Wooly Knits N Bits

Twice the fun

2012-02-07T20:04:00.000-05:00

All done!
You saw the beginning of this project here.
I'm not an avid sock knitter but knitting 2-at-a-time did make it much better since both socks are done at once!

I love this mohair/merino yarn. It's perfect for socks.

This technique is tricky at first but once you have a few inches of knitting done, it goes much more smoothly.
Will this technique make me more eager to knit sock? You betcha it will.
I'll have another pair on the needles by the weekend!

Afterglow is...

2012-01-27T14:20:00.000-05:00

...the title of a poem found in my father's wallet after his death.

Here is what it says:

Afterglow

I'd like the memory of me

To be a happy one

I'd like to leave an afterglow

Of smiles when day is done.

I'd like to leave an echo

Whispering softly down the ways

Of happy times and laughing times

And bright and sunny days

I'd like the tears of those who grieve

To dry before the sun

Of happy memories I leave behind

When day is done.

Helen Lowrie Marshall

I can only guess that my father was touched by the words in this poem, which is why he kept this newspaper clipping in his wallet...it was yellowed and a bit torn, so it probably was there for a few years.
After a search on google, I was able to find the name of the author.

A few weeks after this discovery, I was on Etsy looking for some hand dyed fiber to spin. I found myself in the Etsy shop of wildhare. Would you believe that I came across a polwarth wool top named Afterglow! I knew I had to purchase this fiber, no matter what.

Picture from the Etsy shop of wildhare

It took me longer than usual to spin this just because I had told myself that I would spin it only when I was in the right frame of mind to remember all those wonderful moments with my father and what a very very special person he was. I spent many wonderful afternoons, spinning in the autumn sun just remembering and knowing that my father had indeed left us with a wonderful afterglow of memories.

From this fiber, I knitted a cowl and a pair of mittens.

Pattern: Ripple cowl (free from Bernat)
Needles: 4.5mm
Yarn: handspun from Afterglow polworth wool fiber from wildhare shop
Modifications: I did only three repeats of the pattern because I ran out of yarn. But it still measures 9'' wide by 40'' long. Lot's to wrap twice around my neck.

Pattern: Top down mittens (free from Ravelry)
Needles: 3.5mm
Yarn: handspun from Afterglow polworth wool fiber from wildhare shop
Modifications: none
I love knitting mittens from the top down to the cuff!

Every time I take the cowl and mittens out of the drawer and wear them, my thoughts go to him...my father.

Alpaca joy

2012-01-21T19:45:00.000-05:00

Today, winter offered us one of the best winter days. Sun, blue skies, cool temperatures and lots of snow on the ground.

Alpacas don't care for deep snow. They don't like to venture out in it much. We noticed that all they do now is walk to the water and back to the feeders. The snow is just too deep for them. In the picture below, the trails on the alpaca side are minimal.

Our llama is now with the two crias (being weaned from their pregnant moms). The llama will walk around his pasture. With the long legs he has, this is easier for him.

So hubby decided to do some plowing for them. This green beast will do the job easily. So the animals were brought into the barn so that the work could be done.

A nice wide trail was plowed from the barn to the heated water.

Water is very important, especially now that the animals are eating dry hay, containing little or no moisture.

Once the deed was done, the barn door were opened and out they came to inspect the work.

Will they like it or not?

They walked down one way, then the next.

And then, they started running as if saying: FINALLY, some room to run!

They zoomed back and forth in front of me, just going as fast as their legs would go.

Sometimes, kicking their feet up...it was wonderful to see them having so much fun.

Here they come again!

...and back down the other way.

Yoohoo!

On the llama and cria side, things were a lot more calm...

Well, this was our saturday, I hope yours brought you joy too!

Mmm.Mmm.Mmm.Marmalade!

2012-01-14T13:26:00.000-05:00

What do you do when you haven't seen the sun for almost a week?

You bring a little bit of sunshine in the house by making marmalade.

This is the second time I make this recipe and we just love it so much.

It all starts like any other marmelade...with lemons and oranges.

But this marmalade has a little something unexpected.

3 cups of grated carrots!
This adds so much colour to the marmalade.

The recipe can be found on the Canadian Living Magazine website.

Carrot Orange Marmalade

All done and ready to be put on toast.

Go ahead and try it...it'll add sunshine to your day!

Happy blues!

2012-01-12T09:29:00.000-05:00

Our daughter invited us for dinner one night just before New Year's Eve. We always look forward to getting together. Our son also joined us, so the whole gang was there. Our grand daughter is growing so fast (she's 2 now) and it's so much fun to listen to her talk non-stop.

When we arrived, our daughter stepped out of the kitchen with a blue bow on the front of her shirt.

I immediately knew what that meant and started jumping up and down (screaming and laughing). Dear hubby thought the bow was a funny looking thing to put on the front of your shirt and could not understand why I was so excited about it.

As you might know, I basically had to spell it out for him...our pregnant daughter had just found out that our next grandchild would be a boy!!

A little grandson for the end of May. A little brother for bb O.

Well, last night, I came across a pattern for tiny little mittens. With leftover sock yarn, I casted on and completed a pair. No pinks and purples for this little one...we're going blues and greens.

Pattern: Top down baby mittens

Designer: Kathy Broughton (Check out her other patterns here)

Yarn: leftover Berocco SOX yarn

Work in Progress

2012-01-10T19:41:00.000-05:00

winter = long evenings=knitting =movie watching

That pretty much sums up what is happening around here lately. I have a few knitting projects on the go at the moment.
Let me show you.
The knitters guild I belong to has challenged us to try a new technique in the new year. That was just the push I needed to get going on learning to knit 2-at-a-time socks.
I had this wonderful sock blank in 50% mohair, 50% wool from Wellington Fibers just for this.

And I had the 2-at-a-time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes to teach me just that!
I must admit that this is not an easy method to master at the beginning but I'm happy I stuck with it because after the first inch or so is knitted, it gets much easier. I have a feeling that I will be knitting my socks this way from now on. It will be nice to have both socks done at the same time.

