autumn frost 2

Pattern: Autumn Frost Socks by Susi Ferguson
Yarn: St. Denis Boreale in 'Chalk Blue', 'Fjord', 'Black' and 'White'

I started these almost a year ago and got one done before other things took over and they were put down. I want to finish off as many WIPs as possible this year, so two nights ago I grabbed this bag and knocked out the second sock. It's a highly entertaining pattern (I've made them once before about 2 years ago, for my Mom), written by Susi who designs amazing stranded things of all shapes.

This is one of my favourite yarns of all time, and it's very sad that it's discontinued. If you ever get your hands on some I highly recommend it for colourwork, especially.

I've felt really unmotivated about blogging, dyeing, spinning, knitting etc. lately. I suspect it may be this unending winter and the constant flow of low grade flus/colds going around my house. I'm not sure. I hope spring weather and regular running will bring back my mojo and focus. In the meantime, knit on!

oatmeal for wearing

Pattern: Burrard by Glenna C
Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in 'Dove Heather'

This cardigan by Glenna is in the same issue of Twist Collective as my Whirlpool vest, and I've wanted to make it ever since it was released. In the middle of winter you sometimes need something cabley and comforting to knit and this was perfect. It made me think of oatmeal because of its colour, its warmth and how satisfyingly perfect it was for February.

I love the undulating motif and the shawl collar. This no-nonsense yarn is so perfect for it, too. Like humble oatmeal it does the job well without fuss or bravado. Nice, crisp cable work and lots of warmth. Same Japanese buttons I used on my Hello Winter sweater, from Kirsten's shop.

Pattern: Branchy by Odessa Reichel
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca colour #6206 (held double to get bulky weight)

Another grey thing: I made this hat last week because the green version I'd made in the fall mysteriously disappeared shortly thereafter, much to my dismay. The alpaca in this version softens the cable slightly but provides lots of extra warmth and coziness. Odessa makes fab patterns.

The excuse to knit things like this is what I love about winter.

more monkeys

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.

Yarn: Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! in 'Adonis Butterfly' (discontinued, but you can still get Bugga! from Cephalopod Yarns and The Verdant Gryphon). 

I've made this pattern once before, and it's fast and fun, so when I needed a birthday gift for a friend last week I grabbed this yarn and got to work. They're lovely, soft and teal, so I couldn't go wrong. I also realized that I've made many many socks in the past few years and only 1 pair for myself, so I may need to remedy that soon.

I also thought I'd mention that I added instructions to my Shadow pattern so you can avoid the scary steek, as I know they're intimidating for many people. It had started its life as a shaping prototype for a stranded cardigan idea (hence the steek) which I never followed up on...then several people asked me for a pattern so I just wrote it as I'd knit it. But I've been meaning to add extra instructions for awhile so now they're in there.

Hope your weekend's going well!

autumn mist

This is another pattern I test knit recently: it's the Mountain Mist sweater found here, by Susi Ferguson (her blog is here). Susi is another person I'm so happy to know and I love her designs. I used Wollmeise Merino Superwash and 80/20 Twin for the main colours and Renaissance Dyeing Blue Faced Leicester for the secondary colours.

Although it's stranded, the combination of fingering weight superwash wools makes it drapey and light. I made the sleeves 3/4 length as I think I'll mostly wear it in the spring and summer.

It's been so busy around here lately I haven't been able to get more photos of it finished (the one above, taken on a -35c day happened just before the camera battery died), but here are some in progess shots.

This wasn't a fast knit, but certainly fun. I think I'll wear this one a lot.

hello winter

A little while ago I was so thrilled when I saw Connie had written up the sweater that had haunted my dreams since she knit it last winter. She agreed to let me join her testknit, and it was such a fun experience. 

 

The yarn is Knitpicks Swish worsted in 'Amethyst Heather'. It's super soft and lovely to work with.

The Japanese buttons are from Kirsten's shop here. I've had them for awhile, waiting for a good application. I love them on this.

Gorgeous cables all over the place never let it get boring. I love how they're balanced on the piece so perfectly. An idea for a sweater so much like this had been tumbling around in my head for ages, so it was almost creepy when I saw Connie's. Also, thrilling that she had already forged the path. I've worn this many times already this week since it's been so cold. Perfect sweater!

Note: my girl took the photos and she has had a thing lately for dramatic angles - I wasn't actually leaning.

busy knitters

Thanks so much for all of your comments letting me know what you're up to. The cold weather makes me want to do nothing but curl up and knit, so it's nice to see I'm not alone in this pursuit. And thanks for stopping by my oft-neglected little blog. I really love having you here.

So, the winner of the giveaway is Craftivore! Hopefully some new yarn will cheer you up after your project disaster.

Happy knitting!

blogiversary 4.0

Things have been busy lately. And half my energy is going towards just keeping warm in these frigid temperatures. But I will have knitting to show soon. In the meantime, I realized it's my blogiversary next Tuesday, so I thought I'd do a wee giveaway. Leave a comment telling me what you're knitting, or spinning, or thinking about in general. I'll pick one randomly next week on the 29th and that person can pick an item of their choice from my shop.

Stay warm!