Cosmicsouza

Nothing screams of a passionate pairing more than a mash up of names. It worked for Brangelina and Bennifer - it works for my latest project too. For me, the design is usually the artistic feature of a project with the yarn playing a supporting role. Now that I'm making Roam out of Lisa Souza Baby Alpaca Silk, it's a magical mixture of a great design paired with artisan handpainted yarn.

I felt this colourway would be close to the Big Sea Silk used in the original design as it appeared in the pictures on Knitty. When I ordered it, I told Lisa what I was making. She e mailed me to confirm that my skeins were "extra chocolaty". The colours move from cognac to smoke and deep chocolate. There are smudges of cobalt highlights that really make the yarn unique. The seed stitch is perfect for this type of handpainted yarn to move the colour around a bit more and avoid any pooling...of course, that's not an issue with Lisa's yarn. This is a perfect sub for Roam since it's bang on gauge and the alpaca and silk drape beautifully. The shaping is nicely built into the ridge of slip stitches which will become the icord embellishment.

I do knit continental but still purled english style so I decided to learn how to purl continental as well. I found some great videos on youtube that were very helpful. I highly recommend this method to anyone wanting to try seed stitch.

I'm especially excited to be taking a dyeing class at Lettuce Knit tomorrow with Laura Chau who designed Roam. I'll get to see Roam in person since the sample will be at the store.

There's a new Norah Gaughan design I'm smitten with too in the new Knitter's Book of Yarn. It's called the Cable Swing Cardi. This one may be even better suited to my Malabrigo than the Tilted Duster. Those lovely cables and seed stitch will add a bit more texture to the Malabrigo handpaints.

I'm going to have to find more knitting techniques designed to speed up my knitting! Or - I could just spend less time on Ravelry!

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Red Romance
I have officially completed the first arm of Autumn Rose. Apparently, going back to the yoga mat recently after a 3 month break was a good idea because if my gauge on this puppy is any indication - I'm one stressed cat.


Prescribed gauge is 30 stitches to 4 inches on 3mm needles. I often use sleeves as a gauge swatch - in this case, I didn't bother checking it until the sleeve was done and I got 32 stitches to 4 inches. Now given that the entire sleeve is only 96 stitches by the end of all of the increases, we're probably talking about a quarter of an inch smaller in the end. I have already steamed it a bit and have been able to get it to where it needs to be. It does tell me however that I need to use my 3.25mm needles to get gauge. I also have taken Vanessa's advice to heart and started to split splice the colour changes. It works quite well. You simply do the splice about 2 inches from the end and the colour transition is quite natural. Look ma - no ends to weave in! I'm still quite enamoured of the reds and golds. It's perhaps why I'm also attracted to this design from Annie Modesitt's new book called Romantic Hand Knits.



This is called Dark Victory and uses Malabrigo in a deep burgundy colourway. I found the exact number of burgundy Malabrigo skeins at my LYS (sadly it's closing next month) for 50% off. There was much spirited discussion in the shop as to what accent shades I should use but in the end I really liked the way the gold sparked the design in the sample for the book. I bought a skein of pearl and one of sunset for the accent. The centre panel is done in slip stitch whilst the rest of the sweater is ribbed for a close fit.



I highly recommend this book. The skirt on the front gives new meaning to the phrase "Va Voom". I'm sure we're all shying away from this one because we don't like our cabooses enough to give it a whirl but there are a few people making this and I'm eager to see how it looks on real women. It may surprise us.



This little sweater is very feminine too and looks like a fun knit. I wonder if the shoulders would be fiddly and slide down your arm?




I think these stockings are so "Petticoat Junction". I doubt I'd ever make them - basically because I've decided I'm just not hard wired to like making socks but I think they're really cool.



There are a couple of awesome hat patterns, an Egyptian-inspired dress that's stunning and long black gloves perfect to accent a fabulous party dress at your company Christmas party.

I'm attracted to different designs each time I look at this book which is generally what I consider to be a good sign. Two thumbs up for this one.



Since I'm in a red and gold phase - perhaps I need to dig this one out of the stash in 2008 and see if my skills are finally ready to tackle it.

