I Can Knit for Miles and Miles

The prospect of a 9 hour road trip may seem daunting to some people but those of us who knit often look forward to these situations with glee. All of that time on the wide open highway, zooming along with nothing to do but book some major time with your front-burner projects. At least this seemed to be the plan for my recent family trip to Quebec to visit my mother in law. Highway 401 is the only main route connecting the Toronto area to Eastern Canada - specifically Montreal. Our plan was simple: rise early (4:00 am), make it through Toronto by 6:00 am and through Montreal just after lunch arriving in the mid afternoon. The evening before my husband said to me "I have a bad feeling about this trip". He didn't have any feelings of danger, just something wasn't right. Our first set-back occurred when the alarm clock failed to go off and we awoke at 5:00 am. OK, no biggie - we're an hour behind. As we entered Toronto, the news announced that the 401 was "closed from Belleville to Napanea due to a protest". This little glitch forced us onto a two lane highway for the next 3 hours along with about 5,000 of our nearest and dearest friends all fighting their way around the blockade as well. Bumper to bumper, stop and go traffic doesn't bode well for knitting so it wasn't until we got back on track that I actually had a chance to embrace the needles. After landing in Montreal at 3:30 pm (on a Friday afternoon of a long weekend) we staggered into my MIL's house 5 hours late. Here is my MIL with Butch and Sundance and moi.

I took about 50 projects with me which was a good move because at one point or another each one of them pissed me off enough to warrant a time out. Having plan B and C and D and F allowed me to move onto something else. Without further ado, here are my vacation knitting projects and their current state of completion.

I wanted to take Maritime with me since the stockinette, two-colour pattern is perfect for travel knitting but I'll be damned if I can find the rest of the yarn! I've clearly tucked it somewhere but heaven knows where. This really frosted my cookies and I vow tonight to find the rest of that yarn. Send a search party if I don't come back from the yarn closet.

The third Rockin Sock club shipment has arrived and I'm still on the first pattern (Inside Out in shade Monsoon). I'm not a seasoned sock knitter so, things take a bit longer for me. I was so pleased when I turned the heel and started on the leg portion...until I got to the cables. I ripped this baby back about 3 times. The 5 x 5 cross cables are a bit too meaty in my opinion for a sock. I'm not sure how it'll feel on the leg. I'll make these according to the pattern but I'm not totally sold on it yet.

I had a few glitches with the Bonsai tunic. The pattern tells you to decrease for the v-neck every 4 rows a prescribed number of times and then every fourth row one last time or not depending on the size. From there it's every 6 rows. My size dictated that the last 4th row decrease be ignored and from there decrease every 6 rows. What they meant was, pretend you did a decrease but don't... do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. Then, do 6 rows and decrease again (10 rows total). What I read was, dig in to the 6th row decreases after the last completed 4th row decrease. This meant I was running out of side stitches faster than I should have as I did the binding off for the arm hole. After a few hours of scratching my head and looking at the photos in IK (which are quite detailed for this pattern), the light bulb went on. I'm back in the game and even managed to work on the I-cord belt on the trip home. Some knitters who've made Bonsai have left the belt off but I love how it looks.

The Roundabout Leaf Tank is also the perfect low-maintenance traveling project. I got a bit done on this and I'm onto the third front strip after which I begin to decrease. Roundabout and I are still fast friends having had no arguments this trip.

I've also joined the Mystery Stole Knit Along. This is an on line group run by the author of the Pink lemon twist blog. She designs a shawl and posts clues once per week which direct participants to the next piece of the pattern. You don't get to see the finished product until you or someone else has completed the shawl. I love the unknown aspect of this knit along. I find it more exciting to be led with an element of surprise and it doesn't concern me at all that the end product won't be beautiful. This designer turns out great stuff and in my opinion if it's a shawl and lace, it's pretty hard to really screw up so I'm sure I'll love it. The suggested colours are black or white. I'm using black Zephyr silk and wool with #8 beads that are smoky grey with flecks of copper and gold.