Also on the needles for a few weeks now is a cardigan kit I bought last fall at the K-W Knitter's Fair in Kitchener-Waterloo. The pattern is called Whisper. Designer is Linda Benne.

It will be a very lightweight cardigan, great for spring. The green stitches you see will become a sleeve once I'm done with the back and front piece.

When I knit projects that are done on small needles and are going to take some time to knit, I usually need something fast to give me a feeling of accomplishment, so I found a great cowl to cast on with a worsted weight handspun yarn I had. This was a two evenings worth of knitting...very satisfying!

It's a very loose cabled cowl, knitted sideways then kitchenered stitch. The green stitches you see on the end is the provisional cast-on that will be taken apart to give me the live stitches needed to do the kitchener stitch when I'm done.

As soon as I'm done, I be back with info on the pattern and there's a story that goes with this handspun...

Before I let you go, I have to show you what I've found!

I used to travel a lot to Toronto for meeting and conferences. I loved it when our meetings were downtown because I could then take a nice walk in the evenings to the Eaton Center and other shops in that area.

There was a Fossil store in the mall that had the most beautiful purses. But I would never pay the $200 to $300 they were asking for these. But I still loved to go in and look.

Most of the purses that caught my eye had a combination of leather and fabric...beautiful fabrics.

Imagine my excitement when I found such a purse in a recycling / reuse operation called Rebuilt Resources!!!

Isn't too cute? This bag will be a project bag. It might be a summer bag too. I have no idea how old it is or the $value. It's in mint condition. I paid $3 for it.
Had my hubby been with me you would have heard me yell: Start the car! when I left the store.
Love those kind of finds!

All about Mia

2012-01-05T08:28:00.000-05:00

Have you met Mia yet?Being a houseful of dogs, they are the ones we talk about the most but our cat Mia deserves a bit of attention once in a while...and believe me she insists on a bit of attention!
Mia is about 3 years old. I think this sweet cat is quite confused because she act much more like a dog that anything else. She follows me around the house and will wait for me. She plays with the dogs and loves their company.
Mia is Miss Personality with a capital P.
She loves to read with me! She knows there's no room on my lap when I'm sitting at the kitchen counter drinking my morning coffee and reading my emails or blogs, so the next best thing is to jump on the chair's back and rest on my shoulders.

And how about getting a little closer...Mia has figured out a way to crawl on my back and wrap herself around my neck! I don't assist her at all, she does it on her own...and I wonder why I have neck issues!!! But there is something quite nice about having a cat purr sweet nothings in your ear!

Then there are those moments that are just too funny...here she is sprawled out on her back on the ottoman. Life must be so good when you can relax to that extent!

And then there are those moments when she wants to cool off by lying on the back of chairs or sofas with all four legs dangling on either sides.

Her favorite position on our kitchen stools.

We can say she's quite entertaining.

New Year's Mantra

2012-01-01T17:17:00.000-05:00

Read this on Sheep Thrills Yarn's blog and loved it...thought I would share it with you here as it's a good way to start the new year...

May we break boundaries, tear down walls, and build on the foundation of goodness inside each of us.

May we look past differences, gain understanding, and embrace acceptance.

May we reach out to each other, rather than resist.

May we be better stewards of the earth, protecting, nurturing, and replenishing the beauties of nature.

May we practice gratitude for all we have, rather than complain about our needs.

May we seek cures for the sick, help for the hungry, and love for the lonely.

May we share our talents, give our time, and teach our children.

May we hold hope for the future very tenderly in our hearts and do all we can to build for a brighter tomorrow.

And may we love with our whole hearts, for that's the only way to love.....

My 2012 resolution remains the same as last year...live healthier. I'm keeping it for another year not because I didn't accomplish this in 2011 but because I believe being healthy is an ongoing process, there is always something more you can do to live a healthy lifestyle. So keep eating well, keep being active, keep meditating and being positive. I should add, to keep learning. It's a good thing to always stimulate our brains with new stuff. It's good to challenge ourself with a new technique and feel great about it when we master it.

About the babies...

Pups are thriving and keeping us busy...mom is super great with them.

They are now 1 week old. (you will count 11 pups as one did not make it the first 24 hours)

I revamped our kennel's website last week. Have a look if you are interested in learning more about our dogs.

I wish you a wonderful 2012 with good health and peace in your heart.

Thank you to all my readers, those that read and leave comments as well as those quiet readers. I appreciate your presence more than words can tell.

Cheers!

New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T16:46:00.000-05:00

All the best for the New Year...health, joy and peace.

We did get that snow in time for Christmas!

Christmas cheer from our family to yours!

2011-12-25T07:36:00.000-05:00

I'm up early, the house is very quiet and dark. Coffee is hot and so good. It's nice to have a bit of time to catch my breath before everyone gets up.

As if this time of the year is not hectic enough, our beautiful Emma gave birth to 12 puppies on Christmas Eve!
You read right, 12.
Why do dogs give birth at night (most of the time)? She started at 1am and kept at it till lunch time on the 24th!

Emma is very tired but doing well. We are keeping 24 hour watch on the pups to make sure they are all warm and feeding...so far so good!

(you will not find 12 of them in this picture...only a few)

The cowl for Nameless is done and blocking as I write this...by the time we open gifts this afternoon, it will be wrapped and under the tree!!

I'll have pictures next time.

My mother is with us for a few days. Being the first Christmas without my dad, our thoughts and conversations often go to him. It's good to be together.

Hugs to all of you and enjoy your day!

Lights out for two

2011-12-22T08:44:00.001-05:00

A migraine kept me pinned to my bed for the past two days. *sigh* After seeing countless doctors, naturopaths, physio therapist, massage therapists, accupuncturists...I have still not been able to find anyone that can make them go away. *sigh*
Oh, well, just get up and get on with life.

My yarn is spun and last minute gift is casted on.
No pressure for the last minute knitting...if it's not done for Christmas, I will wrap it while still on the needles! Nameless will understand that the gift will be done in the week following Christmas.
I must show you this scarf. The colours are so great...blend of pinks, purples, yellows.

