By Tanya

Fibre friends are wonderful people!

2011-07-28T19:10:00.003-03:00

I had the opportunity to spend a weekend with my maritime fibre friends at a Adair cabins in Kingston, NB a few weeks back. What an amazing time we had! How could it not be fun when you are surrounded by like minded people who enjoy knitting, spinning, dying and eating!

When I arrived we found an amazing fibre shop set up right in the Cabin.

It was Janet of the Bobbin Tree who brought all the wonderful goodness. I think it's save to say she left with quite a bit less than she arrived with :)

Zuma was living it up with all the girls and he was lucky to get out without being dyed. In my cabin Jeff and Catherine were dying every piece of white fibre they could get their hands on, and when that ran out they even over-dyed again!

I didn't dye much but I did experiment with our new drum carder. I purchased some BFL and mohair locks from Janet and off I went. It spun up beautifully.

Thanks to Steph for all the arrangements and all the rest of the gang.

Can't wait until next year. Actually we don't have to... see you all at the Maritime Spinners Retreat in October!

Introducing Bugsy

2011-07-07T20:06:00.004-03:00

Crazy as I am, I purchased a second wheel just before the postal strike from a posting I saw on Ravelry. I had been thinking that I needed a travel wheel and then I saw the Merlin Tree Roadbug!

He was for sale from Vancouver and it was a deal at $200 so I once again put my request in for it right from the comfort of my bed. For those who know me I have a problem with ordering things at night and I've yet to find a support group, only enablers. This was a big leap of faith for me as I had never tried or seen a Roadbug or Hitchhiker wheel before.

It took a very long time for the wheel to arrive as it got held ransom by the Canada Post strike, but it did arrive safe and almost sound last Thursday, the day before the long weekend.

It was a perfect scene when I got home early from work, still not knowing my wheel had arrived, and doubting I would have the luck of it being here for the weekend. When I walked in the door, there was a box (smaller than expected) on the floor and a bottle of wine opened to breath in a decanter with a pot of flowers in behind. My first thought was "Wow! Troy bought me flowers and opened a bottle of wine to celebrate the wheel arriving!".

Of course he had bought the flowers and opened the wine without knowing the wheel would then arrive, but you can understand my deciphering of the situation. Nonetheless, it was a perfect scene and I quickly poured a glass a wine and set to opening the box. The wheel was perfect except the orifice hook broke in shipping (which I've since glued and all is well). All and all not bad considering it had been held against my will in a post office depot for so long. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening out on the front porch getting to know my new cute but durable little wheel.

It was even smaller than I expected and much cuter. I've named it Bugsy. He spins like a little work horse and I just love him. If wheels can have personality, he is a little spitfire disguised as a cutie pie. I spun and plied over 10 ounces of fibre between Thursday to Sunday on him and I am so happy I made that rash decision of ordering him. Someday I plan to give him a makeover to match his personality but it's going to take a while to get to that point.

Introducing Rosie

2011-07-05T12:21:00.003-03:00

It has been a long time since I've blogged and I miss it. Lots of new and exciting things have been happening but I think I'll just start with the present and move forward.

I've acquired two new wheels over the past few months but since they each deserve their own post I'll start with one for now.

The first is a Majacraft Rose that I bought from a lady in California and she came with a woolee winder and a ton of fibre. Well actually about 6lbs, but to a spinner that's a ton.

The fluffy Pom didn't come with the wheel even though he could have fit in the box. That is our newest dog Zuma.

In addition to the fibre, there were two lazy kates, a book and 3 bobbins for the woolee winder.

Rosie is beautiful and spins like a dream. I never thought I'd care to have a woolee winder, but now that I have one, they are worth the price.

She folds down and has a handle for carrying. However she is a bit on the heavy side and the beautiful wood is easy to dent so I also would like to have a second wheel for traveling with.

Since I've got this wheel I've been spinning more than ever before. My previous Ashford Traveler was sold to a friend and is getting more use too than I was giving her, so we are all happy.

More pics of the arrival and set up the wheel can be found here

Update on Project List

2010-03-27T12:52:00.005-03:00

Thank you for all the great comments on Troy's sweater. I enjoyed reading them and he's still enjoying his sweater too.

Since I've adopted the practice of only knitting the top 3 items on my combined UFO/WIP list I have been making lots of progress. Some may even say I've been more productive than normal (and make fun of me for it LOL).

Here is an update on the progress and the current ranking based on Importance & Pleasure:

1 month Tally:
Currently 3 WIPs, 9 UFOs
Completed 7 projects, 1 to be frogged
Started 3 New projects

Latest spinning project (not on any list) is this beautiful hand dyed 100% silk gifted to me from Catherine V. Thanks so much Catherine!

Troy's Perfect Sweater

2010-03-13T18:05:00.003-04:00

I set out to make Troy a sweater which is not an easy task. He doesn't like things too itchy, he doesn't like them too tight and he doesn't like any pattern work at all. He is very picky in other words. Now of course he's appreciative when he is rewarded with knitted garb, but if it's not just perfect he can't help himself to complaining, albeit he's as polite and diplomatic about as he can be.

Back to the sweater. He asked for a plain brown sweater that could be worn on an everyday basis. I was hoping it would replace those awful hoody sweaters that make him look like he is 17. I choose Lionbrand Fisherman's wool in the natural brown color. It passed the itch test when placed against his skin so we were off to a good start. I choose to use Elizabeth Zimmerman's Percentage Sweater pattern with Saddle Shoulders that went right across the back of the neck. As I read and learned more about her various shoulder options, I actually made the Hybrid shoulders with the Shirt yoke.

Started off by measuring one of Troy's current commercially knit sweaters to get measurements. Chest: 48"; Length: 25"; Length to Armpit: 16"; Sleeve: 19.5"
This was a very important step that I did not do last time I knit a sweater for Troy.

I knit a fairly large swatch of about 6" square and WASHED it. I was determined to make sure this sweater fit. After washing I got a gauge of 4.25 sts/inch and determined I needed to cast on 204sts for the 48" chest. Everything else was based on those 204sts; Arms were started on 40 sts and increased to 67; Saddle shoulder worked on 34sts and Neck worked on 80sts. I also did the short rows for the neck following EZ's instructions and it worked out really well.

A very small pattern was added to the sweater on the sides and then later on the outside of the arms. I added this to keep me from going insane with all the plain stockinette, but it has turned out to be a highlight of the sweater.

I started this sweater Jan 17 and finished it Feb 27 so it was a pretty quick knit. It is an early birthday sweater for Troy and he's been wearing it almost everyday since I gave it to him. Funny (and true) story, he woke up this morning and said to me "I love this sweater so much I slept on it last night".. and he had, by accident of course.

I couldn't have asked for a better fit or for him to wear it more often. If this keeps up I'm going to want to make him another before his birthday in April even arrives. Here are some shots of him wearing it.

Unfinished business

2010-02-24T18:20:00.004-04:00

Well apparently my last post stirred up some emotions. Some even going as far as calling some of us freaks LOL

Here I thought I was going to get harassed for lying to the knitting group in my state of denial.

LadyO commented:
... I distinguish between WIPs and UFOs. WIPs those are things I'm actually working on, usually have multiple ones but not too many. While UFOs are things that are on the needles, but really, honestly I'm not working on them.

I like her attitude. That means, according to my fun list, I have only 5 WIPs and they are the ones at the top of the list. All the others are UFOs and really, do UFOs really exist ;)

The Gourmet Goddess commented:
... Having to finish something so I can start something new that I'm excited about is great inspiration!

I'm going to adopt her philosophy. I will definitely not be starting anything else until I finish at least 2 of my WIPs. Unfortunately, 4/5 of my WIPs are quite large projects so I may have to wait a while or buy a knitting machine.

So in the mean time, I'll share a picture of my current spinning project... which you may notice is not on the list.

Bluefaced Leicester (8oz in total)
Hand dyed by Heidi at London-Wul

The WIP black hole

2010-02-22T12:33:00.002-04:00

While at London-Wul yesterday Heidi confessed that she realized she had WIP projects that she had actually forgotten about. She felt it was time to sort through them all and make note of them all so this would not happen again.

I was shocked! How could you forget WIP projects, especially ones that were almost finished. I confidently informed the group that this would not happen to me because I only have about 5 WIPs at any one time. If I loose interest in a project I simply tear it apart and place my yarn back in my stash. I received some mixed looks, but was not concerned because we all have our own ways about us.

On the drive home in the car I started to count my WIPs in my head and before I got home I was up to TEN!!!

By the time I entered the house I was in a state of panic. Not only had a lied (inadvertently) to my friends, my projects were out of control. And just this weekend I started 2 more!

It was time to sort this out. I searched the app store for a lists app to use to store my active projects in my iphone. I wanted a list that could be prioritized as well. I found one called "To-Do First" that ranks projects (actually To Dos) by a combination of Pleasure, Profit, Importance and Urgency. This seemed perfect and I bought it for a mere $1.99. Considering all the money invested in these 'lost' projects that cost was irrelevent.

Another great thing about this app is you can choose the Ranking algorithm. For example, you can pick Pleasure geared, Importance & Pleasure geared or Urgency geared, etc. This is a very neat feature once you figure it out.

Confession time... Right now I have SEVENTEEN projects on the needles.

Here is their current Ranking using the Importance Geared algorithm:

I better get knitting or frogging!

Options are not optional

2010-02-07T10:02:00.002-04:00

For those of you familiar with Knit Picks, you will for sure have noticed they make a beautiful wooden needle they call Harmony. Not only are they beautiful to look at but the tips are the pointiest wooden tips I've ever seen. They have a Harmony wood story on their site explaining the creation of these unique wooden needles.

I am now the proud owner of the Harmony Options needle set! These are interchangeable circular needles and came with 9 different tips ranging from 3.5mm to 9mm.

The set came with a case to carry all the needle tips in along with a separate case to control the cables. There were also some ends and a tightener.

I also ordered separately the stand which I'm really glad I did. Now I'll have to work on getting the other sizes I'm missing to fill my stand up.

If you are a circular needle knitter I highly recommend these needles. For the price and what you get the Options needles are not optional ;)

FOs

2010-01-31T17:41:00.002-04:00

I just returned from a work trip to Las Vegas. Not much knitting done on the trip, just one sock that I haven't taken a picture of yet. Prior to the trip however, it seemed like I was trying to finish everything up before leaving. I was only gone for 5 days, but there was definitely a sense of urgency to finish as much as possible before heading out.

First, here's a pic of the finished Rosamund's Cardigan on me. It fits well and I've worn it quite a bit so far.

Closed:

Open:

I like it both open and closed at the top while leaving it a bit open at the bottom. It does have clasps all the way to the bottom but thus far I don't use them much. I love the buttons!

Next are two pairs of felted clogs, yet to be felted.

Here's hubby modeling them prior to felting. You can see how crazy huge they are.

And for the Nancy Bush KAL, here is my finished mitten. That's all I'm going to do for now for the KAL, as some other items have taken a higher priority to finishing the second mitten. I really liked making this though. Knitting with the hand dyed yarn as the contrast color added a lot of dimension to the pattern and was really a joy to work with.

Now that I'm back home the priorities for February are:
- Finish Isabel's second cardigan (only sleeve and finishing remaining)
- Finish spinning for Spin A Long
- Finish socks started on Vegas trip
- Work on Troy's saddle shoulder pullover
- Work on Lace SAL project a little every other day
- Start afghan for a birthday present in March

I love lists... now let's see how far I get on it.

Holy crap I'm stupid

2010-01-11T22:38:00.002-04:00

The stupidest thing a knitter can do is to knit blindly away with instructions they had wrote down that were wrong. I've just wasted 2 nights of knitting using instructions that I had already once found out were incorrect, and that time I didn't even get as far as this time.

Frog pond here I come! And I'm crossing out those 'bad' instructions to never again be used. Stupid stupid me!

(For those curious, the item going to the frog pond is the pink top down sweater I was knitting at Chapters. The fronts do not come together, just like the first time I made this mistake!)

Isabel's Cardigan

2010-01-09T18:43:00.003-04:00

One navy blue cardigan has been delivered to a sweet little 2 1/2 year old girl, Isabel, and her mom this morning.

Both are very pleased and it was a terrific reward to see little Isabel running around showing off her new sweater. I hope it keeps her warm for the upcoming months and then later warms her baby sister too!

Details:
Based slightly on Flyaway Cardi by Debbi Bliss. Modified to be knit top down
Berroco Ultra Alpaca yarn, 2 balls
4.5mm needles

A New Year

2010-01-07T19:49:00.004-04:00

I'm not going to dwell on how long it has been since I shared projects and stories with you on this blog. It is a new year so we will start fresh.

The first finished project on 2010 was Rosamund's Cardigan and it was for me. I finished up Christmas knitting early this year and rewarded myself for a new sweater to cast on Dec 23. It came off the needles Jan 4 and was blocked with buttons Jan 5 and worn on Jan 6! That is definitely a record for me. It was a combination of more knitting time plus focusing on this project only that allowed me to finish it so promptly. It was a fun knit and I love my new cardigan.

Note: The pattern calls for it to be worn with reversible stocking stitch, or the ridges on the right side. I've chosen to wear it with the knit side as the right side and it works just as well.

