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.

Not Much Knitting

This is supposed to be a knitting blog.

Are you surprised? I wouldn't be surprised if you were since there has been very little knitting shown on here lately. I seem to be knitting and knitting and knitting but I don't seem to ever have anything to show.

I am in the great hole of knitting! Help me!!

To help myself out a bit I decided to knit a pair of mitts from Mission Falls Smittens. They are a quick knit since Mission Falls is Worsted Weight Wool. I am almost finished the second mitt so I will have them modelled for you soon. I am doing the pattern Dizzy but of course I have chosen my own colourway and I am flipping the colours on the other mitt.

So the top will be orange and the bottom will be blue. Mission Falls is fabulous superwash wool and I am enjoying knitting with it. I may be doing more in between diving into the knitting pit of no results.

And since that is all I have to show you I would like to show you my sister's scarf. All she has to do is add the fringe and she is done. It is from a book I have in the shop but I can't remember which one I will post it as soon as I find out.

It is so soft! Knit with 3 yarns together. The 3 yarns are Mission Falls 1824 Cotton, Collinette Silk and Collinette Mohair.

Yum!

I just love this close up! Doesn't it look luscious! OOh....I want to touch it now. I guess I will just have to make one for myself


....sometime....I feel the pull of the pit! No! I will not go into it until the second mitt is finished and I have taken dozens of stylish photos!

Off to the beach on Georgian Bay tomorrow. Heat wave escape for sure. Will I knit?
You will have to wait and see!

A Big Thanks!

Today a new customer to Kniterary told me that she found out about the store by a local (to me) blogger who thought very highly of my store and chose to write about it on her (his) blog.

I want to thank who ever that was!! I want to thank anyone else who has sent people my way too!!

Summer at Kniterary is going smoothly and if this is the slow season for knitting I am very excited to get to the busy season!

Fall yarns will be arriving starting in mid-August so keep checking the web site!

I am almost finished planning fall classes as well. So keep an eye open for them too!

Again, thank you so much for spreading the word!!

My Haliburton Creativity

After finishing the last post the computer hard drive decided it was time to leave this world. Finally, after a quick burial and replacement, I was able to download the few pictures that I took in my Haliburton class Knitting - Inspiration and Beyond with Fiona Ellis.

The Haliburton School of Art is affiliated with Fleming College in Haliburton Village. The campus itself is amazing. The class I took was not located at the main campus but during the Thursday evening walk about I got over to visit it. It is full of light and great studios for printing, jewellery and glass blowing and more.

I was at the high school and luckily the class was in the air conditioned portion of the school. My daughter was in a non-air conditioned portion and it was very warm.

The week was very full of inspiration and information. It was exactly what I was wanting. It covered creativity, surface design development, swatching and guidance in developing the surface design into a finished item.

One of the first things we did on Monday morning was head outside with our sketch pads to look at trees etc... From what we saw we were to choose something that inspired us and make a quick sketch for reference. Since I have been looking at trees and seeing cables for the past three (or so) years that is what I did. The original sketch is on the page in the middle of the below picture.


From that sketch I blocked out 1 area I wanted to develop and went from there. It grew into a graph which I swatched in the yellow yarn then in the white yarn as a sweater idea. With Fiona's help I was able to keep the process moving forward so that I actually ended the week with game plans for 3 garments in different weight yarns and with different mutations.

Fiona and student.
Fiona is wearing a beautiful silk shawl that she knit.

As I write about the week I am realizing that there doesn't seem to be much to impart. Believe me that my brain was near to exploding with info and development ideas at the end of the week. Writing my own patterns has always interested me and now I feel as if I will be able to move forward in that direction more easily.

Right now I have all my sketches and swatches put up around me in me store office. I just purchased some Debbie Bliss Donegal Aran Tweed in colour 04 to do the sweater swatch in once again.

Now the trick is to be able to be inspired while living life instead of the rarefied environment of the Haliburton School of Art.
Thank goodness Fiona also gave us tips on sparking creativity! I am going to need them!

The Memorable Camping Experience

When I last posted I was off to enjoy a week of camping and knitting in Haliburton.

The knitting with Fiona Ellis was inspiring, invigorating and extremely enjoyable.

The camping in Haliburton was... memorable....to say the least.

I will tell you about the workshop and the incredible Fiona next time.
This time...camping....
On Sunday we arrived at our camp ground in good spirits and with great plans.

We were informed that a black bear had been visiting the camp site in the evenings and if we observed the bear etiquette (do not corner it and do not get between a mother and its cub) we should be OK. Bears are shy of humans and will not attack if not put in a position to defend themselves.

Then I asked why there was a great big hole in the ground beside the main office. I was told that this was the last year they would be operating as a campground and that construction on the model for the cottages that would be for sale next year was under way.

I says to myself..." OK...Bears and construction....We can deal with this."




So on we go to our assigned campsite to pitch the tents. Jim to pitch the two sleeping tent and the children and I to pitch the Kitchen tent. Things went well for us for about 20 minutes. Then while pounding in the Kitchen tent stakes Patrick hits a water line. Water starts gushing up from the ground like oil flooding our campsite. The problem was reported and fixed within a half and hour. Whew. We finish setting up, have a bit of play time and supper. Ah the good outdoors life!





Once darkness started to fall we lit a camp fire and got out our marshmallows to roast.

And settled in for a relaxing evening. (The knitting project bag there on my chair is all you will see of knitting in this post.)

The children had eaten a good half a dozen marshmallows when we heard a fellow camper yell, "BEAR". We turned around and there it was lumbering across the open game field. Probably about 4 feet high on all fours. We picked up the bag of marshmallows and high tailed it to the kitchen tent, realized that having marshmallows was not a good thing so Jim ran and locked it in the car while the bear was across the camp ground.