Master Blends

I do believe that wine is the perfect metaphor for yarn. Of course, I also believe that linoleum is the perfect metaphor for yarn but I digress. My business trip to the Okanagan Wine Festival was wonderful. The highlight was touring the Sandhill vineyards which reside on a mountainside in what's officially a desert. The grapes have to dig down deep to get water and there's a bear that wanders down from the mountain to nosh on the grapes. This must be the bear equivalent of a Casino buffet.

The company I work for makes Sandhill wines. Head winemaker Howard Soon took us into the vineyard to taste the grapes for ourselves right off of the vine. He taught us what to look for in a grape that's ready to be harvested.

Sandhill is an interesting wine brand because it's all about the blend. Howard insists that although each of the Sandhill wines is a blend of grape varietals - they all must come from a single vineyard. This is a bold position to take because there's no blending of other wines to compensate for a rogue frost or less than stellar growing season. The wine drinker truly gets a sense of the terroir in every sip. The blend is the magic that pulls it all together.

For those of us who love artisan yarn (and if you're reading blogs about knitting I'm going to assume you're past the 99 cent per ball acrylic stage)- nothing makes a yarn sing more than a beautiful blend of colours. There are two "new to me" yarns that I've discovered that really qualify for artisan status.

First up is the new Noro offering called Cashmere Island. This is a blend of 60% wool, 30% cashmere and 10% nylon. It knits to a dk weight. I am often attracted to the designs that Jane Ellison creates for Noro and this cardigan on the cover of the new Noro book caught my eye right away. It's called Manhattan. Of course, I needed something straightforward to knit on the plane to B.C and this fit the bill. The edges are ruffled and smaller needles are used to cinch in the waist with a ribbed belt that extends out. I choose the same

colourway used in the book and if you've ever gazed at a ridge of trees in the fall and wished you could capture the colours in a yarn - this is it. Shades of chocolate, plum, sage meld together like magic.

When I'm not feeling up the Cashmere Island I can't stop touching the Baby Alpaca Silk I just got from Lisa Souza. I ordered this to make Roam from Knitty by Laura Chau of Cosmicpluto Knits. She used Great Big Sea Silk in her sample and though I love Hand Maiden - it was a tad spendy for me. Lisa Souza is my "go to gal" for amazing substitutions. This is a blend of Alpaca and Silk that will drape beautifully and the mahogany colourway will hopefully mimic the bronzes, chocolates and blues in Laura's version. I'm eager to have a nice easy sweater to throw on with jeans. Roam fits the bill.

So what wine do we pour to salute those fiber artists who turn yarn into a work of art? Why Sandhill One of course. This wine stole my heart because it's a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Malbec with aromas of spice and red berries. On the palate, there is a generous dollop of sweet fruit - black cherries, red plums and of course like my new yarns ...notes of chocolate.

A Hard Days Night

I'm off to the Okanagan Wine Festival so, lots of pictures next week. Yeah, I know...it's a dirty job and I'm glad I get to do it.

September has zoomed by and I hope my knitting and I will have more quality time in October. Here's a quick update on what I have accomplished lately.

Autumn Rose is progressing a bit up the sleeve. This is an amazing knit and I highly recommend it. The colours are lovely.

I tried my hand at crock pot dying and used Louet Bush Blend dyes. Here are the results on some Corriedale I got at the 5 Counties Fair. I used Aster, Cypress and Peppermint and the effect is simply "Monet-like". I'm so pleased.

I'll be dividing this down the middle in two parts to spin each ply in the same sequence to create a two ply yarn that hopefully keeps the colour changes in unison throughout the plying.

My Sonata and I enjoyed the autumn sun yesterday and I'm really please with how this is spinning up. The Corriedale simply glows.

Well - gotta run to catch a plane. I'll have lots to report next week on the wine side of things and hopefully a bit of airplane knitting too.

Duty Calls...and Pays

I must apologize to my new FO. In my last post I described the Nagano Sakura (Dragon Cherry Blossom according to my Japanese-obsessed son) scarf as my "duty knitting". In fact, I affixed the blossoms late Friday night just skating in under the wire to have it ready for the Five Counties Spinners and Weavers Guild Fair on Saturday. My criteria for choosing this project were simple; it was a fast project and I had the roving in stash. Our guild theme was Japan so I put up a frantic post a couple of months ago asking for advice as to Japanese-themed projects. While the infamous Hanami Stole by Pinklemon Twist was a definite contender - I needed a weekend project because (it's like dog years) my weekends take forever in terms of project time.

