Trigger!

He is finally done!!! The poncho named Trigger (who wanted to be a horse).

Trigger is riding off without Betty but he will meet Betty today. I still haven't blocked Trigger so into the shop he goes to get his training. I think I will let him pasture at the shop while I finish Betty and then I will let them go out for a ride.

I am not sure how I am going to display Trigger. I would love to have a Judy right now (not you Judy but a dressmaker Judy)



When it gets cool enough it will be a fabulous garmet to quickly toss on.

Material: Rowan Summer Tweed (silk/cotton)
9 - 50 gr balls (could have used a 10th) (shade:525)
Comments: It took me a year to knit mostly because I kept getting sidetracked by other
projects. I also did not enjoy the feel of this yarn. It has that kind of sticky
squeaky feel that silk can have. If I wanted the same look for another garment I
would look around for an alternate. I like the way it looks and hangs. I could have
used a 10th ball because the collar was supposed to be 20cm. I got it to 15 cms and
then edged in a similar colour Svale (Dalegarn colour:5403).

It feels good to get one of my long drawn out projects completed. Now on to the others.

Betty and Trigger

This is the story of Betty and Trigger. You may think that they are a girl and her pony.

But. They are not.

Betty is the cardigan that I am working on in the shop for a client. The back is nearly done. It looks like a big beige blob.


When you get close to the big beige blob you can see there are colours like blue, rust and green flecked through it. The yarn is Gedifra English Tweed cashmere, angora and wool.
MMM...soft.
And discontinued. (sorry) (There are 2 other colours in stock and when they are gone that's it!) .

.The big beige blob Betty is taking an amazingly long time to knit because
(1) row 1:make 2 stitches in each stitch; row 2 :K2tog. P2tog.
(2) 5 minutes a row (see above)
(3) my left pointer finger keeps wanting to push the needle back through the stitches and keeps getting sore - I take many breaks
(4) 5 minutes a row
(5) sometimes I have trouble motivating myself to do it (procrastination?)

It will look stunning when it is done.


Trigger is a Rowan Summer Tweed Poncho. I got the yarn last summer when I was working at another knitting store and getting paid in yarn. I started it last summer. Will I finish it this summer?

It now looks like 2 large mauve triangular blobs. Until recently it was only one triangle.

It is taking me a long time to knit because
(1) I have procrastinated
(2)I found other things to knit
(3) I purchased a knitting store 6 months ago
(4) I have procrastinated


See that little ball of yarn sitting at the bottom of the picture? That is all that I have left. I still need to seam up the poncho and make the fold over turtle neck. I don't think that I am going to have enough. I wonder if the other (or any other) knitting store has just one more skein I can buy? 'Cause if they don't I will have to buy a whole bag of it.

Trigger gets a close up just because Betty got one. One has be fair.


So far Betty and Trigger have never met. They exist in two separate parts of my life. Once they are done I think that I should have Betty ride off into the sunset on Trigger singing "Happy Trails to you"

Hi Ho Silver!

Knitery Knews

I have decided that it is time to separate my shop talk from my personal talk.

So I have started a new blog at http://www.kniteraryknews.blogspot.com/ .

If you want news about Kniterary you can pop on over there. I put a link on my side bar. Stay tuned her for more personal type posts.

The dog on my left shoulder is really slowing down the keying process. Kessie seems to feel that it is her rightful spot when I sit here.
Sigh.

Felted Bowls

Felted Bowls
Originally uploaded by martianknit.

Take Us Out To The Ball Game!

Last night we boarded the GO Train and headed into Toronto for the Stitch N' Pitch at the Roger's Centre. (Or, as I still think of it, The Sky Dome)

It was loads of fun!

Can you tell how much fun we were having?

Wake up Rhea!

We were joined by hundred's of other knitters. Look at them all!


Just a note to wave starters.....It is extremely hard to raise your hands and do the wave when one is knitting. Despite that I thought we did really well the couple of times the wave went around the dome.


Although there were those who were very concentrated on their work.
Hi Elaine!


Guess who else was there with her family.....
Yup...
The Yarn Harlot in real life!! She was gracious enough to allow me to interrupt her for a picture. Thanks loads Stephanie!


I actually managed to mumble a few words to her. If there had been room I would have bowed down at her feet.
Come on out to Whitby Stephanie and I will!

I can think of no better way to pass the time at a ball game. I can't wait until next year!

Weekend on the Thames River

In Ontario that is.

The family and I went to a beautiful weekend wedding that took place on a property on Thames River just outside of Chatham Ontario. The setting was beautiful. The day was perfect. The sunset spectacular.

I worked really hard and got my silk dress completed on time! All altered and adapted with help from my good friend Louise. I even found a shawl that went perfectly with it. Thanks to my sister Jae. I received the shawl as a gift from her several years ago. Do you think she knows the colours I like?