I'm super stoked about the next project on the needles. Heidi is having a Designer knit a long so I've casted on Maimu's Mitten's by Nancy Bush from her book Folk Knitting in Estonia. I haven't even been out to the KAL group that meets on Sunday afternoon's at London-Wul yet due to sickness, Christmas and bad weather but last night at Line's place Catherine and Manon twisted my arm to cast on while I was knitting with them. They did a great job of helping me pick the yarn I was going to use and plan the project, but not much luck on the knitting. When I got home I looked at what I'd knit and tore it off the needles. It was way too sloppy and the point of this KAL for me is to learn and perfect some knew techniques. Home alone on my couch I conquered the Double Cast On and the Two Color Braids. Lesson learned is that I must stick to brainless knitting amoung friends.

Tonight I conquer Nupps, or as Nancy translates them, bud stitches.

Mom's Lady Sweater

2009-04-20T18:30:00.002-03:00

We celebrated Mom's birthday on Easter weekend and her sweater was all ready for her to open.

It fit perfect. Picture is hard to see because of the dark color, but it really did fit perfect and she loved it.

Project: February Lady Sweater
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers
Needles: 4.5mm 47" Addi naturals
Started Feb 15, finished Mar 16, 2009 (3rd sweater of the year, I'm on a roll)

Hughie's smiling! For those that know him it's odd to catch that on camera as he's a very stoic Scottish bloke.

March Spin Along

2009-03-23T19:34:00.002-03:00

I joined CJKopec's Put your own Twist on it spin along for March. You get to choose from 2 colorways that are only offered to the spin along participants. You can find out more info in CJ's group on Ravelry. Sign ups for April are still open.

The colorway I chose was Montana Moon. I spun it right off of the batt without any preparation or planning whatsoever. It paid off though, here are the results.

I've already signed up for April's spin a long too. I'm such a sucker for group stuff.

Speaking of group's, I'm finished my Mom's February Lady Sweater that I was knitting with the London-Wul gang. It's blocked but still needs buttons. Her bday is not until April 14 so I have plenty of time.

I've moved onto a vest for someone that I can't mention. The back is probably coming off the needles tonight, but on Thursday I'm flying out to NJ to visit some friends and I'm not taking it with me.

Travel projects include toe up socks, new boot socks and a Lace Ribbon Scarf out of Somoko from Fleece Artist. I purchased this back in the summer of 2007 on a trip to Halifax. I love the colors, almost too much, so it has taken me a long time to use it.

On the needles

2009-03-12T19:33:00.003-03:00

Too much knitting going on!

First is Mom's February Lady Sweater:

It's coming along very well. Only one sleeve remaining. The color in the photo is way off. It's actually a very dark purple, almost black, color.

Next is a pair of toe up socks:

These are kind of stalled.
There's another pair of 2 at a time socks on the needles but no pics right now.

Next is a Carlsbad Hat:

And just started is a Double Identity vest for someone that reads my blog sometimes so I can't say any more:

Top Down Sweaters

2009-03-01T20:57:00.003-04:00

Looks like 2009 is going to be the year of the top down sweater for me.

First was CJ's sweater finished at the end of January. It's a February Lady Sweater knit with Aslan Trends Artesanal which is an Alpaca/Cotton blend. It was one of the fastest sweaters I've ever made!

Next I jumped right into a cardigan for me out of the handspun I was spinning. I chose the Garter Yoke Cardigan from Knit.1 I added some accent ribbing at the waist and skipped any real shaping. I still need to buy buttons but I've been wearing it with just a shawl pin in the mean time. I just love it and could wear it every day!

I enjoyed the February Lady Sweater so much, and top down construction in general, that I decided to make one for my Mom for her birthday (Cindy, don't tell mom LOL). I mentioned this to the gals at London-Wul and without twisting any arms whatsoever there were about 8 others who have joined me in a KAL! I told them they wouldn't regret making this sweater :) Most are still swatching so there is still lots of time to join in the fun! We meet there on Sunday afternoons.

At this rate I will have a third sweater completed before the end of March. That will have me averaging 1 sweater per month. Hmm, perhaps a 12 sweater goal for the year is warranted. Maybe only if making one with handspun can count as 2 :)

Charger is MIA

2009-02-21T16:38:00.002-04:00

My camera charger has been missing for over 2 weeks now and I'm going crazy without it!

There is so much to share and I have no photos. I've been waiting to post until I had some photos but it's been so long I thought I'd post an update of what's going on.

I've finished a February Lady Sweater for my friend CJ. There are photos of her on my camera but I can't access them now. It fit her perfect and she seemed to love it! It was the funnest sweater I ever knit and the fastest. So I'm knitting another one!

I've been working away at knitting and spinning for the Garter Yoke Cardigan. It is pretty close to be finished. I only have 1 sleeve to go!

I've started 2 pairs of socks both 2 at a time on magic loop. I started them because I wanted socks for myself and I wanted some live samples to show during sock classes in February. Tomorrow is the last in the sock class series for the month. One pair is top down with Trekking in a plain vanilla sock pattern. The other is toe up in a slipped rib pattern I made up for the toe up sock class last year. It is with a handpainted yarn. Pictures to come (I hope).

The last fun thing is that CJ and I booked a trip to Newark, NJ! We are flying there for a girls weekend away and will be visiting our friends Alana and Adam. It's not until the end of March but I'm already getting excited.

This is a boring black and white post so I'll sign off. Keep your fingers crossed I find my charger soon.

Socks for me!

2009-02-03T19:23:00.002-04:00

Finally I have completed a pair of socks for me!

After all the Christmas sock knitting I forgot how nice it is to cast off a pair of socks and put them on and proudly wear them.

Pattern: Welsh Traveling Socks by Sheri Franz from Shear Spirit
Yarn: Knit Picks Imagination
Ravelry Link: Welsh Traveling Socks

This sock yarn is awesome! It's a blend of merino, alpaca and nylon. I'm anxious to see how it washes up though. I highly recommend this pattern because it is interesting to knit but easy too. Fun and knits up fast too.

To be or what to be?

2009-01-24T20:01:00.004-04:00

That is the question... what should this yarn be?

It is to be a sweater but has had quite a history thus far and is still not even completed yarn. Truly it is still in it's infancy stage but has a story to tell.

First, this fleece was to be a learning project. I bought Shetland lamb fleece as one of my first spinning projects to see what it was like to spin such a very short staple length. I hated it, and then carded it with a little bit of silk to help compensate for the short staple and spun it into a single. I also decided I do not like spinning such a short staple (~1"). That was last year (Fall 2007).

Then this year (Summer 2008), I decided I've spun too much yarn that just gives me enough for small projects like scarfs, hats and socks. I decided if I found another fleece that could match this I could ply it with the shetland and have double the yardage and make a sweater for Troy. Since Troy's last sweater was way too small (and he's a pretty small guy).

I mentioned that I was on the look out for a dark brown or black fleece to Heidi. Very shortly after that she provided me with Blossom's fleece from the spring shearing of 08. It was perfect! It was dark grey (almost black) with white guard hairs as Blossom is a Lincoln/Romney/Shetland cross (I think). And ironically she is best balls with Tizzie who was the first sheep's fleece I spun from Heidi (for Troy's too small sweater).

I have been spinning the Blossom fleece and plying it with the Shetland lamb and it is turning out to be a terrific wool. Very springy, interesting and durable.

Next thing you know Troy starts getting honest about his 'sensitivity' to wool. He is VERY fussy about what gets put next to his skin to the extreme that an alpaca scarf I knit him is 'ichy' according to him. It must be the guard hairs left in the alpaca cause it so super soft (and expensive!). Just recently I finished a cashmere/alpaca/wool scarf for him and that is soft enough for his 'delicate' skin.

SO... now that I know how he reacts to anything but cashmere, I've decided this yarn will not be for a sweater for Troy. He will not appreciate it's texture, durability and pure woolness.

That is actually great news cause I am going to use it for a sweater for me! Now, which sweater...

Here are some choices I'm musing over:

- February Lady Sweater
- Garter Yoke Cardigan (Knit.1 Winter 2008)
- Go Retro (Knitter's Winter 2008)
- Garter Stitch Collard Jacket (Eco Wool)
- or a made up pattern?

Of course the yarn does not fit any of the above exactly. It seems to be a heavy worsted and I'm currently knitting a swatch with 5.5 mm needles.

Any suggestions?

Upgraded to Fiber Studio

2009-01-13T19:40:00.002-04:00

I have upgraded my spinning room to my Fiber Studio!

With the addition of the weaving loom it is no longer simply a spinning area, but is used for weaving, fiber preparation, spinning and knitting.

That's a lot to do in this small oasis!

Shawl work in progress:

Two boxes of hand flicked Romney ready to be spun:

Spinning project underway:

This is shetland lamb that was carded with tussah silk and spun into singles last year (brown on the right). Now I've carded some of Blossom's (one of Heidi's flock) fleece (Lincoln, Shetland cross) and am pulling it into roving through a diz before I spin it and ply it with the brown shetland. It's making a chunky natural looking wool I hope to knit into a jacket/cardigan for me this winter.

Mom's Black Vest... Shhh....

2009-01-08T19:31:00.002-04:00

This is my Mom in her new black vest.

Please don't tell her I posted this... she'll kill me cause her hair's messy LOL

She modeled it so well I just had to share. Not to mention this project was 15 months in the making! Should have only taken probably 2 months, but I must say that working with black sock weight yarn in a house plagued with white dog hair is not my favorite thing to knit.

But it's done! And it was in time to be a Christmas present too!

New stuff

2009-01-04T18:27:00.002-04:00

I got 2 terrific new books: "Knitting Never Felt Better" and "Shear Spirit". The felting book is awesome because it has MANY swatches of before and after they have been felted. It's great to use as a reference to see how a pattern will turn out (roughly) if you felt it before you actually do.

And I've already started this great sock pattern Welsh Traveling Socks out of Shear Spirit. This book is a must have if you love country side farming stories, amazing photography of the cutest animals and terrific patterns too!

Yarn: Knit Picks Imagination

And look what Santa gave me...

A loom stand!!

Now I must go and warp the loom :)

It's a New Year!

2009-01-01T17:30:00.002-04:00

Welcome to 2009! I hope everyone had a wonderful December and Holiday season. I have been very busy producing fiberlicious stuff, unfortunately not blogging about any of it.

Here is a quick preview of our holiday season:

First was Christmas in Campbellton (where my husband's mom lives)

Next we came home for a second Christmas with my parents.

It was fondue night and Trent, Troy's brother, got right into the cooking.

And Mom finally received her much anticipated black vest.

Next I finished some spinning while Troy went back to work for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (sucker LOL)

Blended Polworth and Soy silk purchased at London-Wul

Then it was New Year's Eve and we headed to Laurie and Ryan's New Year's Eve wedding.

It was so beautiful and a terrific night filled with live jazz and dancing.

Now on New Year's day we are hiding from the cold blizzard outside and I'm keeping warm with a beautiful Odessa hat that my friend Kim made me for Christmas and my new Cashmere/Merino/Silk handspun scarf/wrap.

Happy New Year everyone! And here's to blogging more often in 2009!

Spinning and Weaving

2008-11-16T09:17:00.005-04:00

It's been very busy around here with not much time to blog. Now that I have a few minutes there is so much to share I don't know where to start.

For all projects check out my Ravelry account because I've just updated it (finally).

I'll start by showing off some fun spinning I've done lately.

Here is the BFL I spun at the retreat which has been navajo plied. I mistakenly referred to it as Polworth in my previous post because I forgot that it was Blue Faced Leicester that Heidi just started carrying in the shop.

When I got home from the retreat I immediately started spinning the Wensleydale that CJ bought me and then used a technique I learned at the retreat to add in tuffs of mohair locks. It didn't turn out perfect but it's definitely a fun yarn.

And here is some some merino fibre that I purchased from All Spun Up on Etsy spun into a 2 ply chunk/bulky yarn. It is very smooshy.

I made this Bounce hat but I'm not happy with it so I'm frogging it and making a scarf with the yarn. The hat ribbing is just not tight enough and doesn't fit well. I had intended this yarn for a scarf for Troy any way so it's only the yarn gods reminding me of that.

Last weekend I finally warped the loom again. It had been too long. I had some cotton and baby yarn that had been given to me (a garbage bag full) so I warped for a baby blanket. I used the entire width of the loom, 32", and warped it about 50" long with the cotton. It was just Bernat 1lb ball of cotton Handicraft. Then I used the fancier yarn for the warp. They matched very well but in hindsight I should have put in a contrast color for some pazazz once in a while. It's very pastel which I guess is good for a sleeping baby.

I still need to finish tying the ends and then wash it to set the yarns better. It turned out a lot shorter than I planned but that is due to me warping it backwards and then having to switch everything. I lost some of the warp when I did this. I have now marked my loom so I do not make that mistake again! I also realized while doing this project that I really need a loom stand. It is a bit tiresome and ackward to manipulate this size loom on the table and my lap. It is not impossible but just not as comfortable as I would like. If I had a stand I'd probably weave much more often as I'd have the loom warped all the time. As it is now I warp it only when I feel I can finish the project in a day or two so that the loom is not on my dining room table for too long. Maybe Santa reads my blog :)

8th Annual Maritime Spinner's Retreat

2008-11-04T18:57:00.006-04:00

October was full of excitement and the highlight was the 8th Annual Maritime Spinner's Retreat that was held in Cape Breton this year.

Line, CJ and I headed down the highway to Cape Breton on Friday, Oct 24.
It was a gorgeous fall day, perfect for driving.