Dr. Steph came to the rescue and suggested this snappy little scarf from Knitty called "Nagano Sakura". Aha - I needed brown roving. I had a nice merino/alpaca roving that was a rich chocolate shade. I also had some singles spun from a nice rose-coloured merino. The original pattern calls for the scarf to be felted but I reasoned that since it was to be entered into a fair competition - I should show my work. It was also a case of leading with my stronger card since I've been knitting a helluva lot longer than I've been spinning. I found another blogger who had also knit the pattern without felting it and proceeded to knit the scarf with a simple cable.

I filled out the project description sheet for the show hoping that my copy writing skills would somehow mask the fact that the yarn was a tad over spun and the pink blossoms weren't quite bright enough to really show well against the dark scarf. I had a choice between two boxes to check off to indicate my skill level - experienced or novice. Having only been spinning for one year, it was a no-brainer. Novice all the way.

Our guild display looked pretty good considering we didn't spend huge blocks of time planning every detail. And my little scarf looked a bit lonely apart from the rest of the display - the only knitted item amongst a sea of woven entries. Didn't all the Geisha in Japan wear long sleeved T-shirts and alpaca scarves?

You can imagine my shock when they announced that my scarf had won the prize for "Best Novice Knitted Item". My reward was a $25 check. The judges were the speakers for the day including Shirley Scott who wrote "Canada Knits". She's got a wicked sense of humor and I highly recommend her as a speaker. I'd show you a picture of me next to my scarf but I kind of showed up to the event all disheveled, hair in a pony-tail and glasses so I (quite frankly) look like hell.

I've already invested my winnings back into materials for next year's Five Counties Fair. This cloud of loveliness is creamy Shetland roving kissed with a streak of silk in shades of copper and gold. Next year's theme is "anniversaries" and while I have a plan - I'll be keeping it to myself for now.

I guess even those items we knit out of duty can surprise us now and then!

Split (Spliced) Personality
After declaring last post that life fell nicely into themes, I now find myself dabbling all over the place - especially when it comes to my fibre hobbies. It's probably the usual September "re entry turbulence" that's got me chasing my tail but whatever the reason, I'm going in several different directions at once. What follows are some snapshots and random thoughts related to my fibre obsession:


On Yarn Diets:
I always said my stash was a form of insurance should I ever fall on hard times or make a large purchase that would require some (ahem) fiscal prudence. The recent acquisition of the new vehicle falls into this category so, I've been trying to fantasize about projects that can be made from stash.

On Things I Covet:
I had a chance to see a live in the "wool" sample of the Debbie Bliss Silver Belle sweater at the KW Knitter's Fair last weekend. It was STUNNING. The waist which I feared was to empire to not look at bit like maternity wear falls a bit lower than shown on the model so it's quite slimming. I have some BFL Fleece Artist in an ivory colourway that would be perfect.

I also have some O-wool balance that would be perfect to make the Cobblestone Pullover from the new IK for my DH. I've been knitting avidly for 12 years and have never made him a sweater. Although I'm inspired by the yarn and pattern, I'm not really an aficionado of dark colours like grey and black and I've purchased the graphite colour for this. It's what I know he will wear so I'm being thoughtful of the recipient. I'm itching to cast this one on!


I'm also loving the Tilted Duster from the new IK cover. It calls for a new Berroco yarn called Peruvia. Now, I did get to fondle the Peruvia at the fair and it has a hand spun sort of vibe to it. There's a bit of sheen and I wonder if it would be "splitty" to knit with. Instead of stashing up, I pulled out my Malabrigo and swatched on some amazing Lantern Moon needles made from Palm. The pattern calls for straight needles and when I asked on Ravelry why straights - the great Norah G herself answered that it was a carry-over from other pattern formats and not really necessary. I think I will do it on straights though. I love these needles and for some reason I like straight needles.