I'll leave you with this picture. My MIL is also a knitter. A very different kind of knitter. Her projects are small and very functional. Her claim to fame are these two tone slippers. She churns them out and has an inventory to give to people to wear when they visit, protecting her hard wood floors that gleam. She let us take these with us when we go home. In true Quebec fashion, they are brightly coloured but boy do they wear like iron.

So in the end, I did get some quality time with my projects but it is good to be home. Now, where the hell did I put that Rowan 4 ply cotton for Maritime......

An Apple a Day

Every now and then we knitters assemble the materials to make a "dream project". These are the kits that are so stunningly beautiful that you feel sorry for all of the non-knitters in the world because they don't know what they're missing. Today was one of those days for me...my Bohus Wild Apple pullover kit arrived by post.

Now I'm the first to admit that I was late to the Bohus party. My knitting friends were rabbiting on about grey mist this and forest darkness that and I looked at the websites and for the life of me couldn't see what the fuss was about. Then last fall at Rhinebeck, one of my buddies brought her Bohus kits so we could see the yarn and the colours. The light went on. I finally got it. While Bohus kits don't have the "over the top" colour imprint that a Kaffe Fassett or Starmore design does - they do shine in a very regal way. These designs typically display a large collar of colourwork set against a solid background. The eye goes directly to the yoke and it sparkles like a beautiful necklace. The effect is aided by the fact that the yarns in this particular kit are a decadent blend of 50% angora and 50% merino. The colours don't pop - they glow through the angora haze.

Wild Apple called to me from the start because it uses all my "A team" colours: Moss green, chartreuse, gold, copper, clover and teal. It's a similar colour story to Rheingold which I'm currently knitting. This however is much richer and brighter at the same time.

I don't know much about the history of the Bohus sweaters. I know they originate in Sweden and were a cottage industry from the late thirties to the late sixties. The book Poems of Color details the exact history of these designs. There is a lovely summary here detailing how in 1999 the idea to make these couture designs available for a new generation of knitters was born. Solveig Gustafsson is a master dyer who is lovingly re-creating these works of art by matching the colours of the original sweaters and dyeing them herself. I emailed her in February about Wild Apple and was told it would be a few months so this has been in the works for a while.

Wild Apple has about 14 colours and the kit included a colour chart complete with snippets of the yarns on a colour key to help identify the proper shades. It's done on very tiny needles (2.5mm I believe) with a gauge of about 34 stitches per 10cm. If this project were an exam question it would be a 3 page essay but it's one of those special sweaters so, it will be savoured and lovingly knit when I start my cold weather projects this fall.

What wine did I open to celebrate the arrival of la belle pomme? Thirty Bench Chardonnay. It's elegant, very rare, beautiful and has a hint of caramel apple on the palate.

Bamboozled


I'm bamboo-obsessed. I don't know why but all of a sudden I want to knit it and spin it all of the time. I've even been researching how to dye it. I'm also intrigued by this chitin (pronounced Kite-in) that's been added to Southwest Trading Company's sock yarn Tofutsies. Wow - kitchen waste in my yarn. Tres cool. I suspect that the fact that bamboo and shrimp shells can become beautiful yarn appeals to my fantasy that everything in this world if given half a chance can in fact - turn into luxury yarn. I'll never look at another shrimp cocktail the same way again. Overheard at a restaurant: "Excuse me sir, were you going to finish that?"





My spinning guild will be preparing a display this fall and the theme is Japan. I'd love to spin and knit something for the display and what fiber screams Japan more than bamboo? I found a lovely vendor in Florida called Oceans of Fiber who hand dyes beautiful fibres - including bamboo. I purchased 4.8 oz of 100% bamboo roving from her hand painted selection in a colourway called Sunflower. It's the most amazing mix of pale blue, sage and gold. As you can see, Holly presents her roving in such a lovely way with a co-ordinating ribbon. Now I circled this new acquisition for a while wondering if I had the skills to tackle this different breed. I'd love to make enough lace/fingering weight yarn to make the Hanami Shawl from Pink Lemon Twist. The motif is pure Japanese and it would look stunning in this yarn. In the end I fired up the Schacht, took a big sip of Chardonnay and went to town. I gotta tell you, spinning this stuff is like walking across a wet floor in stiletto heels. It's so silky that there's no grab as the spun yarn is pulled onto the bobbin so it goes like stink. I've had to back off of the tension quite a bit. I am developing a rhythm and the Woolee Winder is a must have for me here because I don't have to stop and fiddle with hooks - this puppy just flows on like chocolate fudge on a sundae. Here's a shot of what I've spun so far. I'm not sure if I'm under-spinning it. When I have to pull some off the bobbin if I get a break, it's tending the shred on me fairly easily. I know silks are often used single ply and I'd love to use this single ply but I think a double ply will hedge my bets and give a bit more balance. If there's anyone out there who's a spinning maven on bamboo or silk - I'd welcome some advice. The spun yarn just glows with the gold distributed though the strands.