The shape is more or less circular, since the cast on of 130 stitches is doubled on the third row to almost 260 stitches.

The amount of stitches is doubled one more time just before the 1 x 1 rib on the edge.

Patterns: 28's cousin 53! (available for free on Ravelry)
Yarn: my hand dyed fingering 100% merino
Needles: 4.5 mm circular needles
Modification: kept knitting the 1 x 1 rib till I almost ran out of yarn.

The pattern says there is no need to block but I chose to steam it with my iron just to take away all puckers. I prefer it that way.

I will do a bit of baking today, so I'll have a few things on hand for the weekend.
I hope the next few days before Christmas will not be too stressful for you, take the time to breathe and enjoy the moment. First thing we'll know, it will be Monday and all over with.

Moving along

2011-12-16T21:13:00.000-05:00

Christmas preparations are still going on.

This morning I got most of the gift wrapping done. I don't think I'll put them under the tree yet in case our grand daughter comes over and thinks Santa has come early!

After cleaning the basement floor, I took a few hours off to sit at my wheel and spin.

Tomorrow I will hopefully finish spinning this fiber and I'll let it rest 24 hours before I ply it. (Fingers crossed I will get it done by Sunday so I can cast on.)

I read several knitting blogs. A favorite of mine, is Knitted Bliss, written by a Northern girl from Sudbury now living in southern Ontario. In today's post, Julie invites those of us that want to join in The Versatile Blogger Award to do so.

The rules are:
1. Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along to recently discovered blogs you enjoy reading.
4. Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award.
_____________
So here goes with sharing 7 things about myself.

1. I don't love chocolate. (What do you mean, I'm not human!) I'll avoid it or have a tiny bite and be happy with that.

2. I love potato chips, yup, could have those every day of the week!
3. When I was in university, I read the entire French dictionnary. I come from a small town where everyone spoke french but with a lot of slang. It was time to improve on my vocabulary. I have always loved the power of words. I am easily touched by well spoken words.

4. On the subject of being french speaking...I have a lot of trouble with correctly using English expressions. (You might have noticed while reading my blog that I write kinda funny sometimes...it's just the way it is in English for me but in French, I can talk a million miles an hour) I met my hubby at the age of 17 and spoke a very basic English. All of my friends and relatives were french speaking. I worked in a very french environment my whole life. So English is still a second language to me. I get the english expressions mixed up and hubby and I laugh a lot about it. For example, the other night I told him that someone was trying to pull the hood over his head. He laughed and said: Do you mean pull the wool over my eyes?

5. I would love to learn Spanish. I took courses in university but never kept up with it. I love the musicality of that language. I would also love to know what the words of those beautiful latin songs mean. Maybe something to look forward to in the near future.
6. I have been driving Honda CRVs for a long long time. Best vehicule on the market! I can put a few dogs in the back or pieces of furniture I find here and there. Will always own a CRV.

7. I'm a movie addict. I can watch four/five movies in a row, no problem. I set myself up with my knitting, a hot tea and a bowl of chips (ok, not a bowl but the whole bag...see # 2 above). In this house, I watch movies with a bunch of dogs around me since hubby prefers sports).

Everyone is invited to participate is you are inclined to do so. Let me know if you decide to.

Countdown

2011-12-15T09:47:00.000-05:00

It happens every year...I think I have so much time before Christmas and first thing I know, there is only 10 days left! I mean, really, where does time go?
Last weekend, I decided to add more knitting to the list. (The knitting mojo had kinda left me for a few weeks. I'm so happy it's back!)

I had two handspun skeins of this merino/silk blend and decided to cast on for a cowl. It's almost done now and I will cast off by the weekend. I'll be back with a picture next week. But this is actually a test knit...not for someone on the list. It will be mine.
Someone (that shall remain nameless for now) had put a Roots cowl on her Christmas list this year...made out of 100% acrylic. When you're a knitter, it's very hard to love that stuff. It feels soft at first but does it have any warmth value to it? And how can I send her out in the world with an acrylic cowl when I have beautiful yarns in my stash?
I did not want to make it super long but long enough to be wrapped twice around the neck... So I've modified the pattern a bit. And I had two skeins of this green colour to make sure I had enough...turns out I will need all of both skeins.

I have some blue handspun merino for Nameless's cowl...BUT only one skein spun. Luckily I have another braid I can spin...this weekend. I think I've just set myself up for some last minute knitting. I hope to have the second skein spun, washed and dried by Sunday so that I can start knitting on Monday and have it knitted, blocked and wrapped by Saturday!!!

We are having some unseasonal weather this week...enough with the rain please!
The fields are a mess, dogs and alpacas are wet and muddy. Temperatures will be dropping tomorrow and those puddles in the yard will turn to ice...Please send snow our way...NOW!

Oh, the craft show went really well...beyond my expectations! I had a great time.

Witty Artisan craft show

2011-11-30T19:20:00.000-05:00

Go for it!
That's what I decided to do with all of my hand dyed yarn, fiber, stitch markers etc in my studio. Decided to join a wonderful group of people and participate in their Christmas craft show.
The Witty Artisans 2011 Christmas craft show is happening at The Portage Restaurant and Function Hall on Sunday December 4th from 10 to 4.
Come and join us if you can!

Here is a sample of what I'll be offering.

Wire words for the obssessed yarn collector on your Christmas list.

Stitch markers

Hand dyed lace yarn

65% wool / 35% silk

Hand dyed sock yarn

Sheep soap

I will also have some project bags and gift bags ready to give away to your favorite knitter or to yourself!

Do come and see us, you won't be disappointed with all the talented artisans present. And wouldn't it be nice to be able to cross off a few names on your Christmas list!

Winter update: We got our fair share of snow last night! At least 8 to 10 inches in some spots. Buses were cancelled and roads were icy. Well, might as well get used to it as it's only the beginning!

I love to see children in very bright winter clothes. It's such a pop of colour next to fresh white snow!