On Evie:
I've fallen hard for this design from Kim Hargreaves. She names her designs often using women's' names. This one is called Evie which was my mom's name and is my niece's name. I wish I could make it from stash. I have yarn that would work but this pattern only comes in a kit so I have to order the whole kit and caboodle. I'm thinking of destashing some Noro, Debbie Bliss and Jo Sharp that I have and know I won't knit. Stay tuned, I'll probably do a destashing post in the coming week. Don't you think the Universe wants me to have this kit?




This new design from Zephyr is called Juliet and it's darling too. This blogger is currently knitting it. She's also just made the tree jacket from Zephyr Style too which is really lovely.










On Self Control:
I was a good girl at the Knitter's Fair and only bought some roving made by Gypsy Girl Creations. It's an amazing super wash merino in a shade called Winter Solstice. I bought it from Michelle at Sweet Sheep and got some of her Sweet Socks yarn in a colourway called "After Midnight". It's great stuff and she's a delight to deal with.

On Duty Knitting:
I'm in the final stages of finishing my first knitted project from my own hand spun. It's a cabled scarf from a chocolate Alpaca. I used the modifications listed here for the Knitty Nagano Sakura scarf and the cherry blossoms are almost done. I'll be showing it at the Five Counties Fair this Saturday along with my guild. Our theme is Japan. This has been taking most of my time lately since I promised to contribute something knitted. The other items are all woven. I don't like knitting out of duty since it robs precious time from my dream projects but I'm sure I'll be glad it's part of the display.

There you have it. Random rambling from my currently frenzied life. It could have been pithier but that would have required all of my grey matter to show up for roll call.

Days of Wine and Roses

Sometimes life just seems to have a "theme". This past week has been all about roses - the fibery and the floral. I have been working (still) on the first sleeve of Autumn Rose. When we last saw this sleeve I had totally disregarded the instructions and knitted it according to what I thought I saw on the picture in the book. Anne from She Ewe Knits (who looks positively ravishing in her Autumn Rose by the way) straightened me out and this revelation sent me straight to the *frog pond (do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars).

I also charted the pattern on Stitch and Motif Maker. For some reason, the pattern in the book is charted so the light colours are represented as black squares and the dark colours are light squares. This is too much processing for me to convert in my brain so I needed to get it charted in a way that I could easily translate.

I am now well on my way and the pattern just glows. This differs from the typical Starmore pattern in that each pair of colours is used for 3 rows then swapped for two new colours at the same time. There will be many ends to darn in which will be different for me because I'm used to knitting in the new and knitting out the old shades when only one colour is changing at a time. I think I'll have to darn in the ends about every 5 inches of knitting or so. If I don't, I'll be going mad when this is done.

I've not had much time to knit on the Rose because I'm madly trying to finish the scarf for the Five Counties Fair in two weeks and because I've been taking as many freelance writing assignments as possible to be able to buy this.

Yes, my '99 Taurus (aka Red Barchetta) finally cried uncle and it was time to get a new vehicle. I tend to buy new and run them into the ground. This is a 2008 Ford Escape in a lovely shade called light metallic sage and I'm really enjoying it. I worked with a seasoned salesman who had a nice easy-going approach. No pressure and the negotiation was actually a pleasure. Of course, the first time you climb into a brand new vehicle you've just purchased is a thrilling moment. When I opened the door of the Escape to get in, there was a single pink rose lying on the front seat. The salesman grinned and said "I started leaving the roses on the seats about twenty years ago. All the ladies get a rose - the guys get the bill." Talk about making a good moment into a WOW moment!

I may have to call this guy out of retirement when I buy my next vehicle.

My experience at the dealership made me ask myself "what are my roses?" How can I turn good moments into great ones for others and for myself?

I don't have all the answers to these questions yet but I will no doubt be pondering them as I work on Autumn Rose. Of course, a glass of fine wine always helps the epiphanies to flow much easier...Pinot Rose of course!

*By the way Dad if you're reading this - frogging means knitters "rippit, rippit, rippit" when they screw up.

The Winter of 42


When August arrives I always know it's time to make peach jam, start nagging the kids about studying harder this year and anticipate the new Rowan magazine. Like many of you, I start counting how many more sleeps until the new Rowan comes out usually immediately after the previous Rowan comes out. I'll admit that some Rowan magazines are my firm favourites and others not so much.