The first stop in Cape Breton was the Candy Shop. It is in Port Hawksbury and is a must stop destination if you go to Cape Breton. The chocolate bar serves an amazing blend of hot chocolate and coffee that is the best you will ever taste.

We stopped next in Beddeck at the infamous Baadeck Yarns. They had an awesome selection of yarns and hand knitted items. It is worth the trip just to stop at this shop. We made some purchases and were on our way to the Gaelic College where the retreat was to be held.
We arrived there just at sunset and the place was beautiful!

We found our room, which was located in MacKenzie Hall.

Unpacked and headed to the Hall of the Clans for some socializing and spinning. CJ has some great pictures of the festivities that night which included a harp player, a fire place and a wine and cheese. We were in heaven!

Later that evening we retired to our room in which we had created our own pantry including 'fridge' and all. It was PJ and show and tell time!

We stayed up until the early morning hours chatting, laughing, knitting and sipping wine.

The next day was jammed full of fun and activities. Started with breakfast in the cafeteria, followed by some spinning in the Great Hall.

I gave a drop spinning demo/workshop and thanks to Manon here is a picture.

Later the vendors opened as well as the weaving studio.

CJ bought me this for my birthday Wensleydale and I had bought the mohair locks that matched perfectly:
I've already spun this up using a novelty yarn plying technique demonstrated at the retreat. Pictures to come later.

During the day retreat participants were asked to vote on their favorite hand spun skein of yarn and their favorite knit from hand spun item for an award to be given in honor of Audrey Stanley.
Skein table:
My skein is the red one in the shadows.

Knitted table:
My knitted item is the light green shawl on the left.

After dinner the awards were given out from the tally of the votes and my skein WON!

As you can tell from the picture I was very happy! There were some beautiful skeins there and it was a real honor to be voted as the favorite.

Here's a close up with the piece of Stanley pottery I won (along with $50 that got spent before I even came home):

A ceildh (pronounced Cailie which I learned on the weekend) was held that night and we later went off to a common room and held a spinning, knitting, PJ and eating party of our own until the wee hours of the morning again. No pictures available as it was top secret (and we don't want to admit it was us making all that noise).

It was a fabulous weekend and I can't wait until next year! I'll leave you with a picture of the Polworth I spun during the retreat.

If you'd like to see the full set of pictures they can be found here.

Also CJ has a great post of pictures and details on her blog.

Fall Excitement

2008-09-27T10:03:00.004-03:00

It's been way to long since I blogged and what has been preventing me from blogging has been a very busy day job running into my nights and weekends. Not a good thing.

There has been some excitement around here in the last week or so. We bought a new car! Look closely at this picture and you can see Clancy looking out the window.

We received it last Friday night and I just love it!

It's a 2008 Kia Rondo in volcanic red.

Lots of room for our two dogs and lots of room for all our camping stuff, if we feel like camping. And my spinning wheel can sit upright in any area of the car with all that head room.

Another exciting thing was receiving my final secret pal package in the mail! My pal was just amazing (I still don't know who she was, no reveal yet).

There is some awesome sock yarn that I'm dying to cast on. I love the colors. Then there is a cute little wooden cat, wooden bowl and chop sticks too. An adorable hand made paper book, and chocolate. Lots of little goodies!

On the knitting front, I've been knitting and felting bags for the London-Wul shop and getting ready for upcoming knitting classes. See the schedule on the side bar. Tomorrow is the toe-up sock class. I also finished my handspun shawl but I don't have any after blocking pictures yet. It turned out really beautiful but a bit smaller than I would have liked.

Off to get some coffee and enjoy my first Saturday off in 3 weeks!

Fall and Winter Knitting Classes

2008-09-04T20:24:00.003-03:00

I'm really excited about the upcoming classes I'll be teaching at London-Wul. Here is a preview of each one. For more information or to register for the class call the great gals at London-Wul.

Learn to Knit Dishcloth - Sept 6
Perfect project for first time knitters. Learn some of the basics and create a functional dishcloth at the same time. Perfect for gifts or a treat for yourself.

Lounge Sock - Sept 21
Soft and cozy socks for you knit by you! Terrific beginner sock knit with chunky yarn. A great class to learn how to knit in the round using double pointed needles or to try out 1 circular needle (Magic Loop Method) for socks, your choice. You will also learn increases and decreases as well as grafting. Only skill required is the knit stitch.

Toe Up Sock - Sept 28
Are you tired of having too much sock yarn left over? Have you been looking for a new way to knit socks? If so, this class is for you. We will be learning how to construct a sock from the toeup. During this class you will work on a baby sock to allow us to tackle each section but you will go away with the know how to make your favorite cuff down sock patterns from the toe up.

Cabled Hat - Oct 5
Ready to branch out from scarves and rectangles? If yes, this project is perfect for you. This chunky cabled hat is a fast knit and can be done with or without the cables. You will learn to knit on circular and double pointed needles as well as learn a basic cable and increases. All you need to know is how to knit and purl comfortably in ribbing.

Extreme Mitten - Oct 19
These mittens work up in no time with this chunky colorful wool. You will learn all of the techniques needed to follow a conventional mitten pattern. A great class to learn how to knit in the round using double pointed needles, increases and decreases. All you need to know is how to knit.

Felted Bag (it's the bag in the last post), Nov 2 & Nov 16 (2 parts)
Learn how to felt this fabulous firey bag just in time for Christmas. You will learn two great felting techniques, fulling and needle felting, and will be able to make your own individual creations using these. Must have basic knitting skills such as casting on and knitting

Cables in the Bag, Nov 23
Learn how to follow a chart to make various cables that turn into a wonderful bag.Must have basic knitting skills such as casting on, knitting and purling.

Ribbin Lace Cowl, Dec 7
Fun way to start off learning to knit lace is with this soft and cozy lace cowl! These make excellent Christmas gifts for friends or family. Must know basic knitting techniques such as casting on, knitting and purling.

Ta Da!

2008-08-30T19:38:00.002-03:00

Introducing the bag with no name:

I knit this up and felted it while on vacation. Today I completed it with the needle felted design. It's going to be a November class project at London-Wul Farm.
Any ideas for names for this bag would be much appreciated :)

And I've cast on my hand dyed, hand spun merino/sea cell yarn. I've made up the pattern based on the Tuscany shawl but replacing a different lace repeat. So far so good.

The Cabin

2008-08-15T08:39:00.002-03:00

I've been on vacation this past week and it has been awesome. The weather wasn't the best but the location and company were fabulous!

CJ and I rented a cabin in Nova Scotia on a lake. It was perfect! We brought the dogs, Clancy, Ollie and Emilie and they had a blast playing in the water and with each other. We also celebrated CJ's birthday with a New England clam bake, a bottle of bubbly and a delicious fancy layer cake. We swam, knit, watched lots of Sex in the City episodes and ate really well. Can't wait until next time!

It's too difficult to pick which pictures to show so here is a link to all of them: CJ & Tan's Cabin Adventure.

I want to share two new online knitting magazines as well. The first is Twist Collective which is published by Kate Gilbert. It has loads of patterns and articles in it and has a very different feel than most online magazines I've seen. For one thing, the patterns are not free, they must be purchased. This way you only buy what you like and the designer gets paid for how well their pattern sells. I think this is a great idea because it is a lot of work for them to design and perfect the patterns and they desire the $6 or $7 per pattern for their artistry and hard work.

The second is Knit Notions. It contains free patterns, articles, reviews and technique information. The layout is great and even includes info on how many Ravelry projects have been made with the pattern.

I'm now off to enjoy the last day of my vacation.

Thanks Secret Pal

2008-08-04T21:45:00.003-03:00

I received another parcel from my Secret Pal last week! She sent me 6 100g balls of a cotton/alpaca blended yarn. It rocks and is the nicest tweedy color.

In the package as well was a nice apple candle, dark chocolate M&M's (I didn't even know those existed), and needle point covers.

I think the yarn may be good for this cardigan Mr Greenjeans or Tweedy Vest

Mannstock 08

2008-08-04T21:36:00.002-03:00

Last week was the 17th annual Mannstock party! For those who do not know the history of the infamous Mannstock I'll give a brief description.

Held on an island in the Restigouche River near Mann's Mountain, NB, Canada. Beautiful scenery, huge bonfires and lots of beer. This year we were also blessed by sun and heat as well. It was a bomby 28 celcius all day Saturday.

Here's Clancy guarding the home front. He was absolutely exhausted by Sunday!

And the big bonfire...

Can't wait until next year!

SP Weekly Question Catchup

2008-07-23T20:37:00.003-03:00

I'm very behind so here's a quick post for the Secret Pal readers with the answers to the last few week's questions.

QotW #5:

1) Where is your favorite place to go for vacation/holiday?

I don't go on many vacations or holidays but I did go to Florida this past March to visit my father and step mother. That was a wonderful trip/vacation. This summer I'm going to a very private and piece cottage/cabin. Even though it's just local, the water and tranquility are very alluring. Just to get out of the fast pace of life is a wonderful holiday.

2) Where is one place you’d like to go?

I would love to go to Italy, Spain and Greece ... someday maybe :)

QotW #6:
What is your favorite type of project to take along on holiday/vacation?

Socks, of course! I usually like to take a scarf as well. Something that I know I won't finish so there is no chance of running out of knitting. There never is though cause I always bring way more projects than I could ever hope to complete.

QotW #7:
What is(are) your favorite place(s) to knit? and

There are so many places that I love to knit so it's hard to pick. Around the house I enjoy curling up in the big leather chair or lounging in the backyard in the sunshine. I also love knitting at a coffee shop with my ipod and a nice latte, yummm! I also like knitting at my LYS London-Wul with the other knitters, spinners and friends.

What supplies (besides yarn & needles) make the setting perfect for knitting?

For some reason having a cup of tea or coffee makes it feel more peaceful. Must be that if you have that cup than it means you are there at least until the cup has emptied and that makes it more peaceful. I love having a good movie to watch or a few podcasts to listen to while knitting.

Another item I'd like to share with you is a website called Plurk. Plurk is used for micro blogging and I highly recommend to check it out. If you do look me up. My username is byTanya of course. There are tons of knitters on there and it's highly addictive, but very fun :)

Lotus Blossom has bloomed

2008-07-20T17:45:00.002-03:00

I have finished my summer project and it's still summer!

Here are some pictures of my completed Lotus Blossom Tank top from Interweave Summer 2006.

I like it quite a bit but the arm holes are a little strange in the way they fit. After a few wears I may add sleeve caps because I think those may work better. The cast off edge is a little tight and rolls in. Other than that I just love my new top!

Adjustments that I made were to knit the stocking stitch section for 7.5" before the arm holes. Also, I used 100% cotton instead of bamboo. I made the top with about 4-5" of negative ease at it is quite stretch and I wanted it to be fitted.

Now on to fall projects....

Road trip

2008-07-15T19:39:00.002-03:00

Two weekends ago (I know, not exactly breaking news) Clancy and took a road trip to CJ, Ollie and Emily's new house in Eastern Passage, NS.

Clancy was a big help as you can see here he is overseeing us unpack boxes while keeping a watchful eye on the neighbors and their dogs.

This was tiring work so he had to rest on his cousin Emily's bed.

Since he was such a great boy all weekend, I took him to the beach a block away from CJ's for a swim. I would love to live this close to the ocean. The breeze is so amazing, but I hear the fog can be a bit spooky at times, right CJ?!

On our way home Clancy was zonked but didn't want to completely lay down in the back as he feared he may miss something exciting, like a squirrel running across the highway.

In knitting news, I've finished one sock for my mom.

These are a toe up version of the Roza's socks from Interweave Spring 2007, but since my mom's name is Rhoda, this toe up version of mine is called Rhoda's socks. They are being knit with the remainder of the Tofutsie yarn I made her last pair with. Since she likes them so short I'm getting two pairs out of this one ball.
There should be news about my Lotus Blossom tank I'm knitting soon. The finish line is now in sight. Next in line that I'm planning for is this amazing V Neck project.

First BSJ

2008-07-10T18:30:00.003-03:00

For those who don't know, BSJ stands for Baby Surprise Jacket (ravelry) and it's a classic pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman. It is in the books Opinionated Knitter and Knitting Workshop as well.

This is my first of probably many BSJs cause I loved knitting it. I used some various odds and ends of sock yarn that I had thrown in Heidi's dye pot during the Highland games a few weeks back, along with a little bit of green fleece artist merino left over sock yarn.

Hard to believe that this:

Turns into this:

Still needs sewing (very minimal along the shoulder and arm) and buttons.

My pal Rocks!

2008-07-08T19:01:00.002-03:00

My secret pal sent me a package and a card!

This is my first Sandra magazine and it is awesome! Terrific lace summery patterns. Tons that I'd love to make.

Thanks SP!

What else did I do on Canada Weekend?

2008-07-04T19:46:00.003-03:00

I wove!

... and enjoyed some wine and podcasts!

Sunday was supposed to be moving day for a friend of ours but that was postponed due to UHaul stupidity. So not being one to waste a free afternoon, I set to warping my loom.

I've had some hand dyed mohair that I bought in PEI at the market early last summer (or maybe the summer before) and ladder yarn that matched it perfectly. They have been set aside for some time now to become something together. I decided to weave something with them but wanted a good sturdy yarn to be the warp yarn. Since I had this afternoon and couldn't run out to the store I went to the stash. I picked out some Paton's merino that was left over from a felted purse and some hand spun soy silk/wool blend to add to it.