Bonsai tunic - she plugs along. I had to rip back a few times about 3 inches. Missing bobbles and incorrect row counts - Oy! (permission to invoke an Oy requested Hope?). Life is really busy this week with the boys writing final exams. If there's a god/goddess of exams - please let me know and we'll arrange a live sacrifice (I'll decide who later on).



My Tulip Baby sweater kit arrived. Oh the joys of Dream in Colour yarn! Here are the colours clustered around the pattern. A lilac shade has been subbed for the pale pink but I think it'll look very nice so I'm cool with it.











Oh, and if anyone is wondering why Chardonnay pairs best with bamboo - here's my rationale: It's gold in colour, smooth and creamy and aged in wood.

Tickled Pink

I've been waiting patiently for my Dream in Colour Tulip Kit to arrive from Lettuce Knit. Apparently, they were swamped after the Yarn Harlot posted them on her blog. As I sat tapping my foot peering down the street waiting for the mail man to deliver the squishy goodness - I had a horrible thought. What if the baby was a boy? This little sweater had pink at the collar. I first tried to reason to myself that "Heck, a little pink didn't matter. After all, this was the new millennium - gender neutral is in". I then checked with the mom to be. "Weeelllll...she said hesitantly, if it weren't pale pink and if it were just a bit". I then became furious that society put so much emphasis on one little colour. After all, a girl can wear blue without nary a batting of an eye. In the end, I did what any determined knitter would do, I went to "Plan B". I was lucky enough to be in Toronto on business recently and stopped at Lettuce Knit between meetings. Megan was very helpful as we looked at the pattern and pondered my quandary. In the end, we decided that the nice ruby colour may just prove to be a worthy substitute for the pink and if I bought two of the ruby - I could have enough left after the Tulip cardi for this beautiful little Dream in Colour shrug. They had a sample in the store done in emerald green. Yummmm. Done Deal.

Of course, since then the Yarn Harlot has done a few other colour ways that are perfect for boys and Threadbear in the US has done a gazillion colourways too. There's just something about this original design that begs me to knit it. My SIL called me today to say the ultrasound has indicated the baby is a girl so we're good to go.

In other knitting news; I'm finally up to the front of the Bonsai Tunic from Interweave Knits. I'm falling in love with this design all over again. This part has a whole lot going on with decreases for neck shaping and increases happening all at the same time on different rows (along with lace and bobbles) but the bamboo is a joy. I rarely run out and buy the same yarn over again but with my LYS and their "never ending farewell 40% off tour" I got some more Bonsai at 40% off in the gold colour (Bamboo) to make this charming little number. It's a free pattern on the Berroco website. Watch out if you head on over there. Norah Gaughan (cue the organ music) has some new books coming out that I already want to make things out of.

And what wine does one pair with the girly Tulip Baby Sweater? Why a rose of course. Hillebrand Artist Series Gamay Rose with the amazing portrait on the label called "Lady". After all- a little pink never hurt anyone.

Ooops I Knit it Again

Are you a fussy knitter? When you make a mistake do you always rip - or never rip? I've been pondering these questions lately. Mistakes - making them and fixing them have been top of mind for two reasons: because of a wonderful essay written by Meg Swanson in the new "The Best of Vogue Knitting Magazine 25" book (amazing book by the way) and because I messed up the front of my Bonsai Tunic.