As a marketer, I spend a big chunk of every work day "judging creative". It's important that I take myself out of the equation as much as possible when I'm looking at layouts and campaigns so everything doesn't become the "world according to moi". Please talk amongst yourselves for a moment while I linger over that concept....ok, I'm back.


I must naturally go into my marketing mindset when I go through a new Rowan magazine for the first time because I'm not thinking at all about what I want to knit or wear. I know that Rowan is a business and I'm always fascinated to see how they present a collection which must appeal to people from many different cultures, ages, body shapes and knitting abilities. It must be a tall order. Therefore, I don't expect to love everything and if I see three designs that I'm attracted to, I consider it a good issue.


R42 for me is a very good issue. I would however also consider this one to be a polarizing collection. There seems to be very little neutral feedback and quite a few declarations of "love it" or "blech". The kiss of death for any creative endeavour is indifference so, at least the consensus seems to be they made a statement.


With that long-winded intro. out of the way, may I present a few of my favourite things from R42?



Maree:


This fairisle sweater took my breath away. I sat in Julie's store a few weeks ago and put the colours together just to get the effect in person. The thought of wool cotton and kid silk haze next to my skin is enough to make me swoon. Yes, the sleeves are a bit puffy (and the critics say too eighties) but they remind me of a simpler time in my life. Hell, they remind me of a thinner time in my life. I'll take one to go!



Fyne Vest:


Yes, fairisle knitting is back in fashion mainstream. Some of us will click our tongues and say it never went out but that's just for us hard-core groupies. If you think of a knitting book before a town when someone says Stillwater, consider yourself hard core. I love this vest. It's felted tweed. I love felted tweed. This one followed me home and I will wear a deep purple cotton tailored shirt under it. Screw this back and forth stuff. This baby is being made in the round.








Bressay:
I was so happy that Sharon Miller didn't trot out another KSH shawl (and if you know what KSH is simply by its letters - you're hard core). This is stunning I would love to curl up under it in front of a fire on a winter's eve with a good book and a glass of silky Merlot. The fact I've not broken down and ordered this stuff yet should get me some brownie points...yeah, that's the ticket...Merlot and brownies to dine on whilst I'm wrapped in that shawl.




Earth Stripe Stole:




Speaking of Kid Silk Haze, this scarf quite frankly deserves to be on the cover. Leave it to Kaffe to make a striped scarf something decadent. The colours are held together (I believe) two at a time and swapped in and out to make the shading effect. Come on guys! If we all pool our KSH stashes together we must be able to kit this puppy up for a song. Count me in for 3 balls of Trance.






Speaking of more Kid Silk Haze, I shall boldly declare my admiration for this window treatment. Quite frankly, any KSH shawl I make will venture out of the closet maybe twice per year. A KSH window treatment is simply a shawl for the window and I would get to see it FIRST thing every morning as I walk past it. My window is much smaller so it would be a very simple project. I've got 3 balls of the pearl colour in stash...hmmmm.


Cologne:








My stashed Irish Cream 4 ply soft may wake up as this design one day. The photography is way too dark but I love the short row shaping. It gives it such a flattering Art Deco feel. It also calls for KSH. Maybe I can use the left overs from the Kaffe scarf for this? Double play baby. I do love how it looks in different colours on the staff members featured in the book.

Narvik:

This cropped Aran uses the new Cocoon yarn. I have a ball that I got from Julie. I can't stop petting it. Imagine stroking a shiny, soft black cat. That's the closest thing I can think of to describe it. Very rustic and handspun-like. Yes, the styling is a tad "Heidi of the Alps" but hey, a fast knit like this clearly leaves much time for enjoying nature. This isn't the best picture. Heidi's looking a bit like a desperate chalet wife.


Iceland:
I'm including this one as an honourable mention. I love the pattern across the body it seems like leaves are dancing and it uses Cocoon again. Again, the whole bat-winged sleeve treatment is not new for some of us but I hope someone does make this because I bet it would look quite nice. Clearly, this one is targeting the younger knitter. Remember folks - this is new to them. They don't have our baggage.