Off I went without planning at all if I had enough yarn, and guess what, I didn't!
I wanted to make a lap blanket or baby blanket so I started at the edge of my 32" loom with the green Paton's merino and placed a mohair and the purple soy silk/wool in once in a while to contrast the green. I was planning on continuing this way for the entire warp but quickly realized that I was running out of the green and I had only gone a quarter of the warp. So this is why you are supposed to plan weaving projects before you begin warping!

I started adding more purple and less green until the green was gone and it had completely transitioned to the purple. In the end it looks pretty great, almost like I planned it that way!

Happy Birthday Hughie & Canada

2008-07-02T21:21:00.003-03:00

Every year my step-dad Hughie must share his birthday with our beloved country of Canada as his birthday falls on Canada Day long weekend. This year Troy and I had no Canada Day plans so we spent the Monday with Hughie and Mom. Well I spent the day with them shopping and Troy spent the evening and night, as poor Troy had to work on Monday (sucker!) Troy came home from work and barbecued up some delicious pork loin and we had my mom's homemade potato salad. Perfect summer time meal, if only we had some summer time weather to go with it. Guess you can't have everything.

I made Hughie the best chocolate cake I've ever baked and it was completely from scratch.

It was so simple that I don't know why any one would bother buying a cake mix really. It was called "Hersey's Perfect Chocolate Cake" and it lived up to it's name. The decorating wasn't exactly perfect but seeing it was helped along by quite a few glasses of wine it did nicely.

Hughie's birthday present was a brand new (off the needles that morning) pair of socks and two bottles of Innes & Gunn Oak-aged Beer. (Side note: if you haven't tried Innes & Gunn go directly to your local beer store and demand they order some in from Edinburgh Scotland. You will not be disappointed).

Size: Men's 10 (11" long)
Needles: 2.25 mm Addis
Method: Magic loop
Yarn: Tofutsie
Details: Toe-up, 80 sts, 3x1 rib

These socks were knit up with Tofutsie yarn which is a terrific summer sock yarn consisting of 1/2 wool, 1/4 cotton and 1/4 soy silk. There is a little bit of chitin in it (something from shells) but I don't think it does much to the consistency of the yarn really. I've made a couple pairs of socks with it and it washes up beautifully and gets softer and softer with wear.

Canada Day turned out to be a beautiful summer day and Troy and I headed to the beach in Shediac. No pictures but let's just say there was a little knitting, a little reading and a little dozing. Perfect beach day!

Secret Pal Questions catchup

2008-06-25T18:09:00.004-03:00

I am tardy in posting the answers to the Secret Pal weekly questions.

Week #2:
As a kid, what did you look forward to most about summer vacation/break/holiday?

Summer Camp! I went to a Western week camp every summer where I had my own horse to take care of the entire week. It was the best ever! We did other things as well, like swimming, campfires and crafts, but the best part for me was having to take care of 'my' horse. Everything from riding, cleaning stalls to feeding was required and every minute of it (even swatting the bugs away) was the best time ever.

Week #3:
What would you consider the perfect amount of stash?

It doesn't exist... as long as I am a knitter and/or weaver I don't think I'll ever have the perfect amount of stash. Just when I think I have everything I need in my stash and will only knit from that because why would I need to buy any more yarn ever, I come across a project I'd really like to make but I have nothing in my stash that will work. Sometimes I wonder if subconsciously I'm searching out projects that are intended for yarn I don't have just for the excuse to go search for more yarn. If there is an illness called 'Stashitis' then I have it.

Fiber tyme

2008-06-25T17:50:00.003-03:00

I am officially off of my spinning hiatus!

I completed spinning the blended merino I purchased from CJ Kopec creations.

This...

turned into this...

It was pink, brown and caramel but it spun up to have a purple. It's very soft and at a very rough guess I'll have about 400-500m from the 8 oz I bought.

I also finally dyed the merino/sea cell blend from last years Spinning Retreat. It is from the Belfast Mini Mills in PEI and it is prepared in almost a pencil roving.

This ....

Turned into ....

I tried something knew this time and put the dye directly onto the fiber in the pot with out mixing it with water first. I had much more control over where the dye was going to go but as I had had the opposite experience in the past with it premixed I was over cautious with the brown and ended up with way less brown then I intended. Actually less green as well because I had planned for it to be darker. I may dye it again and see what I get but I'm scared to handle the fiber again as the roving is becoming harder to draft.

I've also spun half a 4 oz bag of the cashmere/merino 50/50 blend I also bought at the spinning retreat from the mini mills. It is an amazing joy to spin and is super soft. I plan on plying it with a thin single of silk, but we'll see if I stick to that plan. I'm spinning it natural, pre dying, which is odd for me. Pictures to come, but they are kind of boring since there is no way the beige single in the picture can demonstrate how soft and wonderful it is in person.

Reconstructive surgery

2008-06-20T23:16:00.003-03:00

No that is not a grave site, it's the view from my front door today.

We had our sewer pipes and intake pipes replaced because there were roots growing in the very old clay sewer pipes that were there before.

I must admit it was a tad bit nerve racking to see them dig up our yard like that and have the pipes disconnected from the house and then reconnected. At one point today there were piles of dirt on my TV/Craft room floor. Don't worry, I removed all the yarn to a safe haven before the jack hammering began.

All is good now and the pipes have been covered up and water turned back on.

In other news I've progressed to 2 and a half repeats of the Lotus Blossom Tank top. It's slow going cause there are so many stitches and the lace pattern requires me to keep looking at the pattern instructions. I'm determined to get this one done though. The only thing that will get in my way is that I'm making socks for my step dad's birthday which is next Sunday and I only have one sock almost finished. I'll have to focus on those next week.

I'm off to bed ... need a good sleep so I'm bright and alert for my french exam tomorrow.

Á la procaine

Moncton Highland Games

2008-06-15T19:42:00.003-03:00

After taking my dad for breakfast for Father's Day, I spent the remainder of the day surrounded by friends, fiber and kilts.

The bag pipes were out in full force at the 2nd annual Moncton Highland Games held in Victoria Park. Heidi had a London-Wul tent set up with samples of many types of wool, hand dyed beauties and some fabulous hand woven wraps. She invited some spinners and weavers to come join her for the day (yesterday too) to demo weaving and wool preparation in the Wool tent.

We had Sherri and Dorin with their drop spindles whirling away (yes that beautiful yarn behind Sherri is hand dyed and available at the shop!)

Next we have Heidi with her caldron (aka Dye pot) filled with wool and some sock yarn being over dyed. The dye is all natural, very natural. It's an insect called cochinea used for dying shades of red and pink. I can't wait to see the yarn when it's done.

Cranking out some polworth blended with soy silk is Karen.

I actually met Karen back in the days when the only wool I knew existed was Briggs and Little (which is a great wool but there are so many others!). Karen told me with great excitement about drop spinning and how I would love it and to come out to LW and see what it was all about. My response at the time, "Why would you want to spin yarn? It will take away from your knitting time and you can buy it". Oh, how I have changed!

Summer

2008-06-12T19:31:00.002-03:00

Today I was contacted by my Secret Pal that will be sending me gifts this summer. It's so exciting to hear from her.

We were also asked a SP question which is:
"What is your favorite summer drink?"

I'd have to say my fav summer drink is mojitos. Last summer I grew spearmint in our small little garden and we had a ton of it. I brought some over to CJ's and she made fabulous mojitos with the fresh spearmint. They were so tasty but fresh and light. I could have drank them all day! Probably not a good plan since we were knitting with pointy sticks. We are growing spearmint again, not that we had a choice since it just popped up on it's own. I'm hoping to make lots of mojitos this summer with the fresh mint.

In other news, I finished this cute and useful linen summer bag last weekend.

Line and I picked up the Euroflax Linen yarn and the pattern came with it at London-Wul. I hadn't crocheted in a long time and it was a nice change and I loved working with the yellow. I don't get to work with yellow often cause it's not really one of my colors, but for the bag it was perfect.

Secret Pal 12 Questionnaire

2008-06-08T10:53:00.003-03:00

It's that time again! Secret Pal 12 is starting on June 15. Here is my questionnaire to help my pal get to know me.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love alpaca, silk and merino. I'm starting to have a liking to cotton and other plant fibers as well, especially with the summer weather approaching. I don't like acrylic or sparkly bling yarn.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I received a beautiful Lantern Moon needle case from SP9 but it really only holds my longer needles the best. My double points are spread all over the place and I have a hard time keeping track of them. As well, my round needles are just randomly hanging from things in my craft room. It's not a pretty sight.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I think I'd be intermediate to advanced depending on the technique. For example, I'm an advanced sock knitter but I'd be an intermediate fair isle knitter. I have been knitting since I was 5 years old (27 years!) and I learned the very basics from my Aunt. After that I taught myself.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No wish lists.

5. What's your favorite scent?
Nothing too floral or strong.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Dark chocolate, especially with nuts.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
Spin, weave, and knit mostly. I've dabbled in scrapbooking, quilting and crochet as well.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I listen to many different kinds of music but mostly on my iPod I have artist like Jack Johnson, Shawn Mullins, Feist, Theresa Sokyrka. I like hearing music I've never heard before and find new and upcoming artists.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I wear a lot of brown but can't really say it's my favorite color. I do prefer earth tones of greens, blues and pinks. I really like orange and yellow as well but I can not wear them myself as they look horrible on me.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have been married for 5 years and we have yet to be blessed with children but we do have 2 fabulous dogs, Kozmo and Clancy.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I wear scarves, hats, mittens but no ponchos. I do wear shawls once in a while.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Socks - you can see your progress fast, there is no sewing and you can never have too many pairs of socks.

13. What are you knitting right now?
It's a long list: 2 different pairs of socks, lace wrap, finger weight shawl, lace scarf, cardigan vest, dish cloth.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Love to!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
All of the above have a purpose for me. It depends on the project. I have recently switched to long circulars for sock knitting but sometimes I still really like to pull out my bamboo double points. I do prefer bamboo over plastic. For circulars I like addis but I've recently ordered a set of Knit Picks Harmony circulars and I'm excited to try those out.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yes, I own both.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
About 1 yr old. I typically rip out projects that intend not to finish.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Yarn and knitting books

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I subscribe to Interweave Knits and Spinning

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Improve on Fairisle stranded knitting; learn some knew weaving techniques with a rigid heddle.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes I am a sock knitter. My feet are 9.5" long and about 8" around. Size 8 ladies shoe.

23. When is your birthday?October 20

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
Yes and my ID is byTanya.

Lot of catching up to do

2008-06-06T18:57:00.002-03:00

I've been neglecting this blog and my ravelry projects as well. But that's all over now.

My MBA night classes are now complete until Sept, which is just in time as I will need to be blogging more often because Secret Pal 12 is about to begin!

Let's go way back to a weaving project I completed before Mother's Day weekend. Here are the bamboo and cotton placemats I weaved with my new loom.

I made 5 placemats with the 90" warp. They turned out a little narrow to their depth but they will do fine. We used them for dinner on Mom's day when my parents were up for supper. They were a really fun project and I actually enjoyed all the planning.

That is the last weaving project I have done but I have lots of other ideas swirling around in my head, I just need to get something warped.

I have a bunch of other items going on but I'll share those later.

I'm also trying to plan a summer top to knit. First I was going to knit Isabella but I think I've changed to Lotus Blossom tank from Interweave Summer 2006 instead. For those that know me feel free to leave a comment with a preference for me. Obviously both would be adjusted to fit me (at least that will be the goal). There are lots of pictures of both projects in ravelry here and here.

Twisted Tuesday

2008-04-08T19:55:00.003-03:00

Today will now be known as Twisted Tuesday.

Look what I accomplished with this crazy little gadget that I purchased at London-Wul.

(100% Alpaca Fingering weight, plain weave on 10DPI heddle.)

It twists the fringe for you, and thank heavens. I twisted the other end of the scarf the night before without the 'gadget' and my hand is still cramped.

And a special thanks to Dorin for lending me this terrific book that not only serves as a good weight to hold down the scarf as I twist the fringe but has great information on finishing weaving projects (ironic isn't it LOL).

Oh, and don't forget to check out Heidi's blog. There was a write up in the Boston Globe on Sunday about the shop. Congrats Heidi!!

Look out!

2008-03-30T22:31:00.002-03:00

Look what fell out of the mail box:

Cowboy Chic, 100% merino, blended by CJ Kopec Creations

This feels like a cloud and the colors are gorgeous!

Look what fell off the needles:

Swanee River Croc Socks (Started on my Florida Trip)

Handspun 3ply (1 ply mohair, 2 plies Polworth)

Polworth hand dyed by Heidi.

Look what fell off the spinning wheel:

Merino carded with Ramie. 2ply.

Busy Bunny

2008-03-25T20:18:00.003-03:00

I was a busy bunny over this past Easter weekend. However it did not look anything like Easter here with the huge icicles and large snow banks.

It was warm inside with all the cooking and people coming and going though.

Schedule was something like this:
Thursday - Drink wine, Mother in law arrives (staying until Monday)
Friday - Make breakfast, weave, do dishes, entertain mom in law, weave, school assignment, set table, eat dinner, spin, entertain
Saturday - grocery shop, my Mom and Step Dad arrive, make turkey dinner, brother in law arrives, entertain, spin, weave, drinks, drinks, drinks, bed
Sunday - Knit, eat breakfast, entertain, make stitch markers, school work, laundry, supper, knit, bed
Monday - back to work

Here are some pictures that highlight some of the fun:

Spinning - merino from CJ blended with Ramie from Line.