Our grand daughter spent the day with me today. We HAD to go outside to play! (Let me tell you, I'll sleep very well tonight). And look how that little hat made with my handspun yarn is so perfect with her snow suit. As I was knitting it, I thought that the bright green was a little too much...who would have thought that it would be the perfect match to the suit.

First snow

2011-11-29T19:11:00.001-05:00

We had our first (little) snowfall this morning!

Makes the landscape look so nice. I was looking forward to my morning visit with the animals and fully intended to take my time and enjoy the fresh snow.

So, after coffee, out the door I went.

Thought I would take my camera and capture the wonderful feeling that fresh snow can bring.

As I step into the alpaca pasture, they all come running to greet me. They know it's feeding time and want to make sure I head for the barn.

But then something unexpected happenned!

See the look of concern on their face? Or is it a confused look?

Even the dogs were unsure of what happened.

As I stepped from the walkway onto the grass area, I ended up flat on my back so quickly I did not even have time to react. Camera still in hand, while I was down there I figured I'd show you the reason for the splat!

Rubber boots!

No traction!

I guess this is good enough reason to put those away and take out the winter boots!

No more greens to find in the pastures, the hay bar is a popular gathering spot.

In order to keep a bit of summer greenery, a small herb pot with parsley and rosemary is now in the house. Hopefully we get enough sun to keep it going for a while longer and we can enjoy them in our cooking.

Getting ready for a craft show...happening this weekend.

Pics and more on this tomorrow.

Hat and cowl

2011-11-05T10:16:00.000-04:00

Today looks like it will be a perfect day. Beautiful morning sun. Crisp cool air. Quiet house. Nothing urgent to get done. Perfect.

My Helix scarf is slow going, so I decided to take break from it and look for some quick knits to do.
I had bought this wonderful Alpaca/Wool yarn last winter. It's Fleece Artist Aran Alpaca.

When I saw the Bandana cowl pattern, I knew I had to have one. It comes to a deep v in the front, it will be warm even though my coat is not zipped up to my neck. It took two evenings of knitting to complete. It has a lot of W&T (wrap and turn) but they are easy to do.

With lots of yarn left, I started to look for a hat pattern and came across the Amanda hat. This also took two evenings of knitting.

I love the fit of this hat. Because it doesn't have a ribbed edge, it's a little looser around my head and actually fits better. It doesn't do the big squeeze which I know makes me look like a dork in most hats.

It has an interesting lace pattern with psso (pass slip stitch over).

I am definitely casting on another one of these...won't say for whom in case she reads this.

This was a huge skein of yarn (250 grams) and I know I can squeeze a pair of mittens from it as well. So off I go to find a pattern...the Helix scarf will have to wait a few more days before I get back to it.

Have a good weekend!

Our weekend

2011-10-30T21:12:00.000-04:00

Our grand daughter O loves the alpacas. She talks about them all the time when she's at home and can't wait to come over on the weekend to visit. As soon as she enters the house, she runs to the windows facing the pastures to see them. She knows their names and is always willing to join us for a walk when it's feeding time.

O is wearing her new hat made with my handspun yarn. I'm really happy with this yarn and with the pattern.

Pattern: Bimple (from Wooly Wormhead)

Yarn: my handspun

Ginger

Updated my Etsy shop to add a few combed tops. Sold a project bag and skein of yarn this weekend so a trip to the post office early tomorrow morning!

Hubby put the winter tires on my vehicule this weekend...just in case.

It`s in the air

2011-10-28T12:28:00.000-04:00

This morning is one of those crisp bright sunny morning. I can feel W.I.N.T.E.R in the air!
Love it !

As I walk through the fields to get to the barn in the morning, the alpacas gather up and follow me knowing they are going to get their pellets and fresh hay.

Have a look at these two cuties. Aren't the babies growing? Coco is still the entertainer. And Fiona plays shy. They are doing a great job of growing that fiber for MOI!
They know the deal...I'll take care of them and in return they'll provide me with some soooft fiber...great arrangement.

Ginger gets up real close to check things out. After this shot, she raced to the barn to wait for me.
(I am due for a new camera...so difficult to take great pics with this old one...soon...Christmas is coming, right?)

Here's what's been keeping me busy.
A little bit of a learning curve again, but I think I've found a dyeing technique that works for now.

I've decided I need to supply my own fiber for my spinning addiction, so I've ordered some bare fiber and proceeded to dye it on my own.
(Can't use my alpaca fiber just yet...need to get that to the mill soon!)

Since I've made lots, I will add some to my shop and see how that goes. I should have that done over the weekend.

On the knitting front, I'm working on a Helix scarf

and plan on casting on for a Whisper cardigan.

Have a great weekend and Happy Halloween!

Look at what I got!

2011-10-14T16:38:00.000-04:00

I love hand painted furniture. Most pieces of furniture in our home is painted. Most of them by me. I buy the pieces at garage sales, or at second hand store. Kijiji is also another good place to find great pieces of furniture. Some pieces were given to us. I usually paint them with latex paint and sometimes will add a coat of varnish. But I've been eyeing this product for quite some time now...

Annie Sloan Chalk paint!
I have plans for these three colours. As you can see, I have Duck Egg, Old White and Paris Grey. I ordered the clear wax and the dark one as well.
Only one place in Ontario carries this paint!
I hope it lives up to it's reputation, I'll keep you posted.

On the spinning front, I have been busy (what can I say!).
This first yarn, was my own hand dyed. It's chained plied and I love this mix of blue and green.

Colorway: Grateful dyed.
Superwash wool top. (4 oz)
From Wild Hare fiber studio

The colours are crazy! But I think it will be fun to knit something small like hat or mitts for our grand daughter.

So that I could keep the colours separate, I chain plied it. I mostly succeded, only a few sections have the colours mixed.

Colorway: Sugar Maple.

Blue-Faced Leicester Wool Top. (4 oz)
From Wild Hare fiber studio

Again, a three ply. I love these colours. I'm thinking of a cowl or a scarf for myself. Very very soft!

It's appears brighter that what it really is. The colours are more muted than the picture shows.

Here is a 75% Blue-Faced Leicester and 25% Tussah silk.

