Knitting blahs...

This is the time of the year when I always have a problem deciding what to knit. I try a lot of things  and most of them either don't turn out the way I want, or they just don't excite me...

Last week, I had the feeling I was going around in circles. I made a crochet scarf that I don't like. At all. The pattern is The Sweet Eleanore Scarf. It's really cute but I chose the wrong yarn...

It's Mille, a discontinued mohair from Filatura di Crosa. It's a pretty yarn but it doesn't work with the pattern and it looks kind of cheap and flimsy when it isn't knitted at a tight gauge. Oh well, live and learn...

So, since I have a lot left in this colour and in a deeper pink, this scarf will be frogged and will live again as a striped sweater. I'm thinking it might be a Vitamin D like this one.

Since making this, I've cast on many projects that have also been major failures... My biggest problem is that I don't have much warm weather yarn in my stash. 

So I guess I just need to go shopping! :-)

The last warm sweater of the season...

I'm done knitting mohair for this year. I still have a lot of it, but I'm starting on spring stuff. Winter has to end soon, or so I hope...

So, I made this last mohair sweater (for now) on the SK120. It's an old Kristin Nicholas pattern for Classic Elite Yarns, from 1997. I saw it here on Patternfish and copied it.

 Although I loved (adored!) the original colours, I changed them to match the yarn I had. This is how it turned out:

I used the intarsia carriage to make the motif. Good thing I have everything that was ever made for that machine!          ;-)

I also modified the neckline, the cuffs and winged it for the rest. It's warm but it has bright spring colours, so I'll be able to wear it for a while, at least until it gets quite a bit warmer!

Snow, snow, go away...

I'm waiting for the snow storm, cosy in my new machine knit sweater! Yup! I did it again, I dove head first in my yarn baskets and came up with some cotton chenille. Now, I hate hand knitting with chenille, it has a way of driving a knitter crazy! But, knitting it on a bulky knitting machine is a joy!!! The SK 120 and its ribber performed perfectly. Since the machine is very basic, I hand manipulated the needles to knit the jacquard. It goes really fast when you get the hang of it, really!

It's soft, warm and very cuddly, perfect for the cold weather we've been having and the approaching 30 cm of snow!

It might not be quite clear from the photographs, but I made it slightly trapeze shaped, just because I wanted something swingy, I'm such a girly girl at heart! ;-)

The moose are a personal adaptation of many patterns I've knit through the years. I do love a nice moose or deer pattern, I never seem to get tired of those good old classics.

This is the perfect weekend (or snow day) sweater, nothing fancy, just good old comfort!

To spin or not to spin and some green...

O.K. I really would like to try spinning. Why? Hum... Probably because I read about it in some blog at least once a day, because I like everything that has to do with yarn, because I also want to be able to play with all the possibilities that spinning offers and lastly, because an old spinning wheel would look really good in my old house! :-)

I'll start with a drop spindle before I invest in anything else. Who knows I might like that enough to satisfy me?

Anyway, before I do anything else, I have to find out as much as I can about old Quebec spinning wheels so that I can make sure that whatever I find is in working order or can at least be repaired.

From what I've read on different forums, old Quebec wheels are very desirable. Lucky me, there easy to find around here!

Mind you, there's no rush, just a lot of stuff to find out about and a lot of looking around for the perfect wheel. So, a lot of fun times!

Meanwhile, I'm still going through my stash and so, I knit another sweater. For me. Yeah!

I have a lot of mohair from a great deal I came across a few years ago, that's what I used for my mother's latest sweaters. But I have a lot left, in many colours and since I love green, here's what I made on the SK120. The bulky is getting quite a workout these days!

This second photo represents the real colour a lot better!

It's a very simple sweater with a snuggly shawl collar. A little brushing and it'll look like a fuzzy green cloud! :-)

Good for you, good for us!!!

Ravelry just reached 3 million members!!! WOW!!! Knitters and crocheters rejoice, we are to be reckoned with! :-)

Another sweater for my favourite fashionista!