Weaving a bag with Patons Classic Wool

Mixing (and drinking) shooters - After Eights to be exact

Making Stitch Markers

Now the house is quiet, not a creature to be heard, except my husband playing guitar like a banshee and the dogs howling like wolves. The fun never ends!

Happy Belated Easter everyone

Breaking News

2008-03-22T07:53:00.002-03:00

I brought home an Ashford 32" Rigid Heddle Loom of my very own! I am so very excited!

I stopped into London-Wul on Thursday afternoon to discuss with Heidi various types of rigid heddles and pricing so I could decide which to order next week. I was mentally prepared for deciding than waiting a few months for it to arrive. To my supreme surprise Heidi offered to sell me her loom which was exactly the one I had decided to buy! Not only did I get it for a good price but I got to take it home right then and there!

Needless to say my plans for Thursday night suddenly changed. I warped the loom, with some help from Troy, and I was off and weaving a scarf. It didn't turn out terrifically but I learned a lot.

Lesson's learned:
- Don't use mohair with a huge halo in the warp
- Don't warp past 11pm
- Troy and my ideas of taught are not the same

After a very informative and fun phone conversation with Manon (I had to call and let her know I've finally been brought to the dark side LOL) I have planned my next project. I calculated all the lengths of yarn required, checked the yardage I have and made a little pattern. I'm making a 20"x40" piece that is planned to be sewn up into a bag. Pictures to come...

Happy Easter everyone!

The Search for Yarn in the Florida Panhandle

2008-03-16T19:28:00.003-03:00

The morning after I arrived at my father's in Panama City Beach, my step mother, Flo, had arranged for us to go shopping in Fort Walton with a couple other ladies. We were on the hunt for a yarn shop which they thought I had the address for. I did not... but looked it up in the phone book and programmed the GPS unit and we were off.

It was a beautiful sunny day but a very cold (for Florida) windy day with the high only about 58F. It made for great shopping weather and the scenery was still gorgeous. We went straight to the yarn shop which was about 1 hour from my parents place. We found it and I snapped a photo with my cell phone. This is the only photo I took of the shop and as you can see the sun was shining down on it to help lead the way.

The shop is called "Unwind" and the joke of the day is that I went to 'unwind' during my vacation! There were a group of about 5 ladies knitting in the shop and it was a pretty small but lovely location. The best yarn I found there was Tilly Tomas. I'd seen this is magazines but the pictures don't do it justice. It was really expensive so I did not come back with one of the amazing beaded yarns but did purchase a skein of 100% silk called Pure and Simple in a rich red colorway.

My main goal was to purchase some sock yarn that it hard to find in the maritimes, like Jitterbug or Koigu. They only had 4 skeins of Jitterbug and I didn't like any of the colors. Since we were supposed to go to another yarn shop later in the week in Panama City I held off buying any at Unwind except for this ball of Noro Sock yarn.

CJ was babysitting my pup Clancy as some of you blog readers know, so I really wanted to bring her back some nice yarn as a thank you. I almost held off for sock yarn at the next yarn shop but I couldn't resist this absolutely silky soft alpaca/silk yarn in a pale lime green and a skein of artyarn in pink and green. (Her favorite colors are pink and green and spring is coming)

Picture courtesy of CJ's blog, I forgot to take a photo before gifting it.

On our way back with went to lunch at a terrific Irish Pub called McGuire's.

They had 700,000 dollar bills stuck to their ceiling and all over the place... yes that is really $700,000! I'd hate to see the place go up in flames!

Our day of shopping ended back in Destin with Ross' (like Winners), Pottery Barn, and Bellas. I bought 3 pairs of shoes and a weird frog ornament for my mom and that was all.

Later in the week my Dad took us (Troy, Flo and me) out to Panama City for a drive. We had some errands to run and were going to find a yarn shop that I had got the address for off of the Florida Knitters blog. They had a list of all the shops in Florida so I'd written down the ones that were close. We drove a really long way down a road and found the alley, parked the car and ran out to the spot. They were no longer there and hadn't been for 2 year! And just now when I went to get the link to the site I'd got the address from they have taken it down saying they can't keep up with all the shops locations...aghh...

So the bad news was that I didn't get to shop for any sock yarn. Good think I have a stash full already :) Also a very good thing I didn't wait on getting yarn for CJ, we both would have been really sad :(

Back from the Sunny State of Florida

2008-03-08T17:15:00.003-04:00

Well I'm back! What a trip we had. It was a travel adventure for sure. The weather was beautiful with temperatures in the high 70's most days going up to 80 on some. Just perfect.

Here are a couple pictures and more can be seen here.

This is the beach we were staying on before the spring breakers arrived.

This is the villa my parents live in which is where we stayed. It is in Panama City Beach.

Of course on our way back there was a storm in Toronto and in Moncton and it was up in the air (literally) if we were going to be able to land in Moncton or not due to freezing rain. Thank heavens we didn't have to turn back and we landed safely, without my luggage, but safely.

I didn't get as much knitting done as I thought I would (as Line suggested).

I did finish the 1 Row scarf:

Here I am in the airport knitting the 1 row scarf with my new merino/silk handspun shawl. The shawl was a perfect travel companion.

I knit on the Diamond Waffle socks (they are taking forever). I'm up to the heel on them now.

I started and have almost completed one sock from the polworth/mohair handspun I made. I have way more yarn than I thought so I've decided to make them knee socks since I've always wanted a pair. I'm making these socks toe up so I'm sure I have enough yarn.

I've called them Swanee River Croc Socks since this one was knit as we drove half way through the state of Florida from Panama City Beach to Orlando.

Last but not least I knit this cute baby sock that is a sample for the Toe Up Sock Class I'm giving tomorrow at London-Wul.

Once I get some photos downloaded from my phone camera I'll fill you in on the details of my Florida yarn shop hunt.

Off to Florida

2008-02-23T08:09:00.002-04:00

Troy and I are heading to Panama City Beach, Florida on Monday!

His Moonlight socks are off the needles and now it's time to pack my travel projects.

I've been putting a lot of thought into this, more than into what I'll wear. I want to have some really easy items that I can knit when people are around or when I've been interrupted can pick it right back up.

For that I've chosen the 1 Row Scarf from the Yarn Harlot using navajo plied polworth. I've already started it so it's ready to go.

Next I wanted to have a challenging project that I could knit on when I have some alone time or driving time. I've wanted to knit a lace project (and have started and frogged a few) so I've casted on for Alpine Lace from VLT (raverly link) with a laceweight Misty Alpaca yarn.

I've completed one repeat of the bottom border.

Next we have some socks.
First pair is for the plane as I'm leary about bringing metal needles with me on the plane.
These socks are Oriel pattern from Sensational knitted socks and they are using an awesome alpaca/wool blend sock yarn.

Second pair of socks are Diamond Waffle socks from knitty. I'm knitting them using the magic loop method 2 at one time.

And as a back up pair for wooden (plane) needles I'm bringing handspun sock yarn that I spun with 2 plies of polworth and one ply of natural mohair.

I've swatched with the handspun and picked out the needles so I'm all set to go. Just going to do a plain stocking stitch sock with this yarn because I want it to be the highlight of the sock pattern. The swatch turned out really great.

You may wonder if I'm gone crazy thinking I'll need all of these knitting projects. To be honest I know I won't finish them all but I like variety. We have two 7 hour drives so that will be a ton of steady knit time, as well we have an overnight lay over in TO on the way back. And I'm sure I'll have some relaxing beach time as well.

Well I'm off to finish balling the yarns so I can pack up. Stay warm for the next few weeks while I'm gone.

It's all about sharing

2008-02-10T10:37:00.001-04:00

Saturday my friend Line and I spent an afternoon of sharing.

We shared some fancy tea, some stories and most importantly, we shared our knowledge :)

Line taught me to warp and weave on her Knitter's Loom and I taught her to spin on my spinning wheel. We had a wonderful afternoon of spinning and weaving.

I forgot to take a picture of her finished wool, but it was some left over Tizzie fleece hand carded and she created a 2ply yarn.

First Line helped me set up the warp. We made it 18 wide double stranded wide (I don't know the proper terminology yet) and 75" long (about).

Next she showed me how to weave with this loom.

And then I was off... I could hardly put it down once I started.

Within 3 hours from starting the warp I was finished my first weaving project. The edges are a little strange in a couple places, but overall I really love it. And the weaving itself was very fun. It hardly used up any yarn either.

Felting Rocks

2008-02-08T20:25:00.000-04:00

I fulled my bag more in the wash last night and the results were much better.

I then moved on to the Needle felting.

This was my first time but it was quite easy and very fun. It is so neat to see the picture come to life.

Almost finished... only the D-Rings and magnetic closure left to put on.

Sad puppy

2008-02-06T19:17:00.001-04:00

My eldest dog, Kozmo, had dental surgery today. It wasn't a big procedure but how do you explain that to a dog.

From his perspective the morning started off with him not getting fed, then being left at a place full of people who with one hand give you a treat and the other stab you with a pointy object. He must think they are torturing him for no reason at all. It made me sad to leave him there while he was trying to escape with his tail between his legs.

Of course a wise friend reassured me that I was putting way more thought into this than he was!

He's home now and looking quite tired, until the door bell rang and then he attempted to act like his big bouncy self except his bark was 3 octaves higher than normal. His little brother Clancy looked at him kind of funny and I could have sworn let out a chuckle.

Get well soon Kozmo!

[Heidi, do you recognize this location?]

Ingenius

2008-02-05T19:13:00.001-04:00

I've finished the first sock for the pattern I'm going to include in my Toe-Up Sock class.

The class btw will be held in March, not on Feb 17. I haven't picked a date quite yet.

I love everything about this sock, but the special feature is the ingenius cast off.
It is a Grafted cast off!
It only works on 1x1 rib but it gives the most elegant elastic bind off I've seen yet. And if you know how to graft a toe this is a breeze.

I found the instructions for it at Sock Knitters.com and it was written up by Debbie Powel

How do some knitters come up with these ideas? Some people are so ingenius.

Bag Update

2008-02-03T19:11:00.000-04:00

I'm going to make a better effort to post at least once a week. You are all welcome to call me on it when I miss that target. I really enjoy sharing my projects and thoughts so I have to take the time. That being said, if I'm posting more often expect them to be shorter posts :)

I felted the bag last week. I'm not crazy about the shape it has taken on. I find it shrunk more in the height than in the width and it's kind of loose at the sides. Because of this I've been delaying the needle felting part of this project. I'm debating whether I should throw it back in the washer, but I'm scared it will shrink in the height more. I've purchased the D-Rings for the strap and I also have some shetland brown fleece, felting needle and some foam all ready to go for the needle felting part of the project but once I put those on I can no longer felt the bag so I'm in a bit of a frightful holding pattern. I'm going to have to move one way or the other this week.

My favorite detail are the stripes on the bottom.

In other news, we had a great knitting class at London-Wul today. Cabled hats were knit up with Noro Iro and I loved the colors. As well a second class was run for a Cozy bedtime sock, which was finished in one afternoon! Great students!

For those interested in the Toe Up sock class here is a sneak peak at the sock I've designed that will be included in the class material.

I'm actually finishing off this sock tonight but I don't have any new pictures yet.

One other item I started and finished this week is this hat for Troy.

It's not my favorite hat I've ever made but it's 100x better than the polyester crappy hat from the dollar store he's been wearing. I was embarassed to call myself a knitter with my husband walking around in that hat.
I bought some merino roving from London-Wool last week and spun it up in a chunky single ply. I then knit it up using a 3x2 Rib pattern. It's very soft but the singles didn't look all that great. He wore it out sliding today with his 'little brother' and it's a winner with him.

I'm off to finish up those socks and start a new project. Details on the new project to come soon.

Winter Rush

2008-01-24T19:10:00.000-04:00

Who would have thought January could possibly be busier than December, but it is.

I've been doing plenty of knitting and spinning but there's been no time to blog about it. Now I have about 10 minutes to share a bit of what I'm up to.

I've been teaching classes at London-Wul !!

There is a class day coming up on February 3.
For details contact London-Wul and more info is here.
Stay tuned for an upcoming Toe-Up sock class on February 17th!!

Aside from the class prep, I'm working on two projects to kind of go along with the London-Wul Bags with Blankets KAL that meets on Sunday afternoons.

Here is my Messenger Bag. The pattern is out of Interweave Holiday Gifts magazine.

And even though this isn't a blanket this is my second project for the KAL:

It is a shawl knit with handspun merino silk blend from Louet. I loved the way it spun up in this thicker weight and I can't wait to spin more again. Heidi promised she'd order some so I'm keeping my eyes open at LW :)

There are a few other projects on the needles but one New Year project is the Herringbone Mittens. I'm learning to knit with two strands, one in each hand, and this is a great project to start with.

Some readers have mentioned lately that the pictures on my blog take too long to load. If you find this post loads better please let me know because I've tried something different.

Until the next 10 minutes I find... Happy Knitting to all!

Because you asked

2008-01-03T23:43:00.001-04:00

Here is a sample of the Romney spun up:

The picture doesn't really do it justice. It is probably a color somewhere in between those two above. Not as dark as the dark one but darker than the light one. It's hard to capture at this time of night.... but you asked for it LOL.