Colorway: Vervaine

From: All For Love of Yarn Studio

(photo comes from All For Love of Yarn Etsy Shop)

All spun up and ready to ply. I plan on making a 2 ply with it. That's why I have it on two bobbins. Maybe tomorrow.

And last but not least.
Colorway: Peacock
Superwash Wool (4 oz)
From: Wild Hare Etsy fiber studio

Just finished this morning, a very full bobbin (I was not quite done when I took this pic).
I will do another three ply with it so I can keep the colours separate. You can't see the purple and aqua. I won't be able to chain ply this onto one of my bobbins because it's going to be way too full...I have to see how to go about this.

As you can see, I have been ignoring all cobweb and dust bunnies in the house. Making meals has also become secondary. If only spinning would count as a cardio workout. I could spin and be shape up at the same time!

Rainy weekend ahead, so a bit of cocooning is going to happen here. Hope you enjoy yours too!

More handspun

2011-09-26T18:29:00.000-04:00

On the spool

Now, navajo plied

A very soft polwarth fleece. Colours range from blues, to browns, to brick reds.
I think I should take time to plan what I will be knitting with all of this handspun...
naw...
not yet...
I still want to spin more.

Weekend pleasures

2011-09-25T13:24:00.000-04:00

With hubby gone to get the trails to the hunting camp ready for the hunting season, I have a weekend all to myself.

Saturday was a pj day...all day! The animals didn't mind my sloppy self one bit. It somehow feels more relaxing when you spend a whole day in your pjs, don't you think?
But lots got done.

I started my day with some spinning...of course.

Last week, I hand dyed some roving I had originally purchased to felt around my handmade soaps. This stuff is not super soft but will be great for mitts and socks.

A mixture of red and yellow dyes gave me a mixture of pink, orange and coral. Funny how we see no reds and no yellows, all the colours blended together and I really like it that way.

Not knowing any better (remember I am a new spinner), I did not do much pre drafting and I had a bit of a struggle to spin it.
But nevertheless, it is an improvement over my first skein. A bit more even... not all over even but better.

I also navajo plied this yarn. So it's a three ply. I didn't measure how many meters I have yet but it was close to 125 grams.

I had also dyed some roving in shades of blues and greens.

This time, I did lots of predrafting and the spinning of this just flowed. I spun all of this yesterday between other things I did around the house. I will let it sit a few days before I ply it. I have not decided if I will do a 2-ply or a 3-ply again.

Here is the spinning I did earlier this week. I told you, I am quite obsessed with my spinning wheel. I have a bit of a knot in by belly at the moment, because I don't have anymore fiber in the house! Any enablers out there?

Preserving beets is an annual thing at our house. We like them done quite simply. No added spices. Just thickly sliced, pickled in sugar and vinegar.
I cook the beets between 30 to 60 minutes. I know the beets are cooked when the skin come off very easily. (just put one beet in cold water and test it to see).
I then slice them up and drop them in Mason jars. Fill the jar with the hot mixture of vinegar and sugar. Close the lid and voilà, beets for the year.

I made 14 lbs of beets this year. A few of these jars will make their way to the hunting camp for the boys to eat up. The rest will be for us to enjoy all year long.

Dogs are enjoying the beautiful fall days we are having. Lots of sun but still cool enough to be comfortable.

(Bella, Anouk's daughter enjoying a quite moment in the sun)

Next weekend, I'm going to the province of Québec for a girl's weekend at friend's cottage. How great is that?

Serious fun!

2011-09-21T21:57:00.000-04:00

Ok, that's it! I'm giving up everything else I know and do to commit myself totally to this new fun. I am willing to give up food, water and sleep!
Why did I wait till now to get myself one of these?!?!
I really had a feeling this activity would be one that I would like. But I did not expect to be head over heels, totally-in-love with it.

Here's what has brought so much joy to my world. A Lendrum DT spinning wheel. A birthday gift from my hubby and both children. Now, how cool is that!
It was really hard to be patient and wait for one of these. It seems that Mr Lendrum makes about 100 wheels a year and they are in demand. Stores that I had contacted told me that they usually wait as much as 8 mths for delivery of Lendrums.

I must say, it does not come with instructions...I had to rely on good friends and YouTube videos to learn how it works. I had quite a few moments where I could not coordinate hands, feet, yarn and wheel at all.
But perseverance will pay off...or is it my stubborn streak?
But here is the first skein. Soft merino. About 49 yards. It could be considered a thick and thin...a result of getting to know my wheel.

I Navajo plied it...that was a stuggle but I intend to keep at it till I can get it all to flow. Now, what can I knit with 49 yards...maybe a cowl with a coordinating yarn.

Don't laugh at me, but today I spun so much that I have a very sore index finger...not quite a blister but almost.

I leave you with a picture of what I woke up to this morning. Deers and alpacas enjoying the crisp morning air and eating while it's still growing. Soon, nothing will grow as fall and winter will be at our door before we know it and we will have to provide hay for them...

Have you done something to make yourself happy today? I have. Enjoy your day!

Nature's dyes

2011-09-16T15:10:00.000-04:00

There's something to be said about enjoying what nature has to offer to feed your passions.

A few months ago, I had purchased Wild color by Jenny Dean. A very interesting book on natural dyes.

Eventhough the author is from England, the book is still relevant to us Canadians since many of the same plants and trees are here in North America.

This book has been by my side for a few weeks now and is already a very favorite of mine.

I must say that I'm a little late to start to harvest plants because we have had a couple of cold nights already. But nevertheless, I was able to find a few patches of goldenrods still in bloom.

I eagerly had them simmering in the dye pot in no time.

I must say, I had trouble finding alum to use as mordant and when I did I could go ahead a prepare the fibre to be dyed.

(Goldenrod flowers. They grow in open fields, along the highways and in ditches.)

The colour is a very soft yellow with a touch of green in it. I am really excited about it.

Well, yes, I know, I do easily get excited about these things!

(Goldenrod dyed yarn)

A trip to my mother's house to help her dig out and move her rhubarb plants this week meant a great big pot of rhubarb roots for me to play with!!!