So ends another fall Rowan. I will be fascinated to see the designs translated by real knitters over the next year or so. Love it or hate it, you have to admit Rowan hasn't faded into the background.


On a closing note, I just looked last night and realized today is my first blogging anniversary. If you've just started reading this blog, welcome! If you've been reading from the very first one ...thanks Dad!

Going Coastal

Last week they boys and I made our yearly pilgrimage to visit my father and his wife on Vancouver Island. I look forward to this week every year as it's full of sunny (yet not humid) days and cool nights with open windows and the ocean air blowing into your bedroom. This is a picture of my father and me on the balcony outside of the kitchen. Nice view to eat breakfast by isn't it? To make sure I meet my quota of knitting content here - I'm wearing "Air by Kim Hargreaves" from the Calmer Collection. It's knit in Calmer - shade Chiffon. I asked dad why he didn't smile in pictures and he replied that "that would cost extra".

I was especially excited about this trip because dad had located an Alpaca farm about five minutes from his house and we booked an appointment to go and see them. I also purchased some Alpaca roving in beautiful shades of gray and a rosy-brown. For some reason they remind me of Tauntauns from Star Wars.

My Kromski is portable but is a full sized wheel so it's not something to travel with. Don't think I didn't consider it though. In the end, I brought my favourite Tom Forrester spindle and spent a luxurious few hours spindle spinning in dad's back yarn. I even did some plying on the spindle. Thanks Adrianne for pointing out the excellent Spin Off article from the summer 2007 issue on how to ply on a spindle. I also did some carding which allowed me to experiment with blending fibres. I took some wool/alpaca/mohair roving that I'd dyed at spinning guild in lovely teals and blue-greens and carded it with some emerald green Romney that had touches of Angelina. The result was just what I had hoped for and I had a blast spinning my creation.

Just to prove that I can play with the boys - I joined the guys on a charter to fish for salmon on the ocean. We caught several pink salmon and dad landed a twenty pound spring salmon. There's nothing better than feasting on freshly caught salmon (which we did that very evening). A nice B.C. Pinot Noir is the perfect pairing (IMHO). We saw an eagle swoop down and catch a salmon right near our boat. He then perched on a rock and had a feast for us to see. What a majestic bird! Back at the dock, my son spotted this handsome harbour seal waiting for a handout from the fishermen. There were quite a few of them hovering around waiting for their bounty (like knitters at a Kid Silk Haze sale).

My tendency to take at least five knitting projects with me worked in my favour for once in my life. I managed to leave the instructions at home for two of the projects. I was especially excited to work on my new Autumn Rose sweater. Anne from She Ewe Knits turned cart-wheels to get the yarn and book to me before the big trip. Imagine my disgust with myself when I started the sleeve and reached for the Shetland Black...only to discover I'd left that one shade at home. By the way - none of the knitting stores on Vancouver Island have received the "Fair isle Knitting is back in vogue" memo so there was no Shetland 2 ply to be had. I'll be posting about this project later on this week. It's an amazing design but I fear that the instructions as compared to the picture are wonky so, I think there may be some errata.

So...that left my monsoon sock from the February Socks that Rock Club shipment and the Tulip baby sweater. I'd been stalled on the sock for a while because the 5 x 5 cables called for on the pattern weren't resonating with me. Some things just feel like over- kill and big cables like that on small needles, delicate yarn and a small item like a sock fall into this category. I took this shot for posterity and ripped back. I am continuing with the rib pattern and placing a similar yet smaller cable up each side of the sock as directed in the Cable Rib sock pattern from Interweave's Favourite Socks book.

The Tulip baby sweater is a delight to knit and I see why they're addictive. In this rendition, the light peachy-pink shade has been swapped out for the Wisterous (lilac) shade. I wasn't sure how this would look at first but I quite like it now that the other colours are being added.

I did also haunt 3 yarn stores on the Island but was fairly restrained. I only bought some patterns, needles and a couple of "one off" balls of yarn. We arrived home safe and sound last night and tomorrow it's back to work. Even arriving home to a dead fridge didn't damper my spirits. It was a great trip and I feel as though I truly relaxed and found a bit of myself again. The perfect vacation!