Now off to bed I go.

The Romney Story

2007-12-31T09:59:00.000-04:00

Back in the fall when I attended the annual Maritime Spinner's Retreat in PEI, I made a few purchases which I never shared with you all.

Over this past week, now that Christmas is out of the way, I have started to prepare some of the purchases I brought back with me.

Before Christmas I had picked and washed the almost 1lb of Romney locks, which were various colors of beiges and greys. The staple length is really quite long for me at about 5" and it had nice curls throughout but not really crimpy.

Line came over to assist me putting on a dye pot for the Romney washed locks this past week. This was the first time I tried dying locks instead of roving. I mixed a mason jar full of dye stock in the color I wanted (vermillion with a little black and blue). I then put 1/4 cup of the stock into the dye pot with the water and added a couple glugs of vinegar. Then came about 1/3 lb of the presoaked Romney locks. I had to split it into 3 batches because my pot was too small for all of it.

While the locks were stewing we enjoyed tea for two with this fancy tea I received in my stocking (I bought it myself on a trip to Providence in December in case Santa didn't know I wanted it).

I had Belgian Mint and Line had a chocolate flavor that was really chocolate smelling. I can't believe you can even get tea in those flavors. And aren't the tea bag rests awesome! They have tea pots and cups to go with these that have covers but allow the leaf to come out a hole... too cute.

The locks took the color in all different intensities which is just what I wanted.

As a side note, here is what Line dyed using the cold pour method.

This was her first dying attempt and it turned out beautiful. These colors really put Briggs and Little into a new category.

As soon as the fleece was on the drying rack, I called Manon to see if I could still take her up on her generous offer to use her drum carder. She was as enthusiastic as me so we planned a time for 2 days out, fearing that the next day may leave the wool still damp. Then came the snow and that was cancelled as carding wool is not worth risking your life in a snow storm (I actually debated that with myself for quite some time before coming to that realization). Another time was set for Sunday and I packed my bags of now dried wool up and off I went to Manon's winter wonderland palace to dirty her kitchen with bits of dirt and wool which her kind husband didn't seem to mind at all.

The drum carding was awesome!
The colors, subtle as they are, blended together so nicely.

Here I am taking the batt off the carder.

And carefully with full concentration rolling the first batt.

Ta Da! The first batt of carded Romney fleece hand dyed by me and Line and carded by me and Manon. This is like a friendship fleece... any volunteers to help me spin it?

The batts are fluffy and soft and I can't wait to spin them up!

There are 11 batts in total and together they weigh 14 ounces.

Thanks to Line and Manon for joining me in the fun of preparing this fleece!

Tizzie Episode 4: Success?!

2007-12-29T11:49:00.002-04:00

The Tizzie Sweater was completed for Christmas opening which was a huge success. However, it does not fit the recipient Troy. I'm too sad to begin to figure out where I went wrong. I even had him try it on twice during the knitting process, which I never do. Alas, it is not meant to be. He does look quite happy and proud in it though.

Specs:
Seamless Raglan from Elizabeth Zimmerman "Knitting without Tears"
Handspun Jacob/Shetland yarn

Early Christmas present to me from me

2007-12-08T22:59:00.001-04:00

Look what arrived in the mail:

It's from Faery Fiber, which is Tammy's new shop on etsy. The yarn is so delicious. Troy actually wants socks out of the black, blue, yellow and white above that is called Blue Jay. They'll be his funky socks. Thanks Tammy! Keep up the great work!

Date night

2007-11-30T23:58:00.000-04:00

The last two Fridays at our place have been date night. This is a time that Troy, my husband, and I spend together doing whatever we decide to do, as long as we do it together.

The last two Fridays were centered around fiber stuff, believe it or not. It was Troy's idea, but a couple week's ago he decided he'd like to try dying. Of course I was game for this. I dug out fiber from a mill I'd been to that was not my favorite stuff and had been bought to experiment and play with. We opened a bottle of wine (and later a second) and got out the dye supplies. He mixed all the colors up as this was his project.

The first two skeins we used the cold method and then steamed them.

Then we got ambitious and I grabbed some fiber I had bought from the mill. This time we used the hot method and put a dye pot on the stove.

I had a certain color in mind that I was trying to match and wanted to see if I could put Troy's artistic skills to use.

The ball of yarn was the color we were aiming for. Not exactly but at least we were in the right direction.

By the end of this date night we had this hanging in the shower.

So the next week, Troy decided he wanted to learn to spin up the fiber he had dyed the week before. Just so everyone knows, we learned that date night and wine go much better with dying than with spinning. I was a little paranoid he was going to break my wheel and he spun away and I sat beside him trying to control his every move. Not the best situation. In the end though he did end up with something resembling a yarn. I'm not sure who is going to knit with this, I'm hoping it's Troy.

Fresh off the wheel

2007-11-17T07:27:00.000-04:00

I switched things up a bit and made a chunky single ply with a 4oz bag of Polworth I purchased at London-Wul dyed by Heidi.

Now back to knitting....

The end has come

2007-11-17T07:07:00.000-04:00

The Secret Pal 11 exchange has come to an end which is very sad.

The happy news is that it has ended with a bang with this awesome package from my pal who is none other than Kimber from Trois Oiseaux. She was a terrific gift giver and sneaky too. She told me that her blog had the word bird in it as a hint to find her. I searched all over for a blog with bird in the title. I never thought of translating it! It was fun Kimber :)

Here is my last package which includes Socks that Rock in a terrific colorway called Highway and it's so smooshy. The baby alpaca lace weight is the softest ever. Wish you could feel it. The cocoa is to make hot chocolate which will be really appreciated on those cold nights. The cream smells very yummy and will help keep my hands smooth for spinning. And not to forget the book bracelet which makes a really neat book mark.

I'd also like to introduce you to the pal I was gifting to. Her name is Angela and she has been so much fun to find and give gifts to. She's a fellow maritimer as well.

Playing catchup

2007-11-06T17:51:00.000-04:00

It's true, I've been a lazy blogger lately. Manon kindly pointed this out in her last comment :)

Things have been busy (as per usual) but that hasn't kept me from playing with fiber in many ways. Here is a quick update to attempt to get you up to speed.

SPINNING OBJECTS:

This is what I'm calling Autumn Foliage Yarn. It's the Coopworth that I dyed myself and then spun up at the spinning retreat. I really love how it turned out and I think it's destined for a pair of socks for me. Possibly the Tyrolean Socks in Interweave Fall 2007.

Next up we have a bit of a mess up really. Manon kindly gave me some beautiful dyed silk in gorgeous colors (I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of it). I spun it all up onto one spindle and then wasn't sure what to do with it. I had this white yarn in my stash and it had a silky sheen to it and I thought they would go well together. The white yarn was a single ply so I decided to ply them together. This was almost a good idea because they do look beautiful together. Look closely at the picture below to see the colors of the silk come through.

It turned out though that the yarn was spun in the opposite direction as the silk (I think). I've soaked and hung this skein but the plies don't seem to want to stay together. I'm not sure if I'll be able to knit with it so I have not plied any more. I'll have to knit a swatch and see if it knits up ok. This was an important lesson learned.

I have also picked and washed up the Romney fleece I bought at the spinning retreat. No pictures yet though.

FINISHED OBJECTS:

Using handspun Navajo plied polworth, I knitted a Montego Bay scarf. I love this pattern and this yarn!

Socks for my Secret Pal (shhh). They are knit in Regia bought when I was in Ottawa and it's the Heat Wave pattern (of course).

These are my first pair of toe up socks I made and they are men's size 11 so the foot is long compared to the leg. The pattern is a garter rib and they are knit with a cotton-wool blend.

STARTED and ON THE NEEDLES:

100% cotton socks (yuck). I really don't like knitting in cotton but I have a really good friend that this is worth making for. She can't wear wool so I found some Regia 4 ply cotton that is mentioned in No Sheep For You. I do love the color though. This first sock is completed (no pic yet) but the second is not yet casted on.

Another toe up sock. This is Fleece artist merino yarn and I'm very glad I split the yarn in 2 equal amounts and knit toe up. They are for my step dad who has size 11 feet so I ran out of yarn. I changed to a brown Fleece artist merino and knit the cuff. It's not a perfect plan, but I still think he'll like them. I'm also nervous these are two narrow, but Troy tried them on and width wise they were comfortable. Fingers crossed they fit my step dad too as they are a Christmas present. This sock is complete now (no pic) and the next one is cast on and knit up past the toe.

This is the start of my Mom's cardigan vest knit in BLACK SOCK YARN! I'm absolutely crazy to be attempting this for a Christmas present but I never did claim to be sane.

That's all for now. There are a few more items but I'm going to do a photo shoot tonight and I will try to post those before the weekend. Besides, this catchup post is getting too long already. See up much stuff I get accomplished when I'm not posting.

Happy Birthday Heidi!

2007-10-30T18:16:00.000-03:00

Well, belated birthday that is.

Heidi, the owner and operator of the prestigious London-Wul Farm , had a special birthday this past weekend.

The staff of LW, Sherri and Linda, very smartly threw her a surprise birthday party last Wednesday night at the shop of course!

Wednesday night is the regular knit and spin night so it wasn't much surprise for Heidi to see fellow spinners and knitters arriving. But when her neighbors from down the street showed up the cat was out of the bag.

We all had a wonderful time sharing wine and drinks along with delicious snacks! And of course a birthday cake with just the right number of candles.

Thanks to Heidi for sharing her birthday with all of us, and a special thanks to Sherri and Linda for planning such a well thought out party and inviting us (all behind Heidi's back). Great job girls!

Two topics in One

2007-10-18T19:05:00.000-03:00

First off I just received my second Secret Pal gift. Thanks Pal!

The gloves are hand knit by my pal with Alpaca and the yarn you see there, is Alpaca sock yarn! That's the most amazing thing ever! It's so soft, and it's blended with 20% wool and 10% Nylon so it's strong too. Those white candies are chocolate covered toffee almonds... Yum! This is a terrific package and it arrived just in time for my birthday.

Next, the Maritime Spinners Retreat... WOW was it fun! Line and CJ beat me to the punch and blogged about it already. Check out their posts here and here for a terrific recap of the weekend.

The London-Wul spinners were well represented by Roselyn, Line, CJ, Manon and Dorin. Missing from this photo but close by are also Catherine and Sherri, and of course me taking the picture.

I didn't take that many pictures for some reason (I was too busy spinning and chatting I guess) but you can see all my photos from the retreat here.

I would highly recommend this retreat to anyone interested in spinning, new or old. I'm signing up for next year for sure.

The vendors were great there too and I bought a ton of fiber, from silk to Romney and everything in between. I'll post some pics of them soon.

I'm so Excited

2007-10-11T20:26:00.000-03:00

What a crazy week! Where do I start!

First off last Friday I dyed some Coopworth Fleece I'd bought in Halifax at the Loop in the spring.

It was grey and I wanted a fall colorway so I mixed some dyes to make red, orange and green.

It didn't turn out like I expected but it is a fall colorway and I like it. It's coming with me to the spinning retreat, but I'll get to that in a minute.

Next on Sunday was the Yarn Harvest Sale at London-Wul and Heidi had also invited us out to stay and knit as well. I hadn't been out there for a while to sit and knit because of my Wednesday night classes so I really looked forward to this. I also bought some yarn and fleece, no shock there. Two bags of dyed Polworth (Pumpkin Patch & Little Hearts Ease), 6 balls of Alfosso Lopi for felted clogs and a Fleece Artist Garter Jacket Kit for me! It's in amazing brown and pink tones.

Tuesday was a big day. First I found out I won the Secret Pal 11 Contest 3 that our group leader put on! That was the highlight of my day. Later that night I found out that our sewer backed up and we have roots growing in the pipes in our front lawn. I won't bore you with the gorey details, but let's just say it is gorey!

Wednesday night I presented my individual project in class. Thank goodness that's over with, but it went well all considering what went on the night before at my house with a snake and a plumber.

Now it's Thursday and it's Troy and my 4th year wedding anniversary. We went out for supper at an Italian restaurant called Pastelli's. It was delicious! I had stuffed Marsala chicken with mushroom risotto and creme brule for dessert. YUM!

Now I'm packing to go to the annual Fall Maritime Spinners Retreat which is in Mill River, PEI this year! I'm so very excited as I've been looking forward to this since before I could spin. The knitters and spinners at London-Wul were always mentioning it and it sounds like such a good time. Well it's finally here and I've got my fleece, UFOs, wine, salty and sweet snacks all packed and ready to go. There will be lots of pictures to come next week!

Lots of Knitting going on

2007-10-06T10:08:00.000-03:00

I've been really productive this last week (but my school work is not progressing very fast).

It's time for some show and tell.

First off, here are my finished Sweet Pea socks. Just in time considering the sock eaters around here.

Knit with Fleece artist Merino.

Next up, a slightly felted version of the Foliage Hat from Knitty.

Troy is modelling so I can take the picture. I knit this with Briggs & Little and did not check my gauge first. It was a fun pattern and a quick knit. Turned out a little big on me so I felted it a tad. B&L felts very slowly so it didn't shrink too much but now fits perfectly.

More fingerless mitts

This one is Fetching knit with the yarn I spun after dying it myself. Was supposed to be socks but I didn't have enough yardage.

These ones are from Weekend Knitting and are knit with my handspun alpaca.

And last but not least, I've started another pair of Heat Wave Socks with Regia yarn.