Yup, rhubarb is not only to make jams and pies.

I could not believe how big and deep those roots are. We worked really hard to harvest these!

(freshly washed rhubarb roots)

In order to extract the most dye from the roots, I chopped them up in smaller pieces. It's also the best way to dry what I will have left for another day.

I soaked the roots for a few hours, then simmered them a few more and left everything to cool overnight.

The next morning, strained the dye stock and proceeded to dye my yarn.

Look at that glorious colour...almost orange.

(yarn is simmering in rhubarb roots dye stock. Roots still in the sieve.)

A very rich golden orange type of colour. Love it!

(Rhubarb root dyed yarn)

Sorry, just have to put up another shot of this colour. I'm so happy with it!!!

Oh, and by the way, I have lots of dried rhubarb roots left. I have a feeling that I'm not yet done experimenting with this stuff.

Looks like it will be a glorious weekend here, hope to enjoy every minute of it! Hope you can do the same.

Fall harvest time

2011-09-12T15:01:00.000-04:00

I love this time of the year for the wonderful vegetables and fruits that are so plentiful.

I made a trip to the Farmer's market last saturday and saw these cute little lanterns.

Hummmmm, what are they? I asked.

Well, it turns out that they are edible.
They are called ground cherries. Inside this paper thin shell is a tiny little yelllow/orange fruit. It's not too sweet and not tangy either. They are good to eat just like that but I was told they are especially good in a pie.
I was intrigued.

So I brought home a basket ground cherries and started to look on the Internet for a pie recipe. I settled for a ground cherry pie with a crumble top.

They were indeed very delicious when cooked. I made little pies by using butter tarts pie shells instead.

They were all gone before I thought of taking a picture...oops!!

Now, how about a peek at my latest project.

It involves paint...

...a sheet of plywood and piece of canvas (or heavy twill fabric)...

...and some masking tape.

Finally started on another floor cloth for the front entrance. I made one about 15 years ago and it had a wonderful life and now needs to be retired to the lower level.

This project is slow going, as I am lacking inspiration...I'm not too sure which direction I will take from here with it.

But I'm sure it will be done very soon.

Last weekend,

2011-09-08T12:40:00.001-04:00

...took the pots out and proceeded to dye!
I recently purchased new dyes and I'm trying to use up the ones that I still have. Well, at least that's the excuse I gave myself to play with colour and ignore the cleaning and cooking that needs to be done!
My goal is to get more saturated colours, deeper shades...I'm getting there. Experimenting seems to be the only way to learn how. So experimenting I will do.

After a day's work, here is my yarn, drying on the rack.
7 skeins of fingering yarn
1 skein of bulky yarn
1 skein of lace weight

Eventhough I don't wear shades of gold and orange, I really like the shades in this skein.

Hubby bought a 4x 8 sheet of plywood to build a pump house to bring water to the alpacas and I quickly decided to use it before he cut it up. I'll tell you all about it in my next post!

Back to soap making

2011-09-05T11:01:00.002-04:00

I really love to make soap. I have not made any since last winter, just before our daughter's wedding. Thing is, I make much more than we can ever use. I do give lots away...but I would make soap every week if I listened to myself.

Have a look at what I just bought myself!

A beautiful soap wooden mold. But what is great about this one is that it's lined with silicone. This means I do not need to line my mold anymore! Well, with this one, I only need to line the bottom. Soooooo much easier!

And look at how it opens up! No more coaxing to get the soap out. By removing the metal brace, the hinged sides just move away from the soap.

Here is my first batch with this mold. A rich soap made with olive, coconut and canola oils. I added just a bit of red clay.
When I was at Michael's last month, I had purchased a few stamps. This Sparkle & Shine stamp is showing up well on my freshly made soap.

And look at these...cute little sheep soaps. Now if I could find alpaca molds...that would make my day.

Speaking of alpacas, we enjoy having them so much. They've been with us for about 2 weeks now. We were concerned that the dogs would make them nervous...but they quickly got used to each other.

Having one side of the fencing in common, they can check each other out as much as they want.

Coco (that's the little brown cria in the picture) will come right up to the fence.

Hubby is still working. Today, he's digging a trench to bury the cable to bring electricity to the barn. Alpacas are curious. They have been following him along the fence all morning. Frankie, the llama is right there making sure everything is done as it should be.

After awhile, they were all having a good snooze.zzzzzzzz.

Life is good!

First day

2011-08-21T10:41:00.001-04:00

They're here!
Yesterday, our alpacas were delivered. We are so happy that this day has finally arrived. Our family gathered early saturday morning to welcome them!

Misty Haven trailer unloading the first two alpacas.

Our herd consists of four females and two crias born in late June.

Oh, and let's not forget about Frankie, the llama.

Inside the trailer

They are now exploring and getting to know their new home. Our dogs are not too sure what to make of them but so far so good.

Aurelia is off to the side and not shown in this pic

Frankie is doing his job and making sure all is as it should be.

We have turned the rocking chairs around so that we can look out the window and see the action...especially the two little crias having fun.

The alpaca book and magazines are on the table and being leafed through daily.

New adventures are always exciting and nerve wracking at the same time...

Breathe

2011-08-08T20:13:00.000-04:00

...just breathe.

(favorite orchid now in bloom in my kitchen)

Today, I needed to recharge my batteries.

Today, I needed to recenter myself.

Today, I needed to surround myself with comfort.

Today, had to be zen.

Favorite chair

Tea with honey

Comfort food

(yes, it's a banana and maple syrup sandwich)

Wonderful hydrangea scent

helps with deep breathing.

Silent frog

just happy to be.

No need to talk.

No need to think.

Just breathe.

Peppermint

2011-08-04T20:08:00.000-04:00

Allthough not much of a gardener, I do like to have certain plants on hand for cooking. I have had a mint patch for several years. It's very hardy and invasive so you need to make sure to contain it in a specific area or it will take over your entire space in no time.