My mother loved her yellow sweater so much that I decided to knit her another one.

I thought it would also make her feel better about her little toe. Her toe had been hurting for a while and although she was sure it was arthritis, it turns out the toe is broken and will probably never quite mend because of her age...

So, a red sweater to lift her spirits seemed to be in order.

Thanks to the SK120 knitting machine and to a well stocked stash, I whipped this up in no time.

 This colour is very hard to photograph...

I did a hand manipulated lace motif at the wrists.

I also did the same motif at the front edges, which I then folded in half to give the edges more body. The neck opening closes with a hidden hook and eye.

Naturally, the same motifs are at the bottom of the vest. Simple but feminine, like my mother. ;-)

How a Bulky can make my mother happy!

I've already told you about my very fashion conscious 91 year old mother.

Well this time she  hinted she could use a nice Chanel type sweater, yellow if possible, to wear when she plays bridge. It seems the room where they play every monday night, is sometimes a bit cold and that a new warm cardigan would be perfect.

She already has many of them but since she always plays with the same people, she says she really can't wear the same clothes all the time! I told you she was fashion conscious! ;-)

So, here is the result of many phone conversations and yarn eliminations:

The edges are bound in knit bands as are the false pocket edges. That's where the Chanel inspiration comes in.

I made it on my bulky knitting machine, that good old SK 120, using some stashed mohair. The honeycomb stitch is in the SK120 instruction booklet.

My mom is happy, chic and warm, so, I'm happy too! :-)

Can you have too many sweaters?

While I knit one more sweater, I have time to think about my obsession with them.

I like sweaters! No, a better way to put it would be to say I love sweaters! I love knitting them, I love wearing them (and I do wear them a lot!) and I love giving them to those I love!

I love many kinds of sweaters, in many kinds of yarn but I have a preference for cold weather sweaters.

I can never have too many, so I go on knitting away! It's also a great way to put a dent in my stash... ;-)

Here's the latest warm addition to my winter wardrobe.

It's a short cropped sweater (cute with a skirt or skinny jeans) that I adapted slightly from a Norah Gaughan pattern in Vogue Knitting, Fall 2000 . I haven't seen it on Ravelry, so, I took a picture of the original to show you what it looked like and I'll try to put it on Ravelry. I haven't found out how to do it yet... Update! I've put the pattern on Ravelry!

I added a big turtleneck to make it warmer and because I thought it would be more practical considering the climate around here.

It was a quick, easy and satisfying pullover to knit. Chunky yarn and an easy pattern= almost instant gratification! Who doesn't need that once in a while?

The absolute best knitting bag???

My knitting bag (an old repurposed messenger bag) is too small for my needs. It doesn't have enough inside pockets, it doesn't stand upright on its own, the zipper is now broken beyond repair and I've never been satisfied with it.. I need a new one!!!

I've been looking at luggage, book bags, diaper bags, photography bags, you name it...

Of course I've also looked at real knitting bags, but mostly online...

I've read blog posts and forums on the subject and they made me feel completely inadequate since I only have ONE knitting bag! But, truthfully, I don't need more than one, if it's big enough for one big project and a small one. I never carry more than 2 hand knit (or crochet) projects because I'm never away from home for very long and, if I am, it gives me a good excuse to go shopping for yarn! :-)

My dream knitting bag would be lined, it would have a wide sturdy strap or two, be big enough for a sweater's worth of yarn, have a ton of zippered pockets, at least 2 sections for different projects, a special space for needles, be in a classic and "go with everything" colour and it would be able to stay upright, a bit like those old knitting bags with a foldable frame... I would also like it to be easy to keep clean.

I still haven't found THE bag, the closest I've come is the JanetBasket Eco Bag, there's a great discussion about it here on Ravelry, with pictures of what the bag looks like inside. It's almost perfect but it's been very popular since that discussion started and now, the colours I like are sold out!!!