Ok, now back to working on my HR class project... presentation is Wednesday!

Sock eaters

2007-10-02T18:38:00.000-03:00

Last Friday was a bad day for socks at my place.

In the morning I woke up to Clancy chewing on the toe of the socks Deirdre gave me as a secret pal gift. I'm so sorry to show you this Deirdre! I yelled at Clancy from you and from me. He actually went into my closet and got the sock. I'm buying a hamper next week!

Then I went to work... then I came home and took my shoes off.

This is what I found... a big hole, my sneaker had eaten off the heel of my sock! And I don't have any more of this sock yarn :(

Time to get knitting some new fall socks!

Flashing

2007-09-30T18:24:00.000-03:00

For Secret Pal 11, contest number 3 is to Flash Your Stash so here it is:

My stash is all kept in this rack. It was in the shed when we bought the house so I cleaned it up and it became my Yarn Rack. Recently I destashed my stash (there is a big garbage bag sitting in my craft room over flowing with yarn) and I'm giving away the yarn I no longer have a use for to a seniors home. Since I packed this bag up probably over 3 weeks ago I figure it is now no longer part of my stash, I just haven't gotten it out of the house yet.

When I destashed, I put all of the yarn I was keeping into the rack in colors.

Pinks

Greens

Browns & Oranges

Blues

And last but not least, Greys

Before the color system my yarn was categorized by type of yarn and weight of yarn. I like this system better, especially for using left over yarns with other left overs into projects you would never have thought of until you saw the yarns together.

Like this scarf I made yesterday. It's a combo of some fur yarn and ladder yarn worked horizontally.

Next up ...

2007-09-27T18:34:00.000-03:00

... An extremely colorfully pink lizard scarf!

Half way done this quick easy knit. Again, this is my handspun plied using a navajo ply. The fleece is polworth and was dyed at London-Wul Farm.

Tizzie Episode 3: Mixed is Spun

2007-09-20T20:40:00.001-03:00

For those that have not been following the Tizzie episodes you can read back here and here.

All of the Tizzie fleece has now been washed.

The next step was to start really spinning it. The mixed colored (medium grey) was first on the agenda. It was carded first, by hand with dog slickers. Next came the fun part, spinning! I spun all of the fiber into 8 single ply balls and labeled them as I went. They were all very close to 50g so that when I plied them I would not have much waste. I then plied the first with the eighth, the second with the seventh and so on. I did this so that if I had veered off from the ply I wanted it would blend in better to make a more consistent yarn. I have no idea if this really worked but it seemed like a good theory.

Here is all the medium grey fiber spun up into a 2 ply worsted yarn. It is about a worsted weight as well. I have not counted the yardage yet but there is 382g in total of this color.

Back to carding the white fleece now.

Lizard scarf mistake

2007-09-20T20:40:00.000-03:00

If you previously copied the Lizard scarf pattern please go back and get it again. I mistakenly mixed up the rows.

Thanks Kim for letting me know!

My favorite handspun yet

2007-09-17T17:17:00.000-03:00

All time favorite handspun to date is now completed. The fiber was purchased at London-Wul farm and had been hand dyed by Heidi in these amazing colors.

My friend, Line, had purchased the fiber after I pointed out to her how it was a perfect match for her color tastes. And then I said "And I would spin it for you, as long as it's less than 8ounces!". Heidi kindly bagged it for her, providing a little more than 8 ounces but I wasn't supposed to know.

She plans to make this gorgeous shawl. Can you imagine how beautiful that will be? I can't wait. I'm sure she will blog about it so we can all follow along in the progress.

My first SP11 Package has arrived!

2007-09-15T19:33:00.000-03:00

I received a terrific package from my 'Pal' for the Secret Pal 11 exchange. She is from Edmonton and that's my first clue to try to figure out who she is. How many computer savy knitters can there be in Edmonton anyway?

First the yarn: Trekking XXL (love) in subtle shades of beige, pink and browns (love it!). And Tofutsies which is made of soy silk, cotton and chittin, how cool! Two types of stitch markers from Crimson Orchid. Yarn sewing needles, a zipper charm in the shape of a sweater on the needles, row counters and M&Ms. Quite the loot!

Thanks PAL

Lizard scarf

2007-09-12T17:42:00.000-03:00

This is my newest favorite project!

It is made with navajo plied Polworth handspun from fleece I bought at London-Wul. Heidi had dyed it in the best autumn colors.

I found the stitch pattern in Stitchionary I and it worked out perfectly.

**UPDATE - The rows were mixed up but are now corrected**
Here are the instructions:
CO 26 sts on 5.5mm needles (larger than normal)
Row 1 & 2: Knit
Row 3: *K6, YO, K1, YO x 2, K1, YO x 3, K1, YO x 2, K1, YO, repeat from * to last 6 stitches. K6.
Row 4: Knit letting all YO's drop
Row 5 & 6: Knit
Row 7: K1, *YO, K1, YO x 2, K1, YO x 3, K1, YO x 2, K1, YO, K6, repeat from * to last stitch, K1
Row 8: Knit letting all YO's drop

Repeat 8 rows until scarf is desired length. I used the full 4 ozs with just enough left to cast off.

I like this scarf so much I've now bought 2 more bags of fiber to make more for Christmas presents. Better get spinning, but first I'm now off to an Organizational Behavior class.

Secret Pal Contest #2

2007-09-03T10:49:00.000-03:00

I'm involved in the Secret Pal exchange again this fall. They are having contests every once in a while and all you have to do is post the answers to questions. Here are the questions and answers for contest #2:

1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without?

My ball winder and swift. I can't believe I survived without them for so long, but now that I have them I will always need them.

2. If you're heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you? If so, how much and what type of project?
Check out my last two posts. I brought 5 projects and there was a variety of knitting 'types'. There were 2 pairs of socks, one easy and one that you need to follow a chart for. Also an easy to knit scarf. One project that had not been started yet and one vest that is a bigger project.

3. Where have you travelled to that you'd consider your favorite spot?
Southern California was my favorite spot that I've travelled to lately. I love the coast there and the warmth and lack of rain. British Columbia was also great but the weather there just does not match California.

4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? Do you own it?

It's a toss up between Sensational Knitted Socks and Victorian Lace Today. I love them both but for different reasons. I find SKS a great reference book and actually brought it with me on my last trip. VLT has many patterns I'd love to knit but they all take a long time (mostly). It's the type of book you can just sit and enjoy thumbing through the pages and admiring the beautiful pictures.
I own both of these books but I'd love to get More Sensational Knitted Socks to see if it would become my new favorite.

5. Do you listen to podcasts? Which is your favorite(s)?
Yes I do. My favorites are Cast ON, Lime & Violet and Knit Picks Podcast. I often listen to podcasts while spinning.

6. If you could only knit with 1 color for the rest of your life, what color would that be?
Oh, it's so hard to pick just one color! I think I'd have to say green. I love knitting with green and have noticed that since I reorganized my stash in colors that I have a lot of green so I could possibly knit with it for the rest of my life!

7. If you were far into a project and then noticed a mistake near the beginning what would you do?
Depends on the project. There are some that just have gotten put into a bag and set a side for a few months. Typically then once the bruising has gone I will dig it out and frog it. Sometimes I will then start over or I'll just move on and not do that project again. It really depends on how much I wanted it.

8. Where is the most unsual spot you've ever knit?

I've knit on the rocks at Peggy's Cove. I didn't knit long but it was long enough for a photo opp.

Back at it

2007-09-03T10:29:00.000-03:00

I've been back for a week today and have been so busy I didn't even have a chance to blog. My trip to Ottawa was terrific.

Anna and Rob are officially married and here are the cute couple. Check out her shoes... I just love that she wore red shoes. This wedding was very original but keeping with some tradition as well. It was beautiful at an old Mill in Mannotick, ON.

While in Ottawa I visited a couple yarn shops. The first was Wool-Tyme where I picked up a few items. Just a couple balls of sock yarn and a couple really neat (and cheap) sock bags.

I also visited Yarn Forward out in Kanata but didn't purchase anything there.

An update on the items that I brought with me for the car drive:

One Toe up sock completed. It looks very ackward due to the 2x2 ribbing but it fits a man's size 11 pretty well. Not crazy about the heel though. I might try a different heel technique the next time I make toe up socks. By the way, this pattern is from Interweave Summer 2007. They have a great tutorial on toe up socks.

Montego Bay scarf completed

One Sweet Pea sock completed

Half a cable bootie completed and ready to be frogged. Love the pattern and the yarn but half a bootie has taken up half the yarn. There is no way I'll get 2 booties out of this yarn.

Vneck vest has progress. I'm not at the arm holes on the back.

I of course did not get to the 'extra' yarn I brought with me.

All packed up

2007-08-19T17:55:00.000-03:00

My hubby and I are hitting the road at 5am to begin our 12 hour trek to Ottawa. I'm very excited to go back up to Ottawa. It seems it's been too long. We used to live there so still have friends up there. Two of our friends are getting married on Saturday so that's the highlight of the trip.

My knitting is all packed. Clothes are still in the dryer but at least I have my priorities straight.

I'm bringing 5 projects:

Toe up socks

Montego Bay scarf

Sweet Pea socks

Cabled Footies
Vneck Vest

Also threw in an extra ball of sock yarn and some handspun I'm planning to make a scarf with.

I think I'm as excited about the 12 hours of knitting each way as I am about actually getting there.

Better go finish my packing and get to bed. Have great week everyone and hopefully when I get back I'll have a bunch of FOs to show.

Message for My Secret Pal

2007-08-16T22:34:00.001-03:00

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR MY SECRET PAL

The email address I have for you is not working. Can you please email me? I did receive your ecard, thanks!

SP11 Questionaire

2007-08-09T21:49:00.000-03:00

I'm taking the plunge again and joining Secret Pal 11. I skipped Secret Pal 10, but after enjoying SP9 so much I really missed it. For those of you who aren't in SP11, feel free to read ahead or skip this post.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

Love alpaca and of course silk! Wool is always good too. Don't like acrylic.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I use a fantastic case from Lantern moon that was given to me by my pal in SP9. It doesn't work well for travelling though because I house all my needles in it instead of using it for traveling. I could use an on the road needle case of some sort.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I have been knitting since I was 5 years old and that has been 26 years (do the math for my age). I would consider myself advanced but with a ton more to learn!

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Not currently. But I do have favorites in Etsy which are definitely a wish list!

5. What's your favorite scent?

Vanilla

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate with nuts too!

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I love to spin! Just started this year but it's great. I've also just recently tried dying fiber and yarn and really liked that too. I also quilt a bit, make cards and scrapbook (but not lately).

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I live blues, rock and jazz. I don't have a favorite really. I can play MP3s on my phone and computer.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

I like all colors but I'm more attracted to earth tones than floresent colors. I love pink and brown; green is good too. Yellow looks horrible on me, but I don't mind the color itself.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I'm married with 2 dogs. Kozmo, a 10 year old husky/collie mix and Clancy, a 2 year old shepard/collie mix.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

Scarves - yes; hats - not much; mittens - yes; ponchos - no. Shawls - yes.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Socks of course

13. What are you knitting right now?

2 pairs of socks, felted clogs, designing a pattern for a vest, lace Adamas shawl, Montego Bay scarf.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Yes, very much so.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I use them all. They all have a place in my knitting. I tend torwards bamboo over plastic though.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Yes I do, thank goodness.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

4 months. I tend to frog or throw out UFOs if they aren't going to get finished.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Yarn

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

I'm just trying my first toe up sock and I'd also like to learn knitting socks on 2 circulars. Skeeks also intrigue and scare me.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

Yes I knit socks. I take ladies size 8. My foot is 9.5 inches from heel to toe and about 9.5 inches around at the widest place on my foot.

23. When is your birthday?

October 20th... It will fall during this SP exchange!

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?

Yes I am. My ID is byTanya and I love Ravelry.

The Yarn Harlot

2007-08-09T10:15:00.000-03:00

There is no other title to put on this post other than "THE Yarn Harlot"!

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee visited Halifax on Tuesday for a book signing. Luckily, she planned her visit during the week of my vacation so of course I was going to make the trip down (probably work wouldn't have stopped me anyway). It was so very worth it. She is hilarious. For those wondering what her 'talk' is like, think of a stand up comic with the topic of knitting and keeping it mostly clean. That's what it was like. She talked for about 2 hours and then signed everyone's book that wanted it signed. I of course got my book signed too, and as an extra surprise, she asked me to sign the pattern I was giving her! That's a first for me :)

Here is Stephanie signing Line's book.

Here is CJ and I in the ballroom of the Lord Nelson hotel where the event took place.

And these are my friends Manon and Dorin. They left work early to drive down from Moncton and then head back after the event. Dedicated knitting fans!

Stephanie only had a short visit in Halifax so did not get to any of the local yarn shops. I on the other hand made it to 2 of them, one twice!

First there was the Tangled Skein in Dartmouth. If you have not visited this shop I highly recommend making a trip there. The owner is very nice and helpful and I think I could have chatted with her all day long! Plus, there is a great assortmant of yarns in a pleasant and quaint shop.

Next was LK Yarns. This one is in the Hydrostone Market in Halifax. I really like the Hydrostone Market place. The stores are in very old buildings and the shops are very eclectic. We visited them all and had a fantastic lunch at an Italian restaurant there as well (name escapes me now). Lunches are fabulous in Halifax. On Wednesday, I went with CJ and her very gratious Mom to Janes on the Common's . What a sweet spot!