My Illustrated herb encyclopedia says that mint helps with digestion by relaxing the muscle of the digestive tract. It is also supposed to ease nervous headaches, including migraines.
Aromatherapists use peppermint's scent to increase concentration, to stimulate the mind and the body and to stay awake.

Mint tea is such a simple thing to do. But I've never done it. I must give it a try before the end of the season.
But I do use mint for other things.
Mint jelly is a favorite of mine. Other members of my family don't care for it too much. I love it with pork but also on a cracker with some goat cheese. Very easy to make, I simply follow the recipe that comes with the pectin box.

Putting a few springs of mint in a water pitcher or a water bottle is also delicious. In no time at all, your water will have a subtile taste of mint. Very refreshing.

Oh, and here is Lily, checking out what I'm up to. She is now 2 mths old and a real little terror! (kidding)

It's almost imposible to take a picture of Lily standing still, she's constantly on the go!

Still more sun to be had for the rest of the week. Stay cool!

The best BBQ sauce and farm update

2011-08-02T13:47:00.000-04:00

Summertime is BBQ time around here. Well, hubby will say it's an all year long activity but you know what I mean.
I came across a yummy BBQ sauce that doesn't have that smoked flavor, which I don't really care for. It does have a good blend of sweetness and zing to make it taste robust enough to pair with a good steak.

1 cup brown sugar
½ cup chili sauce
½ cup rum
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dry mustard
Black ground pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and simmer on stovetop for 30 minutes.
I poured the hot sauce in mason jars and put the lids on quickly. This was hot enough to seal
the lid and since the sauce will be used in the next few weeks, I'm not concerned about it spoiling.

I've prepared some extra to give to friends. Give it a try, I'm sure you'll love it too.

Farm update
The fencing is all up. Thanks to the help of family and friends, our fencing is up. It was one of the hottest days to do it, with no wind but the guys stayed well hydrated and kept at it with the sunscreen lotion.

Corners and up and down terrain added to the challenge but they got 'er done!

Of course, when 4 wheelers are involved, it's always a bit more fun !

Not sure what the deer think now that we have considerably reduced access to our yard but they still have plenty of good stuff to eat. They will have to learn to share the land with the alpacas.

Can you see the twin fawns? They are so cute with those spots.

Hop Hop Hop!

2011-07-25T22:09:00.001-04:00

After knitting Nadia's Baby blanket in a bulky cream cotton yarn, I came across a super cute pattern that I thought would be nice to include in the baby shower gift. Normally, I don't have an interest in knitting toys. They usually have many small pieces and lots of sewing involved. But this one was different.

This cute little baby bunny is so easy to make. If I had more yarn, I think I would have made a whole family of bunnies to join this one.
And with this thick yarn, it was very fast too.

The ears are lined with a bit of chenille fabric I had from another project. I used iron-on adhesive to fuse the chenille to the knitted ear. This really gave shape to the ears.

Instead of making a yarn pompom for the tail, I thought a cute little fabric tail would be fun. I ran a gathering thread around a circle and sewed it on.

I like to knit this kind of toy...very few pieces and easy to put together.

Pattern: The Bunny Bunch (from knitandcrochetnow.com)
Yarn: cotton / acrylic bulky yarn
Colour: Cream
Needles: 7mm

I must post a picture of Lily...that's how Anouk's little puppy will be named. She is 7 wks old now and into everything!!

FO Cotton Baby blanket

2011-07-14T10:05:00.000-04:00

Well, it's not Monday but I have another FO to show you.
I first showed you a baby blanket here.
I knew I would eventually knit the Hopkins Baby blanket again.
This time it's with a chunky cotton/acrylic yarn in cream.

I can't remember when was the last time that I've knitted with cotton. But the blanket does have a nice weight to it. Since it was a chunky weight, it was done in no time. It measures 29'' x 29''. So it's not so much a crib blanket as a stroler/car seat blanket.

I washed it in the washer and partially dried it in the dryer. I had to make sure it would still look ok before I gave it as a shower gift to a pregnant cousin of mine.
It came out of the dryer looking and feeling really great. So all is good for the busy parent with little time to hand wash the baby's stuff!

I'm working on a little something to add to the blanket gift...can you guess what it might be? I'll post pictures when I'm done.

And, last night, on my way to see my parents for a couple of hours (I wasn't driving!), I casted on for another baby blanket. This time a lighter weight, 100% cotton in white.

Shop update

2011-07-06T23:56:00.000-04:00

I've neglected my Etsy shop lately. Just not enough hours in a day!

I have some hand dyed yarn waiting to be listed.
Taking pictures takes time and so I've listed only one skein today.

I call it Summer Fling. The colours are very vibrant. I have two skeins available.

I've been sewing Project bags these past few weeks. These are great for small knitting projects or even to carry your lunch or library book.

I listed two of them this afternoon.

And this one sold almost immediately! Guess I'll be listing a few more tomorrow.

I've been knitting a baby blanket with a chunky cotton yarn. I should be finished by the weekend. The blanket will be gifted to a cousin expecting her first child.

FO socks for me!

2011-07-04T21:00:00.000-04:00

I love to wear hand knit socks but I must admit I find it long and tedious to knit them. It must have something to do with the small fingering yarn and the small 2.5mm needles that is required to knit socks. It must also have something to do with the fact that after finishing the first sock, I have to start all over with the second one.

Well, if I want to wear them, I have to get down to business and knit them!

But...I might have found a compromise. I recently knitted a pair of socks using a sport weight yarn and 3.5mm needles. The socks were knitted up in no time at all and I love them.

The colour is not clearly shown in this picture. (I really must look for a new camera.)

It's somewhere between a rasberry colour and plum.

The yarn is 100% Peruvian Highland Wool. I'm eager to see how it will wear on the heels.

Here is a better idea of the colour. This pic comes from the Knit Pick website.

The lace pattern is very easy to remember. Instead of the picot edge I knitted a plain rib for the cuff.

I'm sure, I'll knit with this yarn again.

Yup, this is a great compromise...

