked out my Photo Library and Instagram account and came up with some of these photos to share with you.  Just looking at them has the immediate effect of cheering me up.

Socks

Julie Asselin Piccolo in Plume

Business Casual Socks pattern by Tanis Lavalee

Scrumptiouspurl Stripe Me Up Yarn "Bird of a Feather" colourway

My First Top Up Socks by Susan B. Anderson (Craftsy class) using an Afterthought Heel

Knits in Progress (sort of)

Vitsippa by Joji Locatelli (awaiting frogging as it is sadly too small) in Tanis Fiber Arts Red Label in colourway "Papaya"

Yarn

Hedgehog Fibres Sock Yarn in "Jelly" colourway

Malabrigo Sock Yarn in "Light of Love" colourway

Sunrise

On my way to work

Notions

Stitch Markers

My future (I wish) Fringe Supply Bag at Purl Soho

And finally check out this car that I saw when on a trip to San Diego a few years ago.

San Diego

  Love the colour!

Have a lovely week with lots of colour!!

Perfectionism

On a bleak grey day this weekend I decided that, if the sun wasn't going to shine, I would brighten my own day by pulling out some of my favourite yarns and try and capture their unique colourways. It is quite challenging to take a good picture indoors, especially at this time of year.  One of my ongoing goals is to work on developing my photography skills.  Photography has always been an interest of mine but it wasn't until I started my blog that I became passionate about improving my skills.

I was recently watching one of my favourite YouTube bloggers, Casey Neistat, and he was sharing his philosophy about perfectionism which I really connected with.  Essentially he says that you should never let your desire for perfection prevent you from finishing something.  To finish something off, even imperfectly, is to learn from it and then you can move on and get closer to perfection.  I think this is a great lesson for me as I tend to be a perfectionist in many areas of my life.  For example, I had wanted to start blogging some time before I got the guts to do it.  I never felt like my pictures were good enough or what I had to say was important enough. I finally realized that blogging is just something that would bring me joy and not to overthink it. I have been blogging for two and a half years now and I feel like I have improved my content of my blog by constantly publishing one each week.  I know I still have a long way to go but I am okay with that.  

With this philosophy in mind I present you with the following photos of some of my favourite yarns from my stash.

Madelinetosh 80/10/10 Sport:  Tannenbaum

Sweet Fiber Yarns Cashmerino 20:  Verve

Lorna's Laces Haymarket:  Harrison

Dream in Color Classy with Cashmere:  Carousel

Madelinetosh Pashmina:  Baroque Violet

Malabrigo Rios:  Piedras

Now the fun begins: what should I do with these lovely skeins?

On the Needles: Line Break, Sea Stones, Brush Creek Shawlette

When I got back into knitting a few years ago I was a one project at a time kind of girl.  I was very disciplined and would not start a new project until I finished the one on the needles.  It actually was very motivating to finish the current project when I had found a new project that I was anxious to start. I always marvelled at how some people could have numerous projects on the go.  But, somehow along the way I changed my rules.  Now I always have one mindless project on the go...one that I can pick up when I am too tired to focus on pattern directions.  I always promise myself to knit a few rows daily from this project and slowly, but surely, it gets done.  For the last couple months it was my Easy Folded Poncho.  Now that it is complete I am working on Veera Valimaki's Line Break in Malabrigo Sock in Primavera.  Isn't it pretty?

Malabrigo Sock in Primavera

I love the colours in this yarn and it makes me very happy whenever I pick my needles up to knit with it.

Another project I am working on is Melissa Schaschwary's Sea Stones in Rowan Creative Focus Worsted (75% Wool 25% Alpaca).  I bought this yarn a year ago when I was travelling in London and had the pleasure of shopping in Liberty London.  They have a wonderful craft floor with all the infamous Liberty fabric as well as a huge display of Rowan yarns and patterns.

Liberty

Just one part of the yarn selection at Liberty

Rowan Creative Focus Worsted

Since I bought this yarn I have looked for a pattern that would suit it.  I started knitting a cardigan...starting with the sleeves first, but I quickly came to the conclusion that I was making a very warm sweater, a little too warm for what I wanted.  I tried looking for a vest or something similar...and then Sea Stones by Melissa Schaschwary was released.  It is a short sleeved cardigan with some A-line shaping.  I have to be honest and admit I am not a big fan of this yarn.  Although I love the colour this yarn splits very easily and is extremely difficult to rip out if you make an error.  It is also very itchy but I think it will work okay with this pattern.

The third pattern I am working on is the Brush Creek Cowlette by Carina Spencer, a beautiful lacy cowlette that looks like a shawlette when worn. The pattern was released this month and it uses three different colours of fingering weight yarn (70m, 90m, 115m), making it a great stashbuster.  Although this pattern is not hard to follow it does require my concentration, which I seem to be lacking lately.

Brush Creek Cowlette

So there you have it...a few projects I am currently working on.  I already have a few other patterns matched with yarn ready to start as well.  If there were only a few more hours each day....

I hope you all find time to work on projects that make you happy this week.

Off the Needles: Quaker Ridge Shawlette

My Quaker Ridge Shawlette is done.  The weather here has been damp, rainy and cold so the best photo I could get was the one below.  It was going to start raining when I took this picture so hopefully I can add a better photo soon.

Quaker Ridge Shawlette by Susan B. Anderson

I am very pleased with how this turned out and as I have mentioned in previous blog entries I love the combination of the two yarns I used.  Ravelled here.

I am feeling under the weather today so I think I am going to spend the afternoon with my knitting.  It's time to start a new project but I am not sure what I am going to do.  Look at this pretty skein below.  I picked up two skeins of this Malabrigo sock yarn in the Primavera colour way and I just love it.  But I don't know what it wants to be yet!  Any suggestions?

Malabrigo Sock Yarn

I am also very tempted to try out Amy Herzog's CustomFit program.  This program will help you design a sweater after you have given them your body measurements and swatch gauge.  I think I will knit a swatch and give it a try.

The picture below was taken through my classroom window.  I think I have the best classroom for scenery!   It was early morning and the sun was shining perfectly on the trees. Canada is so pretty in the fall.  Have a good week everyone.