Spinning up candy

2007-08-06T07:38:00.000-03:00

I love spinning fleece, especially fleece that I dyed.

I think I'm in love

Dying for Vacation

2007-07-31T19:01:00.001-03:00

Yesterday I had a vacation day and the only thing I had planned for the day was to get out the dye I bought months ago!

Back in November I received some Knit Picks Bare sock yarn from Tammy for her Blogaversary winning package. I had wanted to try dying so this was the perfect opportunity to get some dye and try it out. I went and bought the dye, a cranberry color, and was all set. Unfortunately my fear of the unknown got the best of me and I was intimidated to attempt the dying of this yarn.

Two weeks ago I received some natural Superwash merino fiber from a fellow spinner friend (Thanks Manon!) and this set me over the edge. It was now time to try dying and my vacation day was the perfect time for it.

I started out with the yarn because I figured the fiber may be more difficult and have a higher risk of felting.

and two colors made up in mason jars. One on the left was 1 tbsp with 1 cup of water and the one of the right is 1/4 tbsp with once cup. They basically looked the same in the jar (keep in mind I only have cranberry dye).

My plan was to pour some of the light on randomly then some of the darker pink randomly. This in my mind was to make a varigated yarn of sorts.

Here is the pink poured on:

Now with the dark poured on:

That is how I wanted it to look but alas, all my planning was for not. They blended together due to either the temperature, acidity or maybe just too much dye. I'm yet to determine which.

All in all, even though the colors bled together, I'm quite pleased with the end result.

Next was the fiber. I split it in half and dyed one half a darker pink and one half a ligher pink. Again, I poured these colors on randomly in the pot.

I thought I'd ruined the fiber and felted it when I removed it from the water.

Luckily, after a spin in the washing machine on the spin cycle, both turned out just fine and are still fluffy. No harm done.

My plan for this fiber is to ply the two colors together after spinning them into singles. I love the blend of the two pinks.

Time to get more colors!

Hot and Steamy

2007-07-27T19:31:00.000-03:00

WOW, It's so hot! I think it got up to 40 degrees celcius today, and I'm in the maritimes, that's just not right.

Never too hot for knitting though. Yesterday at lunch I found myself a park bench and brought out my newest project, the baby shrug from Simply Baby by Debbie Bliss.

I'm knitting it in Rowan Cashsoft DK in Sweet which is just to die for. It is extremely soft but keeps it's shape quite nicely. It was hard to go back to work after this very enjoyable break from the office.

In other news, we held the first annual Line and Tanya Retreat last weekend in Shediac. Thank you to Line for suppling our home away from home (the trailer).

We knit, carded wool, weaved and listened to podcasts all weekend long. It was like paradise. We also made some interesting discoveries. The holder in the foldout chairs is not for cups but for yarn balls! Of course!

Line has offered to make me a wrap on her new Knitter's Loom. We got up bright and early on Saturday morning and warped it. It fit perfectly from table edge to sink edge.

When I got home on Sunday I finally sewed together a secret project I've been working on. It's not really secret, just I haven't spoken of it on my blog at all. I was in Fredericton one weekend and saw this cardigan in the window that I thought was just perfect for those cool air conditioned days at the office. When I saw that it only required 4 balls to complete I was sold. It knit up very quickly and easily. Only tricky part was the edge lace but after a few attempts I managed to get it right. And it fits me (that's a rare occurance when I make sweaters for myself).

Tizzie Episode 2: Getting Started

2007-07-17T15:11:00.000-03:00

Tizzie's fleece is well underway to being prepared for knitting. I've continued with the washing and completed a sink full of each of the colors: mixed, dark, and white.

Here is the white drying.

And here is a basket full of the dark. Believe it or not this is the 'dark' but when dried like this there is a lot of lighter grey in it.

Before continuing with washing the rest of the fleece, I decided to spin up a sample of each of these colors to make sure I had washed to get the best spinning enjoyment I could. Since this was my first time washing fleece I didn't want to take any chances and ruin the WHOLE thing.

Most of the staple lengths are about the length of a pen as seen here. There are few sections that are about half that lenght (not many) and I'm putting those aside and will card them later.

I carded with dog slickers from the dollar store. I only recommend this if you are stubborn like me and don't want to purchase the really nice big cards that would probably make this job so much easier. I do enjoy the carding though, even with the dog slickers. I wouldn't be surprised if I gave in and bought real cards before I've completed this project. It could get tiresome, but for now they have worked well enough.

Here's a sneak peek at the yarn to come...

Raverly here I come!

2007-07-12T18:56:00.000-03:00

I have received a Raverly.com account! It's been a long wait but completely worth it. They have done the best job on this site, right down to the smallest detail.

If you are on Raverly please add me as a friend. My username is byTanya.

One of the projects you will see there is Hughie's Birthday socks. His birthday was last Friday and I only had one sock ready for him (typical of me). And it was half an inch too short as well. Anyway, they are both completed now, and are half an inch longer coming in at 11 inches from heel to toe. I really love this yarn. It is a 50/50 blend of wool and cotton from Lana Grossa called Meilenweit. I can't pronounce that at all but it's made in Italy just like my favorite wine.

Episode 1: Introducing Tizzie

2007-07-05T19:53:00.000-03:00

I have recently purchased my very first Sheep Fleece!

It comes from London Wul farm off a Shetland/Jacob sheep named Tizzie. She is about 5 years old and I'm looking forward to meeting her. Hopefully I'll get a picture of her to go along with her memerable fleece.

This is the fleece in it's entirety. It's 3.5 lbs after it was skirted.

Isn't it just beautiful! I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but it has a carmel color to it, which is what made me pick this particular fleece. There were many beautiful ones to choose from. I had first pick this year because Heidi is so very thoughtful (might have been because I kept harassing her, hehe). This one just called to me.

I decided to try to separate the colors as best I could. I started with taking out all the darkest bits, then all the whitest bits, and bundled up all that was not the darkest or the whitest. I will blend those together to make the main color then I'll have dark grey and beige to use as accents. I'm hoping to make a sweater (someday!).

I'm going to make sample skeins and swatches of each of the colors to see how they spin up and knit up. I started with the mixed bag and picked out the vegetable matter and washed it up in my sink. I dried it on a sweater drying rack after running it through the spin cycle of the washing machine. That worked really great!

Stay tuned for the next episode of Tizzie!

Remember this?

2007-07-05T19:43:00.000-03:00

Remember this?

It's turned into this...

And remember this?

It's turning into this...

Tuscany shawl from the terrific book "No Sheep For You" by Amy Singer. Of course I'm knitting it with a merino/silk blend but I need to have a little sheep. I highly recommend this book for non-wool and wool lovers. It is very educational and it's fun to mix up different fibers in your knitting. I will never be a no sheep kind of gal, but it's nice to have options; and the patterns are terrific!

I'm a mixed breed

2007-06-18T12:22:00.000-03:00

You Are: 60% Dog, 40% Cat

You are a nice blend of cat and dog.
You're playful but not too needy. And you're friendly but careful.
And while you have your moody moments, you're too happy to stay upset for long.

Are You More Cat or Dog?

My favorite is Merino

2007-06-12T19:44:00.000-03:00

Merino is one of my favorite wines, and yarns!

I purchased this 100% Merino roving from CJ Kopec Creations
a few weeks ago and I'm dying to spin it up. It is called 'Broken Hearts' but it goes very well with the bottle of merino wine.

She custom blends the colors to create beautiful blends and this fiber 'ball' is the softest ever. And she has the cutest card attached to the roving.

Me, the Merino roving and a bottle of Merino wine are going to have a date night Friday in my spinning room!

Our first garden

2007-06-12T19:32:00.001-03:00

This will be our 3rd summer in our house and we have finally planted the small garden we had wanted since the first summer.

On Saturday, Troy spent a good chunk of the day 'building' the garden to his very particular specifications.

It is not too big, so we only bought a few plants at the local gardening center. Last night we planted them, and there are more than we thought.

3 types of tomato plants, red peppers, banana peppers, zuccuni, and lots of herbs.

No weeds have started to grow yet and as long as these guys don't move in we should be ok!

Long time no post

2007-05-30T15:54:00.000-03:00

I haven't been posting lately and here's why:

Spinning

Etsy sales - 6 patterns so far

Bathroom Renovation
Sock making (5 one sock syndrome socks)

From left to right:
New Wisteria pattern in Fleece Artist merino (green and brown); Heat Wave Sock in cotton; Monkey sock in Sunshine Yarn; Heat Wave Sock in Trekking.

I miss posting and actually have been thinking of things I want to post about... but when it comes down to choosing to post or actually do the things I want to post about... well you know what wins.

Long weekend of Spinning

2007-05-22T11:07:00.000-03:00

I spent a lot of time this May long weekend spinning away on Juliet. It was raining so there was not a lot else to do (other than house work) but to sit in front of the window with the dogs at my feet and spin away.

First up was the Merino/Silk blend that is addictive to spin. I've already spun some of this and plied it but it turned out to be about 100m so I wanted more. I bought another 1/4 pound back and have now spun half of it.

Next up was to finish spinning the pink and yellow polworth I had spun as a thick and thin single ply with the intentions of knitting a wrap. I have a strong suspicion I will also need more of this, but it spins so fast. No pics of the yarn itself (unfortunately) but here is the project I'm making with it. I'm blending in a ladder yarn to add lenght and sparkle.

Last but not least I spun up some wool in thick and thin single ply for my friend CJ. She had purchased this fiber after taking the drop spindle class but she never got around to spinning it yet. Now it's done and drying in my bathroom. The colors were really fun!

While spinning, I listend to two podcasts: Cast On and Lime & Violet. I had never really listened to Lime & Violet before and they are kind of funny. Both casts mentioned a new site called Ravelry.com. It is a place to log all your knitting supplies, projects, in the queue projects, etc. And you can have friends and chat and share on it. FreckleGirl and her husband started it up and it is still in Beta. They have a waiting list of 4500 already! They hope to have the site fully open by the end of the month. I'm on the waiting list and just can't wait!

Line and I also went on the Fundy Studio Tour. Unfortunately, due to the rain and a few shops being closed, it was more fun last year. It was still an enjoyable afternoon and we found a few new places.

Knit2Together shop is open!

2007-05-12T07:41:00.000-03:00

My friend Line and I have opened our online shop under the name Knit2Together Designs. We chose Etsy.com as the venue and you can go directly to our shop at Knit2Together.Etsy.com.

So far only my Heat Waves pattern and one of her scarves are up there. We have some other dressy scarves and stitch markers waiting in the wings to post as well.

Within 2 hours of posting the pattern I had sold one to a lady in NY state! That was exciting! I am still waiting on payment and once I know that everything is working properly then I will post more items.

There are over 50,000 shops on etsy! Can you imagine?! There are a lot of crafters out there, and a lot of them are online. What a great time for expanding the art of hand made items!

Drop Spinning Tutorial

2007-05-02T22:30:00.000-03:00

This post is dedicated to Heidi as she was my drop spinning teacher and held a very informative class at London-Wul Farm. I highly recommend learning to drop spin with someone familiar with the skill because it will be much more enjoyable and easier to pick up.

When I got home after my class I continued spinning and filled the spindle. I was a little unsure the first time what I was then to do with this spun yarn. Here are the steps that I discovered:

First start with a peaceful room

Then add fiber

Once the Spindle is full, make a center pull ball with a ball winder perferably

Now it's time to ply. Simply take the center pull from the ball along with the outside piece of yarn from the ball and tie them to the spindle. Then just spin them together but make sure to spin the spindle in the opposite direction from the one you used when spinning the yarn originally.

The single plies will be all twisty, but plying them should balance the twists out.

The spindle became very full and hard to work with, but I made it fit.

Next make a skein using a Niddy Noddy. I didn't get a picture because the yarn started to fall off the Niddy Noddy because it was a little full so you will have to use your imagination. If you don't have a niddy noddy I believe you can use a hanger as well.

Don't forget to tie the skein together in 2-4 places before removing from the niddy noddy.

Give your skein a bath.

Really it's just a soak. I used Eculan so I didn't have to rinse the yarn but you can also use another mild soap but make sure to rinse it in that case.

Hang to dry with a weight to help the spin and ply settle.

I just used a shower gel as the weight because of the hanger on the end of the bottle but you can find various items around the house that will work. You just want something to straighten the yarn as it dries to help settle the plies. (Please ignore my hideous wall paper, bathroom is under renovation as we speak)

Ta Da!

2 ply yarn ready for knitting, or just to admire in your stash!

50th Military Anniversary Scrapbook

2007-04-30T18:51:00.000-03:00

This is a change from the ordinary knitting posts. Two years ago I made a scrapbook for my Dad to celebrate his military career. I'm very proud of this keepsake and while in Fredericton last weekend (at Dad's) I took photos of all the pages for my records. Here is a taste of what the book is like. The rest can be found on my Flickr site.

My new arrival

2007-04-27T07:28:00.000-03:00

I would like to introduce you to Juliet, my new Ashford Single Drive Traveller spinning wheel.

She has a castle wheel type which makes her semi portable and can spin almost anything. I purchased her on Tuesday at London-Wul and as of last night I had spun a 1/4 lb bag of blue/green polworth and I plied a spindle full of it as well. Pics to come soon of the skein, but trust me, it's a beautiful thing.