Dress with Shawl

It fit me well. I felt really comfortable in it. I danced all night in it. (sorry, no pics of that)


The official family picture at the wedding. Don't I have great looking kids? Look, Patrick is almost taller than his Dad!


The trip to Chatham was an extremely long one! A trip that would normally take 3 to 4 hours took 7 hours. The 401 highway was almost completely blocked for over 30 kms. We were moving 1 KM every 40 minutes. When we finally reached the end of the back up nothing was left but the charred remains of what seemed to be a motor vehicle. Sad.

I was knitting a bowl to be felted. Got it done and off the needles and realized that it was a very flat bowl. RIPP! In the frog pond! I did start again and I did get it knit up but haven't had a chance to take a picture yet. Tomorrow.

Just in at the store.......

Thrummed mitten kits.

Baby and Adult sizes.

6:40 AM And All Alone

Yes that is the time as I start this update. 6:40 and I have already been up for 40 minutes. I used to be able to sleep in. Now I am up early every morning. Without fail.

Is this what happens as you get older or am I just weird?

The shop doesn't open until 10:30 AM today so I could sleep until 9 AM and still get there to open up.

I actually like this early morning calmness. No one to interrupt my thoughts except the dog. No need to be "mother" or "wife". Although these roles are ones I choose to be. ( and enjoy) But it is good to just be the me inside my head.

This is heading somewhere too complex to try to put into words.

I'm not going to try today. If I ever do figure out how to explain the need for solitude I'll let you know. I just know I need alone time just about as much as I need together time. If I don't get it I get a little hinky.

Hinky. I like that word. I am not sure exactly what it means. I am going to look it up. I'll be back.

Hink·y [ híngkee ] (comparative hink·i·er, superlative hink·i·est)
adjective U.S.
Definition:
1. not stable: unstable or subject to sudden change

2. strange: unusual in a way that is hard to describe

Yep. That explains how I get. I love it when I can use a word that I am not sure of the exact meaning in the right fashion. (Huh? Did you understand that?)

Anyhow, I get hinky. I think I scare people when I get like that.

Do you all remember way back on May 23rd when Jim got lost in the woods? (If you don't head on back to the May 2007 archives and see "Whew. Jim is tired. " (I can't figure out how to link it.)

Well, yesterday Jim got this in the mail.

Some kind soul went out of her way to track this map down and make sure that he had a copy. Next time he gets lost there he'll have a map to let him know where he is lost. Oh ya, I totally trust his sense of direction. HA!

Some people have been sharing their sketch books lately. Here is a copy of two of my pages. I photocpied them and have them upon the wall beside my desk at the store for inspiration. The bottom sketch is one I did at Haliburton to develop my cable pattern from.

The top is one I did after a walk. I was noticing the layers of vegetation along the side of the road. From dense to wispy. As I was sketching it came out looking like a cuff detail. I'll knit it one day.

See the ogee shape on the page? Brown with white inside? That is my interpretation of a deer bounding through the forest. I startled it on the same walk. I heard the bounding and strength of movement near by and as it escaped into the trees all I noticed was that tail raised high in warning. Now that was a moment of purely joyful alone time.

And now...for a bit of knit.

I finally got a washing machine at the store! And this is my first felted bag from it! The machine works great!

Now it is 7:20 AM. It is time to have a coffee.

Have a good day everyone!

Blogger Ate My Melancholy!

I had a wonderfully melancholy post all ready to post.

I really did.

Blogger ate it.

And now I am really not melancholy any more!

So I hope it was good going down.

In its place

One leprechaun sock.

The New Mission Falls shipment!

Books

and

Wool 1824 Tricolour

Can't wait to knit with it!

A sample of The Sweet Sheep sock yarn.

I should be seeing the new colours any day!

I did have a bit of a melancholy day. Writing did help it go away. Journaling does help. Creative blocks will break open!

And now to dance!

Gray's

Hmmmm...

Jim brought this book home for me.

The pictures are good but what happened to Meredith and George?

I'm so confused.....

On The Beach

Monday at Georgian Bay was the absolute best way to spend a day of heatwave.

I met up with my closest friend, a long lost friend and made a new friend while my daughter spent time with her best friend.

A day of friendship. It is always so envigorating.

I finished up my Mission Falls Mitts.



Mitts at the beach.

I started another pair but quite honestly knitting was low on the agenda with all the swimming, talking and laughing. As soon as I got back to the shop I ripped them out and started a different style of mitt.

We were on the beach from 11:30 AM to 7 Pm. Yes I got a bit sunburnt. Not much though because I did remember to reapply my sunblock often.

We had supper on the deck overlooking the bay.

Then we watched the most stunning sunset while floating in the water. I had never watched a sunset at the level of the horizon in the water. The colours that kissed the top of the water were stunning. Mauves mixed with azure blues. Peachy orange with midnight blues. And more.

Once we were out I remembered to grab my camera and take a picture.

Just the last remains of colour over the water.



Then we headed home. Tired and happy.