25 000 tuques!

For the past few days, like a whole lot of Quebec knitters, I've been knitting tuques for the Syrian refugees that are coming to live over here. :-)

The idea to greet each and every one of them with a hand knitted hat, to share some warmth and welcome them home, started on Facebook and it kind of snowballed...

It's growing exponentially and spreading to other provinces! Another example that knitters are great people!

If you want more information:

https://www.facebook.com/25000tuques/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/25000-Tuques-Nova-Scotia-501368570037043/

https://www.facebook.com/25-000-tuques-Vancouver-1487725668203986/

http://jdussot.wix.com/25000tuques

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-social-media-campaigns-for-syrian-refugees-response-1.3338174

My Christmas knitting has been going slower because of the tuques but there still is a lot of time before the 25th, right? ;-)

Je suis Paris.

I love Paris, tonight more than ever.

Are you a thrower or a picker?

Are you a thrower or a picker? Or do you knit like the Yarn Harlot?

Lately, there have been a lot of posts and articles talking about the different ways we hold our fingers and yarn when we knit. 

A topic that I find absolutely fascinating.

Until now, I always thought that I was a picker when knitting with only one colour and a picker and thrower when doing stranded knitting with both hands. 

But, until recently, I had never seen anyone holding their fingers and yarn like I do. 

You see, this is how I knit: (this is a video I found on YouTube that just blew my mind, I thought I was the only weirdo  knitting like this...)

Now, I know that this is the Russian (or some people also say German) style of knitting!

How my style evolved over the years to get to this result, is a mystery!

Then, while looking at a video of Miriam Tegels, the world's fastest knitter, I saw that she also knits like that...

How in the world does she manage to knit at that breakneck speed? What she calls her "slow speed" is my normal speed...  Oh well... ;-)

Playing!

Hi! I'm sorry I haven't had much time to blog, but at this time of the year, there's just too much canning to do! ;-)

I have been carving out a bit of time to play with all the great features of my sewing machine and with all of the great presser feet that are available.

Yes, I sort of went crazy and bought every foot I could find (and yes, I really do plan on using each and every one of them... eventually! ) ;-)

There are some feet that I use a lot. The zipper feet (invisible and regular), the buttonhole foot, the hemmer foot and of course, the walking foot!!!

I've always had a walking foot and I've always used it a lot, but now, I own two new feet (or should they be called accessories?) that have made sewing even more fun.

First of all, the Ultimate Ruffler! This foot is marvellous! It gathers, it pleats, it rocks! I love it!

Then, my latest purchase and the most surprising of all: the "side cutter foot". Wow!!!

This little workhorse is made by Singer but fits all low shank machines. It works like a mini serger, meaning that it cuts the fabric while you sew!!! See it in action here!

I admit I was a bit dubious about the cutting part, but to my total amazement, it cuts through fabric like butter!

Mind you, it can't do every single thing a serger can, but for the huge price difference, the total ease of use, what I use it for and for the fun of using my machine to serge, it's perfect!

Since the beginning of fall, I've been sewing midi skirts and tunics. I hate being cold, so the skirts need to be midi length to cover my legs down to my boots and to be warm enough for late fall and winter.

I'm also back into full knitting mode! Oh yeah! For the moment, I'm knitting socks, a lot of socks. Not very original, but always useful and always a big hit with my family at the holidays.

I also plan on knitting sweaters for Christmas! If I can only find enough time...

A new knitting technique!!!

Just when you think every knitting technique has been invented, something mind blowing comes along.

Do you read the Rainey sisters' blog? If you don't, you should!

One of the sisters (Susan) figured out how to do invisible stranding! Yes, completely invisible stranding!!! Check this youtube video out!

I purchased the Ravelry pattern to learn the technique and boy, am I ever happy I did! It works, it really does!

It just goes to show you that it's never too late to learn new tricks and to raise your hand knitting to a new level! ;-)

Change is good!

With the purchase of my wonderful brand new sewing machine, I felt the need to shake things up in my attic work room, because, well, it deserved a nice home!

This is what it used to look like. It wasn't as user friendly as I would have liked. Plus there was a lot of wasted space.

The sewing machine was at the far left of the room (out of frame) right at the top of the stairs on a small table and the space never felt comfortable.

So, I shuffled everything around, moved pieces of furniture from and to other parts of the house and this is what it looks like now! Although this is still a work in progress, the layout of the room is more efficient and now works a lot better for me.

                   The white cabinets on both sides of the sewing machine hold fabric.

The sewing corner. This table is much bigger so I can spread out! ;-) 

I repurposed stuff to hold all the thread, ribbons, elastic and tools I need.

Repurposed boxes for buttons and bits of lace. 

(The pile of fabric scraps is not usually there (I have cats), but it was a busy day...) ;-)

The old table I use as a sewing machine table, has a drawer that holds needles, bobbins, presser feet and accessories! 

I'm still looking for a container to store my presser feet, this jumble is not working very well... 

In case you're wondering, I don't have a cutting table in the attic. I use the kitchen island because it's exactly the right height for me and it's really big! Plus, going up and down two flights of stairs is very good exercise!

And, in case you're worrying, the yarn and the knitting machines seem to take it all in stride! :-)

What I did this winter, this spring and a big part of this summer!

Want to see what's been going on here since I last posted, a long, long, long time ago?

Here's a very quick look at some of the things I made!

I made a crochet shawl...

Since my work kept me very busy all through fall, I didn't have time to can anything and my pre-holiday knitting marathon was very short. I still ended up knitting 10 pairs of socks, 1 hat, 1 scarf and 4 pairs of mittens, but it was a very close call and I didn't have time to make everything I had planned.

I do not want to go through that again. No way! So I started next year's Christmas knitting on December 26th!

Since then, I've made a whole lot of socks but many of them have already been given away as birthday gifts... gotta keep on knitting!

Here's one of the happy recipients, showing how the socks match her flowers!


I also knit 2 pairs of adorable newborn sized baby socks in Regia's "my first Regia". This yarn has short colour repeats to go around little feet, the tiny skein is more than enough for a pair (you could squeeze out 3 pairs with two skeins) and is just too cute for words!

I knit an A-line hoodie in red Cascade 220 (the picture on Ravelry was so cute, I had to copy it), but that one's for me!

O.K. I haven't sewn the buttons yet (anyway, it's too warm to wear right now) and it looks really pink but, believe me, it's more of a raspberry red...

Now that I've told you a little bit about the knitting part of my life (there's a lot more to show you in the coming weeks), I have to admit that lately,  I've been spending most of my time sewing. Yup, I've been having a love affair with fabric...

When I  sold my former home in April, I decided to treat myself, so I went ahead and bought a new sewing machine! A computerized 60 stitch Janome with a whole lot of sewing feet to go with it! I'm having a great time trying out everything that machine can do and everything those amazing feet can do!

When I rediscovered sewing last year, I sewed with my old no-name sewing machine. I've had it since the 70's and it was very, very basic to say the least. It had a hard time sewing through more than a couple of layers of fabric, it refused to sew with a double needle and just gave me a hard time all around.

Now, everything's changed, sewing is a pleasure and a lot of fun!

I was so ignorant of how much sewing machines have changed that I didn't even know that they now have auto-threading!!!!!!! That alone was worth buying a new machine! ;-)

They now also have snap-on feet!!! Wow! Where have I been all these years???

Let's just say that I am a very happy camper!

Sold!!!

My former home has finally been sold!!! Yeah!!!!!!!

I now have only one house to take care of, that's more than enough for one person!

And no, it's not an April fool joke! ;-)