In her essay "Fussy Knitting" Meg Swanson provides a few technical tips targeted to those little details that often bother fussy knitters while pointing out that if you want perfection, maybe a mass-produced or machine knit item would be the less stressful route to accomplish that objective. I know some knitters who would rather crawl over hot coals than rip and some who can't stand the thought of fudging it. I tend to be a ripper...gee, that didn't sound good...when it comes to my knitting.

I've also discovered why I prefer cabled or colour knitting over lace knitting. I love the look of lace but the stitches disappear and reappear as you work them and this means stitch count is variable. With colour or cables - the number of stitches is the number of stitches - no slight of hand. Here's the section on the tunic where I went off track. I had been knitting visually - simply working to one before the previous yarn over and creating the next yarn over. I didn't stop to check that I had the 7 stitches in each section needed. When I realized that in this section I had only 6 stitches, I knew it was one of three reasons:

I forgot a yarn over

I knit an extra k2together

I dropped a stitch

I checked the work and couldn't see a dropped stitch so, I decided to simply make one and carry on. Here's the section after I created a new stitch to get the number back on track. You can't really see the fudge but I was bothered by it. If it was a dropped stitch - the whole section could unzip after it was done - with my luck, right in the middle of a presentation to the Executive Team at work. I decided to put it down for a day and think about the right path to take.

I really had to examine how I felt about mistakes and what level of perfection I was demanding of myself. If I ripped out, I could easily be tossing several nights of work down the drain. Was that worth the comfort of knowing it was perfect? Why did I care?

In the end, I decided that I was the type of person who was OK with making a mistake but that I needed to at least know where I went wrong. If you don't know what the mistake is, how can you decide if you can live with it or not? I needed to know to deal.

I ripped back. It was about 8 rows worth before I found the problem. I had forgotten a yarn over. I needn't have worried about unraveling but that missing yarn over did mean the lace design was out of whack so, I was pleased that I did choose to rip. I'm now nearing completion of the lace panel on the bottom of the front and will start the waist ribbing soon. I'll spare you the photo because it's exactly like the back.

I've also finished the first sleeve of Maritime. Now here's a nice easy, breezy project which lends itself nicely to ripping out.

To rip or not to rip - that is the question. Knitting is one activity that does lend itself to Mulligan shots. Most things don't - if your screw up...a "do over" isn't even an option. It's actually a privilege to be able to rip. It may depend on the nature of the mistake and at what point of the project said mistake is discovered. The answer will however always teach you something about yourself.

Micro Managing


Knitting for children is quite the crap shoot. You may over shoot or under shoot the size or the child may grow out of it after the first wearing. It was actually a couple of hand knit baby Icelandic sweaters with matching caps that a family friend made for my identical twin boys when they were small that gave me the push to start knitting for my kids. Why mess around? If you're going to make your kids a sweater - make it a Starmore! Since I wasn't bright enough to get pictures of the boys wearing their Starmore Fair isles when they were small, I made them pose earlier tonight.





Meet Butch and Sundance.







Butch (right) is holding the first Starmore I ever made. It's called Sqaredance from Alice Starmore's book Stillwater. When the sweater was done - I couldn't believe how great it had turned out. He looked so cute in it (you'll have to take my word for it). That's the magic of a Starmore pattern. Just do what she says and you'll be fine.

Sundance (to the left) is holding a pullover version of Reef from the Starmore book "In the Hebrides". The original pattern was for a cardigan made for a much smaller child. I wanted something to fit a 9 or 10 year old so, I found a pullover pattern from the Starmore book "Celtic Collection" in the size I wanted to use as a schematic. Then, I simply dropped the pattern onto the schematic and followed the instructions for the pullover. Once again, the results made the small needles and fine yarn all worth while. I've made three other Starmore designs since then but nothing else for the boys. They're growing too fast these days and seem to have a propensity to lose things. A $90 pair of Nike runners gives me heart burn. Losing a hand knit Starmore design would make me commit Seppuku.











I'm probably reminiscing about kiddie knits so much because I'm going to be an auntie again at the end of October. There are so many great baby designs and this one, I had to have. It's the baby cardigan by Dream in Color yarns. I've ordered the kit from Lettuce Knit in Toronto. The Yarn Harlot is making one and this is one stunning little item. It's not a Starmore - those I reserve for children and probably someday grand kids.