Do you have or know of a great knitting bag I might fall in love with?

A whole lot of knitting going on!

Well, even though the days are getting longer, it's still winter in these parts and spring is not just around the corner... Far from it...

So, I'm knitting warm stuff and since I have a lot of yarn (that's a bit of an understatement) I just have to go through my stash to find out what I'm going to knit next.

So let me show you what came off my needles yesterday!

A very quick to knit turtleneck.

The stranded pattern is from an old european magazine. I only kept the graph (in an ill-avised bout of streamlining my pattern addiction) so I don't know which magazine it is, I only know the instructions are in french. I made it short because I didn't have enough wool to make it longer (I told you I was shopping my stash) and boxy to allow me to wear another turtleneck underneath to make it even warmer!

Inga mittens!

I knit the Inga Hat before Christmas. I thought a pair of matching mittens would be cute, so I removed a few stitches from each side of the pattern to make it mitten size, added after thought thumbs and ribbed cuffs for added warmth! Here is the result:

I know, the lighting isn't great... It was snowing when I took the pictures and that's the best I could do...

I put the Inga pattern on the front only. I chose to make a plain red palm with a small motif on the wrist.

Won't they look cute together?

Remembering Lillehammer!!!

O.K. It's been cold and very windy, so... I've been knitting like a maniac!

Here's what I've come up with this time:

A Lillehammer Winter Olympics inspired knit! Absolutely the best Olympics to spot great sweaters!!!

I took the picture while it was still a little damp, that's why it's flat on its back.

I already had the clasps and I only needed something to sew them on...

Once again, I mixed a few cards and a few colours...

A few hearts never hurt, especially in february...

There's nothing like new clothes to make winter bearable! ;-)

What's hiding behind?

Following my last post, Sheryl asked what the reverse side of double knit jacquard looks like and Tom asked if I could show the cards I used to knit the norwegian inspired sweater. Well, ask and you shall receive!

Let's start with the reverse side (I used technique A, bird's eye double jacquard):

As you can see, the it's very neat and tidy. It has no long floats (in fact, it has no floats at all) and since the stitches are doubled, it makes a very warm fabric.

Now, on to the cards I used.

As you can see, before I punched the cards, I drew some motifs which I then modified. That explains the faint blue circles... ;-)

Now, because it's still very cold and I still feel very "nordic", let me tease you with a glimpse of what I'm working on...

... and the main card I'm using. Card #163 from the "Deco patterns 101-330" book. I used that card for a sweater last year...

I made a few mistakes (trying to go too fast) while punching it, that's why there are a few pieces of transparent tape on it. They do a perfect job at repairing dumb blunders, which is a very good thing since I'm down to my very last blank card! I must remember to order some...

P.S: These are Passap cards, so they're 40 stitches across.

Anything to keep warm!

It was cold last week, so cold that the cat didn't even want to go outside, so cold that the sea smoke over the Saint-Lawrence was like an opaque wall over fifty feet tall!

How cold, you ask? The coldest it got was -40 (that's where farenheit and celsius meet). The warmest was around -25 celsius, -13 farenheit without the wind chill factor... It's very windy here!

It was that cold for over a week, long enough to test a whole lot of gloves and mittens. Well, even though I'm really well equipped for that kind of temperature, I've come to the realization that I don't have anything that keeps my fingertips warm in that kind of cold... None of my mittens or lined leather gloves did the job. My fingers froze in a few minutes every time I went outside.

Since the cold season isn't over and I hate having frozen fingers (it hurts!), this week I'm testing ways to knit super duper hot mittens. The main plan is to try felted, thrummed and lined. I'll keep you posted, I might even need to combine two methods together...

In the meantime, for those nice winter days when you can go cross country skiing, I finished the SnawPaws for my daughter.

To go with the SnawHeid,

The colours don't look the same because of the lighting, but, they are! :-)


I also managed to make good progress on a mitten adaptation of the Inga hat.

Yeah!

