It's not a sweater...

I seem to be panicking slightly over my 12 sweaters in 2010 plan. I was cruising along so well until...sweater #7 I guess...where I made one tiny mistake, and then my mind wandered and now I am completely distracted! Ack! I feel lost in a sea of small project ideas; I'm yearning for hats, mitts, shawls and socks, and I caved just a little...take a look...





very pretty and sophisticated fingerless mitts in Viola Fancy Sock, colour Mineral


These little gloves are knitting up so quickly. I'm improvising the simple pattern as I go along, and I think I'm going to get 2 pairs from just one skein, yowza! I've knit a simple picot hem at both edges, an afterthought-ish thumb hole and just a tiny bit of shaping to pull them in at the wrist. They fit great, look great and best of all they are so darn fast to knit!

I've also just woven in ends on a WIP that has been ongoing for SO LONG! Sometime in the dead of winter, I decided it would be fun to knit a toque-type thing in lace weight yarn. Needless to say, this poor hat sat untouched for long periods of time. I modeled it after a store bought (hiss, hiss) hat that I can't help but love, and get so many compliments on. I've yet to take finished pictures because the poor little hat desperately needs to be blocked; it sat jammed into a tiny project bag for months and now looks more like a fuzzy lump than a hat. Here's a peek anyway, at the 4 inches of ribbing that I knit on 2mm needles!!!!!!!



The yarn I used is Misti Lace in the little 50g skeins. I think I had around 14 grams leftover when all was said and done.

And finally, check out this AMAZING colour that emerged from my dyepot on Friday. It is actually very similar to Mushroom, so I've named it Magic Mushroom, and I love it! Oh, and out of focus in the bottom picture are 2 hand made wooden mushrooms I bought at a little market/crafty thing on the weekend. Cute right?!

and I'm back!

well, I never actually left...just neglected the blog for a couple weeks. Sorry folks!

First off, I just posted a small update the the Etsy shop! Mostly sock yarn in some very fun colours (I think). I've been in a bit of a neutral place lately, but still could not resist a bit more orange. I'm still getting used to my new "job" (really doesn't feel like one) so please bear with me. My plan for the very near future includes much more frequent shop updates!

Check out this incredibly exciting news! My Silky Dk yarn, a 50/50 blend of superwash merino and silk, was featured in the latest Knitty roundtable! And they liked it, WOO HOO, YAY, HOORAY! You'll have to scroll down just a bit to find me, but I'm there. What fun, thanks to Amy and Kate and Jenn and Miko...and of course all the lovely people who liked my yarn!

Speaking of my new favourite yarn, I've been trying to pick a project for six skeins worth. The colourway is "mushroom" and I'm kinda in love with it. Should I knit a jumbo swallowtail? Another sweater (I might be loosing steam on my 12 sweaters plan...just maybe), who knows?




I don't really have any big knitting news to share. It seems that I've been knitting little bits and bobs on my many WIPs, but not finishing a single thing. I'm certain that this means I have to much on the go, but am choosing to ignore that and continue casting on with vigour! The lovely gray sweater that I talked about last time has stalled out...serious frustrations getting the eyelets on the back and front to line up.

The one thing that I have started and finished is a little birthday gift for my mother. I finally knit a shetland triangle (a pattern that I have admired for so long). I really think that this is one of those magical patterns that makes just about any yarn look good. It is also simple enough that it can be knit in a pretty bold yarn and not detract from the yarn's awesomeness. Fact. So the yarn I chose is the cone of Habu Tsumugi Silk lace that I picked up at this year's Knitter's Frolic. This yarn is amazingly beautiful! I'm going to block it tonight, so hopefully I'll have some pretty finished pictures by the weekend!





until then, here are a few progress shots.

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!