After standing in the kitchen tent for about a half hour watching this bear amble around we decided that we would forgo our nightly ablutions and rushed into our sleeping tents to tremble unseen by the bear.

Then the Thunderstorms started. Loud, Loud, Loud thunder and blinding lightning and a bear wandering around. Compounded with one leaking tent. Sleep? Not much.

Day one.... Water, bear and thunderstorms.

Day two...Construction, early to bed before the bear arrived,rain.

Day three....Bear wanderings, I get stung by a wasp two times while on a late night bathroom visit so lie awake afraid I am going to swell up like a balloon or stop breathing or be eaten by bear.

Day four...Construction, early to bed again before the bear,Thunder storm (with a tornado watch in effect)
We find out on this day that the resort that is right next door to our campground has three garbage dumpsters that never get closed . Up to eight bears visit them nightly. We also find out that some idiot in our campground did not dispose of his food correctly so the visiting bear has had a feast of steak and corn and cookies and strawberries. The bear is sure to keep coming back.

Day five....We awake to find damage done to our kitchen tent by the bear. We left a bar of soap in the tent he smelled it and investigated. After Rhea and I go off to our day of fun and learning Jim finds claw marks on the top of the tent as well. Yes, standing up the bear is about 8 feet tall.


Jim is a practical man and had had enough. He booked us into a motel for our last evening in the area. The only room left was a room with a hot tub right beside the heated pool. We cleared out our stuff but left the tents standing for the night. We spent the night relaxing and learning to laugh about the tense last four nights.

Ahh Beds.

Day five...Jim and Patrick went to break camp while Rhea and I went off to our last day of fun and found a further damaged kitchen tent.
We will have to throw it out.
Thank the gods we were not there.

To summarize: Construction, broken water pipe, bears,wasp stings, thunderstorms, tornado watch, tent damage.

We took a vote...no more camping for us.

Stealth Bomber Moth

This moth took up residence in the men's washroom one day at the camp ground.

Mary Maxim at the Museum!

.

On our last day in Winnipeg we visited the Manitoba Museum and I finally got some knitting content! They have one display on Mary Maxim in the Manitoba crafts section. She started her yarn company in Sifton Manitoba. That is all I can find out about the history of Mary Maxim. I remember that her catalogues regularily came to our house when I was a child and I would scrutinize them from cover to cover. The sweater jackes seen hanging in the display are the main type of pattern associated with Mary Maxim.

Patrick The Graduate

Back on June 21st Patrick made the leap out of primalry school! Next year grade 9 and High School! He got his first suit and dress shoes and looked very handsome indeed.

Pat with his Grade 8 diploma!

Last year Rhea was taller than Patrick. He had a year of growth spurts along with his growing maturity and deepening voice. My babes are becoming adults. I am so proud!

Ok, someone tell me when he got taller than me! I knew he was taller than Rhea but I am the Mommy!! I am supposed to be taller! This will probably be the last dance I have with my son until he gets married. Sigh,

Congratulations Patrick!

Winnipeg Assiniboine Park

We were off to Winnipeg on June 28th and took time to visit Assiniboine Park on the 29th. I took quite a few pictures of the flowers and sculpture by Leo Moll.

Here are 2 pictures of the many. Next post I will show you more. The garden is a beautiful part of the park.

Water Lily



Close up of an Alum flower.

Holidaze!

The family is off to Winnipeg for a few days!

Kniterary will be closed until July 4th. It will reopen for the 5th, 6th and 7th and then I am off to knitting school for a week!

Have a good Canada Day weekend every one!

Tie a Rose On

I finally finished my sock yarn tie. I used a Knitty pattern and then adapted it to make a point at either end. It is a very easy knit but I stuggled to get through it because the tie needs to be 56" long.



Why did I do this? I was trying to find another use for sock yarn.
Would I do it again? Not a project for me.
Would I encourage others to do it? At least once.
Did I like how it turned out? Yes, but only for a winter tie. It would keep the neck a little toasty.


I did iron on some fusible knit interfacing on the wrong side of the points to stop them from curling. It seems to work.

Once the long and boring knit was over I did a quick mini sock. It is fun, quick and cute. Unless you have house elves completely useless. Of course if you leave some lying around in piles maybe it would attract house elves. Here's hoping!



I was in the backyard with Kessie this morning and couldn't resist taking a shot of my roses to share with you.
Today is the longest day of the year! Happy Summer!


At Kniterary, I have brought in Stork Yarn for summer baby knitting. 100% cotton and so soft. I have four colours so far and a few more on their way soon.



Well, I am off to the doctor's to have my yearly physical. Other than my weight issue I am assuming I am healthy. Fingers crossed.

A meme from Purl this!

What have you knit?

Bold for stuff you’ve done/are doing, Italics for stuff you intend to do one day, Normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord/I-cord edging
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with yarn made of camel, yak, alpaca, synthetic, sheep's wool, recycled, vintage, silk, soy, bamboo, banana, plastic bags, cut up fabric, cashmere, hemp, linen, wire, cotton
Mittens cuff up
Mittens fingers down
Hat
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Slip stitch patterns
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
American/English knitting (vs. continental)
Knitting to make money
Knitting for a living
Button holes
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Darning
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rugs
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public
Knit a vintage pattern (over 40 yrs old)
Crochet
Cross stitch/Embroidery/Needlepoint
Sew-like on a machine

My backyard

Hostas et al.

Explorer Roses


I do love my back yard! Especially at this time of year.