I tell myself that I'm just being a good Aunt but let's be honest here; I just want to make the damn sweater. The fact that there happens to be a baby on the way is just a convenient bonus to make it look respectable. Will I stoop to anything to enhance my stash?

Testing one, two, three


I've come to truly appreciate the power of the swatch. I used to see swatching as the activity that came between me and finally diving in to a new project. Now, I see them as a sort of prelude or "fibre first date". Finishing a swatch is a bit of a milestone and if all the stars are in alignment, important clues to ensure a successful knitting project are there for the plucking.


I'm thinking that the Indigo Ripples skirt will be the perfect "take-along" vacation knitting. We're planning a road trip to Quebec to see my MIL at the end of June and it's 10 hours by car. Kat Coyle, the designer of this garment has a way with pretty skirts for sure. Her lovely skirt shown in Greetings from the Knit Cafe is stunning. Julia from Mind of Winter has made a lovely version of it. Kat Coyle has also designed the skirt in Lace Style. It didn't catch my eye at first but after seeing a denim version of it here, I realized the skirt was suffering from lousy styling. Honestly, that poor model should get hazard pay for having to wear two layers of mis-matched underpinnings tucked into a knit skirt!


My LYS is unfortunately going out of business because the owners are retiring up North. The good news is...everything is 40% off. I picked up some Twilley's Freedom Denim in the darkest blue for a song - a song I say! I'm told many of these denims are made at the same factory - I've never worked with denim before so, this is my first brand to handle. I'm planning to use Eunny's trick of using a slightly smaller needle to get a fabric that won't sag. I swatched on 3.5mm and got about a 20.5 stitch gauge pre washing and post blocking. I was a bit concerned by some twizzling of the yarn I noted while knitting. I was afraid the fabric might bias but once washed and pressed, all seems to be nice and square. My swatch shrunk the requisite 20% in length and down to 22 stitches per 4 inches gauge. I will also lengthen this skirt so the ruffles begin about 2 - 3 inches above the knee cap instead of mid thigh.




I'm also working on Maritime which is a very straight forward knit perfect for taking along. I love the indigo and white together - so summery! I often use sleeves as swatches if I'm using a straight forward yarn such as the Cotton Glace used here. I also adore the colour striping on the cuff - here's a close up of what can't be seen in Rowan 41.






I've also completed the back to the Bonsai tunic. Now onto the front and hopefully this will be an FO before long. My swatch for this one was a big fat liar but it worked out in the end.



Swatches and I have at last come to a place of mutual respect. This last exercise has taught me the importance of washing the swatch as well. I can't promise I'll always follow the "swatching protocol" to the letter but at least now I'll know what I'm missing.

Influential People

This past mother's day, I thought a lot about the people responsible for "leading" us to knitting. They aren't necessarily the same people who taught us how to make the stitches themselves. My paternal grandmother taught me to knit and purl when I was seven. I never continued to make things after that first sad garter stitch square. My mother sewed but I like to believe she understood how therapeutic it is to create something. When I was in 4th year University I came home during February mid term exams. Sick with a wicked cold and sleep-deprived from studying - I had a bad case of the February blahs. "You need a project" my mother announced and we visited our local craft store on the way home. Our mission- to pick up a project to save my mortal soul from the depths of melancholy. I found some beautiful yarn and a pattern that caught my eye. It was an intarsia mohair sweater. Gee, there's a great project for someone who's only knit a Lopi Icelandic sweater before! It was 1985 and sweaters were baggy and images were geometric. I still have a few of the balls left over, the brand name is Georges Picaud Tricheuse and I remember the project cost about $78 - a huge expense. Mom paid for it without commenting on my usual champagne tastes (some things never change). I cast on and picked away at the project over the course of my final year. Thursdays were for Knot's Landing and knitting! My room mates often asked if they were going to get to see it finished before we all graduated. Not a chance.

