Warmth in the North

a bit more wicked

    This is my favorite part of any raglan sweater, the perfect lines that grow out of the collar toward the arms.  After you separate the arms you're landed squarely in the wasteland of knitting.  Round and round you knit until things are finally long enough.  I'm planning on a little waist shaping so that should break up the monotony a bit.

     I had to make a decision about the yarn yesterday.  When I cast on I switched every second row like a good little knitter does with hand dyed yarn but it didn't save me from a slight change in the colours when more yarn was added to the mix.  As you can see the yarn on the right has more of the lighter jade colour and it does show up in the fabric. 
    Ripping back was a real option until I showed it to a few people none of whom noticed.  It was a good exercise in turning off my crazy and being reasonable about my expectations.  Now that I've knit further along with the new yarn it isn't bothering me much at all.  It will be something that other knitters and I will notice when the sweater is finished but since it's a subtle change I think it only adds to the charm.

inspiration

1. Winter Morning on Athabasca River, 2. hut, 3. saint matterhorn, 4. Winter-scenery, 5. Snowy, 6. Snow Sunset, 7. Eagle Lake Sunrise #2, 8. A BIT OF COLOR DURING WINTER, 9. First snow, 10. White woods, 11. Don't go hunting rabbits this time of year..., 12. Paris under the snow, 13. snow turns into flower..., 14. Stark, 15. B&W IMAGE?, 16. Winter Fruit

    I needed a reminder that winter isn't always the ever present grey that it sometimes seems to be.  After playing around on Flickr for a while I've been reminded of all the colour.  Someday maybe I'll be able to take a picture like these.

knitting comfort

  
    I love knitting.  It's so comforting on a busy and unfortunately cold day that I might never stop.  As soon as possible the Dream in Color jumped onto my needles to become the beginnings of a sweater.  This was mostly knit on the plane between Toronto and Vancouver as my seat mate told be about her trip to South America.
 
    The yarn is one of my favorites to work with.  Although I've only ever made a Tulip baby sweater with Classy before I think it will become a staple of my sweater knitting.  Most of the time I could care less about superwash but it is nice to be able to just toss a sweater in the machine if it gets dirty.   The yarn is also so squishy and soft that I'm sure any garment you make out of it would get lots of wear.  Hopefully I can get this one finished before Spring.

planning

    I have a little dilemma, a request from my father for a sweater just like the ones pictured but I can't find a pattern.  All of his are getting a little (or a lot) worn out and you can't say no to a request for something that will be worn.  Since knitting a plan cardigan should be fairly easy I may just have to go it alone without a pattern. 
    He's already picked out the yarn, charcoal grey which will work well with the limited colour pattern he likes.  I need to do some math and figure out exactly how much yarn I need to order before it gets too warm to knit with worsted weight wool for big chunks of time.  First I'm going to cast on for a sweater for myself in all that lovely Dream in Color that's waiting for me.

oh look... more yarn

    Technically I went to Lettuce Knit after lunch with my sisters for the blue yarn you can see hiding at the back of the picture and possibly some buttons.  Every time I go into a yarn store I learn that it's good my yarn buying is mostly done over the internet, because I have no self control.   The yarn is all Dream in Color Classy, 1 skein of Don't be Blue for a pair of mittens and enough Good Luck Jade for a sweater.
    The individual soak packets, a muslin bag, the chibi, and most of the yarn was accidental and will have to be stuffed into the crevices of my suitcase.   The buttons will be staying here with the never ending sweater and will be attached as soon as it's finished - whenever that might be.  But I have a bit of a problem, the pattern calls for six, according to the receipt six were purchased however as you can see in the picture only five came out of the bag.  I may cry...

wisp

    This is the scarf that I knit my Aunt for Christmas this year.  I'm not sure yet how she liked it but hopefully it did well.  The Rowan Kidsilk Haze was chosen especially for her, since one day when we went out for tea and popped into a knitting store she kept going back to pet it.  I bought two balls of it without really knowing what I was going to make.
    I knit almost all of the scarf according to the pattern out of one ball and just needed a bit from the next one to finish it off.  For a while it just languished on the needles while I thought about just finishing it or extending it and using up all the yarn.  In the end option two won out and she'll probably get more use out of it this way. 
   
    Even though the yarn is lace weight and the scarf is light in the end it is warm.   I know I shouldn't be surprised considering the yarn content but it's nice anyway.  The kidsilk haze was hard to knit with, it might just have been the burgundy colour but it will be a while before I get anymore.  Hard to see and fuzzy just wasn't my thing.

just in case...

Pattern ~ Wisp by Cheryl Niamath
Yarn ~ Rowan Kidsilk Haze in burgundy(595), 2 balls
Needles ~ 5mm (US 8)

veronique cowl

    I'm fairly sure that cowls are my favorite thing to knit.   A little tube that you can fill in anyway your imagination leads you.  This one was knit for my sister (seen here as the model) at the beginning of the autumn and I sent it off so she could wear it.  The period of time where a lace neck warmer even begins to be practical is pretty short so a picture wasn't even taken until a few days ago.
    Next time I use this pattern a smaller needle size might make sense to help decrease the width.   She thinks that it doesn't stay up as well as she'd like it too, so a little bit of added length might also help.   When I asked her to wear it while I took the picture a promise was extracted that her face be hidden.   I was concentrating on taking a photo that would make us both happy so it wasn't until the image was uploaded that I noticed her matching shirt.

just in case...

Pattern ~ Veronique Cowl by Carrie Strine of Hand-Me-Downs-Yarns
Yarn ~ SweetGeorgia Superwash Sock in Cracked Sky, 1 skein
Needles ~ I can't remember, they were the size on the pattern so next time I'll go down one.

button off, button on

    Of all the things that I do every time I come home this is the most irritating and most comforting.  All of my family is perfectly capable of replacing their own buttons or mending a hem but they usually ask me for help.  Sometimes I wish they wouldn't but then again an excuse to watch tv for half and hour is all right.
    I have a tendency to ignore any mending that I need to do because I find it boring.  My sweaters, shirts, and pants pile up in a corner waiting for some love but I can't be bothered.  Then I go on vacation and get to do the chore that I ignore all the time for somebody else.   It's really rather funny, maybe I should watch some tv when I get home and expand my wardrobe again.

home

    I got home on the 1st but it's been really busy for the last week.  Yesterday was Christmas day for my family, so the night before we had thirteen people over for dinner.   It's always fun to  see everyone, family and friends who are only around once in a while.

    Cooking for that many is always interesting, juggling that number of pots on a four burner stove and getting everything out at the right time is quite the game.  I think it went off without a hitch this year, the meal was very relaxed and calm.  I ran out of pans at one point and had to use a little omelet pan to fry up the onions on a big burner.
    Now that all the cooking and festivities are over I'll be getting back to my knitting.  I can't wait to finish the sweater that's been knit more than once.  As soon as I give it to the recipient I'll try to get some pictures of it in action.