On the Passap machine knitting front, I made a scandinavian inspired wool sweater in double knit jacquard for my son:

 

I made it by combining a few existing cards with some I drew and punched myself.


The snow and cold always inspire me to go with those kinds of knits! ;-)

Gremlins?

Like everyone, I've had things disappear in the mysterious black hole that resides somewhere in my home. The first thing that comes to mind is socks, but we all know that in that case the dryer likes to send them to another dimension...

No, what I'm talking about is those things that just disappear in thin air with no rhyme or reason. You know what I mean? Knitting needles, that last ball of yarn you need to finish your sweater... I even lost a big box of knitting books and Rowan magazines like that. Some nights I can be seen wandering aimlessly, looking for it in very strange places. It haunts me to this day...

Well, something even stranger just happened to me.

Something appeared out of nowhere!

I was rummaging through my big yarn basket, the one I keep in the living room for my current projects and for those I might feel like knitting.

While looking for some white Briggs & Little Sport for the SnawPaws I'm currently knitting, I came across a set of pale blue plastic double pointed needles I've never seen before!!!!!!

This is extremely troubling, because I've never bought pale blue plastic double pointed needles, nobody ever gave me pale blue plastic double pointed needles and no other knitters have come over to my house recently!

It gets even weirder! I completely emptied that basket 2 days ago to put away the yarn that was left from my Christmas projects. There were NO knitting needles in there, blue plastic or otherwise!

Mind you, I don't mind getting needles from some knitting ghost, I just wish it would have returned my books and magazines instead...

P.S: Dear ghost or gremlin or whatever you are, if you can only manage knitting needles, I'd rather get metal or wood ones! ;-)

A red, red cowl!

I told you my 91 year old mother asked me to make her a red cowl for her birthday. A bright red cowl in alpaca. Well, being a very good, obedient  daughter, I was happy to oblige!

Here it is:

I photographed it all over the place, trying to find good lighting in this late afternoon sunlight. It wasn't easy...

The stitch is a mixture of double crochet and front post treble crochet. I also made scallops at the top to frame my mother's face. :-)

It's really cold today, - 20 degrees celsius (-4 degrees farenheit) with a wind chill factor of -28 celsius (-18 farenheit), getting even colder tonight, so a warm cowl will be appreciated!

I'm giving it to her this evening when we celebrate both her birthday and my son's birthday with a bunch of friends. I hope she loves it!!! I'll try to get pictures if the restaurant lighting allows it...

The mittens are going well, my daughter should be able to wear them for her birthday next week! She lives 3 hours away and she doesn't know it yet, but I'll be delivering them in person! Yeah!!!

Birthday knitting!

Yesterday was my mother's birthday, today is my son's birthday. Luckily, my daughter's birthday isn't for a couple of weeks, that gives me time to knit her two pairs of mittens!

So, I'm making a crochet cowl for my mother, she admired a few of the cowls I made and requested a cowl in thick alpaca like the cowl I made for my daughter.

The only difference is that my mother wants a  bright red cowl! My mother just turned 91!!! No old lady accessories for her! ;-)

I made a "Frolicking deers" hat (only the funny side) for my son. He's crazy about it. He always loves getting hand knits, but this hat is something else, the vintage look almost hides the pattern for a few seconds. Then, when the pattern becomes apparent, it makes people grin and even laugh out loud!

Isn't cuter with a pompom?

Now, for my daughter, I'm knitting Kate Davies' Snawpaws after which I'll adapt the pattern to match the Inga hat.

When my birthday knitting is all done, I'll be free to knit and crochet whatever I want!!! I'm thinking rugs, sweaters and a "Ron Weasley blanket" adapted for the knitting machine (I'm thinking double jacquard maybe?)

I've also started making some pompoms. I have a couple of ideas I want to try out that are going to take pompoms, a lot of pompoms, a huge whole lot of pompoms!!! By the way, I'm finding pompoms to be great stash busters!

Stay tuned!