I worked on this sweater off and on over the next 10 years. I'd think about the project when I came across it from time to time but never picked it up again. During this time, my mother became ill and our last summer together we went to a cottage in Northern Ontario. The weather was incredibly horrid forcing us to stay inside and read those ancient Reader's Digest issues that seem to be a standard feature of every cottage. An article entitled "Mr. Knitting" caught my eye and for the first time I got to see some of Kaffe Fasset's designs. I was smitten.

When I got the call the following March that it was time to fly to Vancouver Island and be with my mother, I impulsively reached for the mohair sweater. Long hours sitting vigil in a quiet house and then a quiet hospital room were spent picking up where I'd left off ten years prior. The nurses would come in to check on mom and take a look at my work. It was a welcome "normal" conversation in the midst of craziness. After the funeral, I kept at the knitting until finally, it was done. I've never stopped casting on since. My assembly is very primitive (it's still not my forte) but it fits and it's an FO. I've never really worn it. Mostly because fashions have changed and this feels so "eighties". I'll never part with it though because it was such a key part of delivering me to this hobby ( no), pastime, (not quite), obsession (yes) called knitting. I'll also never part with it because there's a bit of my mom in every stitch.

Round Up

My creative energies are quite scattered right now. I jump from project to project, swatching here and there for good measure. I thought it would be appropriate for this post to provide a "snapshot" of the various creative impulses cavorting in my head. Some are currently manifesting and some will never be more than a gleam in my eye. Others...I'm holding up a clove of garlic and a crucifix to...like weaving.

I belong to our local spinning guild or should I say "Handweavers and Spinners Guild". These spinners are really weavers in disguise - they spin to get stuff to weave. I'm "the knitter"...no, really - they actually point at me and whisper "That's the knitter" in hushed tones. At guild meetings they usually have an activity, one that involves weaving. I have no desire to weave. No time and no extra 800 square foot room to house the big honkin loom that comes with this hobby. When they try to get me to weave at meetings I usually hiss"I don't weave! I knit." It's somewhat ironic that last guild meeting I won these handwoven tea towels in the raffle they have every meeting. They were woven by the guild "weaving maven". No siree Bob..not for me. They are pretty though, aren't they? I think the raffle was rigged to suck me in.

Speaking of spinning, the Ontario Handspinning Seminar comes to our local university this weekend. I'll be taking a seminar with Harriet Boone with whom I had the pleasure of taking a seminar from last year. She rocks and the topic will be "tender toes - spinning sock yarn". I'll report in after the weekend.

Speaking of socks - I'm chugging away at my Monsoon sock from the Feb. Rockin Sock Club shipment. Those ribs up the foot don't go so fast but I'm very pleased that I'm getting some cool stripes. I can't wait to get to the cabled part. The new STR shipment arrived a few weeks ago with the new "Silkie" sock yarn. It's 81% superwash merino and 19% silk. The silk takes the dye a bit differently so, there's a cool Barber pole effect. This stuff is heaven and I can't wait to make the pattern that came with it which is a lace sock with a seam up the back. I ordered a second skein to do the knee high version.

My Bonsai Tunic had to be ripped back again. One of my "fan" sections had one too many stitches and the mistake wasn't caught until I'd knitted about 6 inches of incorrect stitch count. I was just about to give up but decided to keep at it. I'm at the waist ribbing and I'm loving this project.

Speaking of great Interweave Knits designs - my Summer 07 issue of IK arrived this week. I have them sent to me from Gemini Fibers and if you live in Ontario, I highly recommend this method. Cheryl just charges your card as the new issues come in and sends it to you. I get mine weeks before they show up in the stores. I really love this issue (as I did the Spring issue) and the designs that I'm attracted to include the Bella Blouse which I conveniently have the exact yarn in stash. Aqua shades of Berroco Cotton Twist and Touche.

I also really love the Origami Cardigan. What clever construction! Of course these are both Norah Gaughan designs. I think she'll be the new patron saint of this blog.

Oh, and the Oriel Blouse by Shirley Padon is wonderful! Has anyone knitted with Alchemy Silken Straw?

