sweater #7 and some etsy news

Hey folks!

I just updated my etsy shop, and wanted to let everyone know that all Fancy Lace 2 is ON SALE!




It's a beautiful yarn, but not one that I am going to continue offering; just too much yarn and not enough time! I did briefly consider keeping all of it for myself...but thought better of it in the end. Fancy Lace 2 is a blend of 80% alpaca and 20% silk in a soft lustrous 2 ply lace weight yarn. Each skein contains about 970 yards, and is on sale for $30 down from $36.

Ok, I kinda feel like a pushy car salesman, so on to other things!

Here is sweater # 7. I have wanted to knit this pattern for years now, and finally cast on the other day. I had this lovely (yet very mysterious) wool/mohair blend in my stash that just screamed to be knit into this pretty pattern. The yarn is from a local mill, and didn't even come with tags...so I just knit away until I found a gauge that I liked and luckily it worked for the pattern!

You may have never come across this pattern. it's from a little known Rowan book (or at least I think so) and is creatively named "Bed Jacket" by Jennie Atkinson. Anyway, I love it!


Oh yes, and the pattern I knit for sweater # 6 is called Joelle's Favorite Yoke Sweater, for those who were asking.

sweater # 6 in the bag

What a quick and fun knit! I really love this cute little sweater, and it was oh so easy! I followed the pattern exactly too; how often does that happen??









I'm perfectly happy with the sweater, but can't get over how busty I look in it! I thought I had figured out my lot in life, as a small boobed girl (which I am perfectly happy with), but this sweater has got me quite confused. Perhaps I'll wear it with a sports bra; really squeeze them in...who knows?!

In other news, I've been dyeing like a crazy person this week, and here is a look at some of my favourites...

fancy sock in thistle


fancy sock in mushroom

fancy sock in mineral

fancy sock in cinnamon spice

silky DK in slate. I am IN LOVE with this lustrous, soft and squishy yarn!

silky DK in north sea


silky DK in blot


and this pretty little thing is my mom's knitting. She is a big fan of robin's egg, and decided to knit a plain and simple stocking stitch rectangle in fancy lace. I think it's knitting up beautifully!!

Disaster has struck...or close to it

Well, I think it happened because I was so confident in my last post; my granny square vest-thing looks ridiculous. So sad.



I have recovered from the initial shock of putting it on and seeing how bad it looked. Now I'm just a bit bummed that I have to sew all my little hexagons together into a non-garment shape. They will now become pillow cases. I never really considered how bulky the yarn was, and how difficult it is to piece hexagons together into a flattering shape. It was like doing a 3-D body shaped jigsaw puzzle! And just thinking about all the ends I would have to weave in was making me feel a bit sick. I'm sure that It's against the rules, but I think I'm going to count this as one of my 12 sweaters for this year. It was briefly in a sweater shape after all!

On a happier note, my woodland yoke sweater is knitting up really fast! I'm finished the body and just have the little sleeves and yoke to knit. I'm really excited to see it finished, and am already planning sweater #7...



...It's a new base; 50/50 merino and silk in a very squishy DK weight yarn! I have a design in mind for this yarn, and dyed up 6 skeins of it yesterday. The colour I chose (after MUCH deliberation) is "mineral". And here is a look at another favourite colour of mine in the same lovely base, "flourite"...

a little sweater news

Somehow I have managed to stick with my Intswemodo 2010 sweater knitting goals; I'm almost caught up, and feeling pretty confident!

Here's a look at sweater #6...





...I mentioned last time that the pattern is Joelle's Favorite Yoke Sweater (so simple and pretty!) And I'm using more Viola yarn; Merino Fingering in the colour "woodland". I am loving knitting this yarn, it's so soft, squishy, and down right dreamy!

I've been toying with the idea of a knit dress for quite a while now, and have a few design ideas bouncing around in my head. This yarn is a strong contender...the most difficult decision will be which colour to pick!



and here is my latest bit of spinning. It's Viola superwash merino in a colour I called "confections". I think It will become a little baby sweater...February Baby perhaps??

oh, and one more thing before I go. Does anyone else out there LOVE Joanna Newsom?? I've know about her awesomeness for a long time now, but lately can't listen to anything else. Just curious.

I ran a 1/2 marathon!

I meant to mention that this was happening in my last post, but totally forgot; I just ran a 1/2 marathon!

This past Sunday I was up out of bed at 6, and lined up on the starting line (or rather, one of thousands crammed into "start corrals") by 9. And by 11-ish the whole thing was done - for me anyway.

It was the Ottawa Marathon weekend, and it was so much fun!! Up until this point I'd only visited Ottawa for swim meets, I had almost believed that Ottawa was just one big pool (joking!). But we ran through so much of the city that I feel like I've made up for lost time.

I ran the race in 1:59:39, which just barely squeeks me into my under 2 hour goal. But I'm pretty happy with it, and next time around hope I can chop off a few minutes.

So here I am looking a bit crazy with my little sister.



And here are some much prettier pictures:







I can't be happier with the way this sweater came out! Now I just have to wait for the weather to cool off to be able to wear it.

I just couldn't get gauge with the yarn I planned on using for my next sweater, so it will be quickly knit into a simple little t shirt; Joelle's favorite yoke sweater
For the mysterious test knit sweater I'm going to use the same yarn as the designer, and it is coming all the way from Europe! Yay, hooray, yippee!