Speaking of the Spring Interweave Knits issue, I'm taking a second look at that lovely Indigo Ripples skirt by Kat Coyle. Eunny Jang and Eileen from Ei Knits have both made it in dark denim and lengthened it so it's less "flirty" and more elegant and tulip-like. They are stunning and I have the dark denim in stash to make this. I'm sketching my plan out for this one. I like the way Eunny used a smaller needle to get a tighter gauge which made it more fitted.

All of this jumping around calls for a wine that jumps too. If you're in the Ontario region or know someone who lives here - see if you can get a bottle of Ice Cuvee. It's a sparkling wine with a kiss of ice wine. Absolute heaven!

Carpe Skein!

Last week was one of those weeks where events conspire to remind you just how short life is. If I follow this logic through to it's rightful conclusion then I should have realized I'll never get through my stash and then proceeded to destash. Instead, I did what I always do to remind myself that this is a beautiful world...I buy more yarn.

Last Saturday was the annual Downtown Knit Collective (Toronto Knitter's Guild) Spring Knitter's Frolic. And after getting a surprise bit of mad money - frolic I did.

I was thrilled to see that Lettuce Knit would have a booth there. I was even more thrilled to see the lovely yarn they were selling - a line called Dream in Color. The colours are dyed using a process that causes "veils of colour" almost like a colour wash. You get the interest without the pooling. The deal was sealed when I discovered that they had a shade called "In Vino Veritas". My current mantra is to try and knit with colours out of my usual scope. I've wanted to do more red and this red is a deep garnet with a rich violet wash. Here it is in the lovely Spring sunshine. Laura Chau of Cosmicpluto Knits designed and made the most divine jacket out of this exact yarn and shade. You can see it here - it's worth the trip! I tried the sample on and Steph took a picture of me but my lack of modeling ability coupled with poor lighting doesn't do the jacket justice - Laura's pictures show the stitches and colours perfectly.

I think I'll use my In Vino Veritas to make the beautiful Cabled Down Raglan sweater by Stephanie Japel. This yarn feels nice close to the skin. It's a good stash enhancer!

I also purchased the Belle Shrug pattern also by Laura Chau. It uses Blue Sky Alpaca which I have in stash and had planned to make the Blue Sky Alpaca Silk Shrug. I like Laura's better. The collar is so feminine. You can get this also at Lettuce Knit. Julie had a booth at the show as well and had many of the Blue Sky Alpaca samples on display. It was great to see them up close.

Also from Lettuce Knit I got this great little knitting pouch perfect for hooking over a belt loop or chair arm to hold the yarn while you knit. Some loop it around their wrists and stand or walk while knitting. This is called the Origami bag and I got a lovely vintage pink and red one. Made by Lettuce Knit, they're "sewn from vintage barkcloth, and trimmed with Mokuba twill tape. These little pouches feature an adjustable toggle closure. How they are folded prior to sewing means that they are fully lined and have little pockets on the front and back. A great little project bag for lace or sock knitting". I've used it so much already to knit on the go with simple one or two ball projects. There are pockets in the front too. Here you see the progress on my Socks that Rock Club sock. It's coming...slowly.

At Gemini Fibres I picked up the Harrisville Cashmere and Wool to make the Norah Gaughan Architectural Rib Sweater. It's a fall project but Cheryl at Gemini had just the right shade and it was on sale!

The show was at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto. How nice to have fresh fruit and sushi at lunch with green tea instead of a ham and cheese sandwich chased down with a soda. It was great to touch base with other knitters and show off our FOs and UFOs. I was almost to the waist ribbing on the Bonsai Tunic when I showed it to Stephannie on Saturday. After finally getting some knitting on the needles, I discovered that my gauge was off and it was 2" larger than the intended size. I sucked it up and ripped back Saturday night. I'm glad I did - it's much better as the smallest size. Boy that hurts though to rip out days worth of work.

I have made some progress on Rheingold. Here's a sunshine shot of it as I head towards the armholes.

So in the end, I my visit to the Knitter's Frolic was as close to a perfect day as I could imagine. Maybe it's not so strange that those of us who knit love yarn so much. After all, it carries with it so many possibilities, dreams and potential. What could be more life-affirming than this?