Pattern: Rainy day socks (Ravelry link)

Yarn: Wool of the Andes Sport Yarn, KnitPicks

Colour: Fairy tale

Needles: 3.5mm

Copain

2011-06-30T11:27:00.000-04:00

Copain

1995-2011

Four Feet in Heaven

Your favorite chair is vacant now...

No eager purrs to greet me.

No softly padded paws to run

Ecstatically to meet me.

No coaxing rubs, no plaintive cry

Will say it's time for feeding.

I've put away your bowl, and all

The things you won't be needing;

But I will miss you little friend,

For I could never measure

The happiness you brought me,

The comfort and the pleasure.

And since God put you here to share

In earthly joy and sorrow;

I'm sure there'll be a place for you

In Heaven's bright tomorrow...
by Alice E. Chase

FO my Citron shawl

2011-06-27T17:01:00.000-04:00

Noro yarns are revered by lots of knitters. I must admit that the colours are stunning. When I saw this yarn in my local yarn store, I immediately knew I wanted to make something for myself with it.

The Citron pattern is very easy to knit.

Some rows are very long to knit...the rushing parts have a few hundreds stitches near the end. But it does add to the charm of this little shawl. I say little because it measures only 14 inches in length. Long enough to wrap around my neck under a coat but not long enough to wear alone over my shoulders. If I could have found a second skein, I would have made this one a little longer.

The only problem I have with this shawl, is that it's really not soft. It seems that Nora yarns will soften when washed but this one did not get much softer.

Pattern: Citron

Needles: 3.5mm

Yarn: Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn

Build it and they will come

2011-06-26T12:54:00.000-04:00

Well, maybe that title should be Build it cause they are coming!
I was holding off talking about it on my blog until they were actually here but...I can't wait anymore...here we go!
This past April, we purchased four female alpacas! Yes, that's right, the dream is almost reality now!
We purchased our herd from our friend Norma from Misty Haven alpacas.

Our place is almost ready for them. Hubby has been putting the finishing touch on the 'barn'. I had spoken about it before, here.

But the biggest job for him has been the fencing. Posts are being put in the ground every weekend. More than half are in the ground. He will give it a good push this week to finish this job. (That's Anouk out in the field taking a break from mothering her little one.) A little more sun and less rain would help tremendously!

Then, the fencing will be going up with the help of family and friends.

The winter hay was picked up last week!

And to make things that much more exciting, two of our alpacas gave birth this week.

Cria # 1 is a beautiful dark brown female with a white patch on her muzzle and above each eyebrow. She is a little beauty!

Here is super proud hubby with her

And cria #2 is a white female, super sweet and so dainty. But she's in constant motion! A ball of endless energy! Her poor mom has her hands full!

In a few weeks, they will be transfered to our very own backyard and we will be able to enjoy watching them from our deck! Can't wait!

A day with an old friend

2011-06-22T20:04:00.000-04:00

When it's been too long since you have spent good quality time with your favorite friend, it's a real treat to do so for a whole day.
My friend and I did such a thing today.

Wanna see her picture?

Here she is.

Years ago, my sewing machine used to be my constant companion. Now, I take her out only occasionally.
I started sewing when I was 12 years old. And I sewed a lot, all the time, making most of my clothes and most of my children clothes till they were in their teens. I even sewed my wedding dress because I could not find what I wanted in the stores and prom dresses for both my daughter and myself.
My fabric stash was quite impressive back then.
Now, I don't sew my clothes anymore. I pretty much only sew for our home. Curtains, roman shades, duvet covers, slip covers...

Todays rain meant indoor time. So out came the sewing machine and with a search through the fabric pile, I came up with a couple of things I could quickly make today.

Here are the completed projects.
Pillows on the sofa badly needed some updating. At the end of the morning, I completed red and yellow pillow covers for the rec room sofa.

Last night, while reading a few of my favorite blogs, I came across this very well illustrated tutorial for a small project bag. It's actually a lunch bag but I will use it for small knitting projects. You can find the tutorial here.

Using left over fabrics is always perfect for these small projects.

The bag is lined with a blue and white gingham.

It has a drawstring top on the inside so that you can hide your project and protect it from dust and dog hair!

So all in all, a good productive day.

Rhubarb in season

2011-06-21T10:15:00.000-04:00

I am not a gardener at all. So what we grow around here must be really hardy and able to tolerate some degree of neglect or my lack of knowledge in gardening.
But still, I love to grow herbs in pots and in flower beds. My numerous lavender plants are thriving well enough. We almost always have tomato plants growing on the deck.
And let's not forget the strawberry rhubarb plant by the back door.

Now, this is as hardy as they get. I usually completely forget to water this plant and it still keeps on giving, year after year.

I made our favorite rhubarb coffee cake on the weekend from a Homemaker magazine recipe. This recipe was published in their May 2002 magazine. Yes, it's been around for awhile and I make it every year.

I checked to see if the recipe was on their website but I did not find it. So in case you would like to make this cake here it is.

RHUBARB ORANGE COFFEE CAKE WITH BROWN SUGAR-CINNAMON TOPPING

Topping:

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tbsp finely grated orange peel

½ tsp cinnamon

Cake:

2 cups flour

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup orange juice

1½ cups chopped rhubarb

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 8'' pan. Combine Topping ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

Stir together dry ingredients (first five ingredients for cake) in a large bowl. In another bowl, lightly beat egg; blend in vanilla, butter and orange juice. Pour egg mixture into dry mixture and stir just until evenly combined. Spread half in prepared pan. Top evenly with rhubarb (I actually put in almost 2 cups of rhubarb to make sure that every inch of the batter is covered withit). Spoon remaining batter on top and gently spread even. Sprinkle topping evenly over surface. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm or cool. Enjoy!

FO Baby girl blanket

2011-06-20T09:18:00.000-04:00

As my mother is destashing, my stash seems to be growing! That's not exactly how I thought it would end up but some yarn is just too nice to let go. Many, many years ago, my mother and grand mother used to order yarn from Bèrgère de France in Montréal. They would order lots and lots of yarn! My grand mother would knit constantly but my mom would mostly stash it!! (Just kidding mom!)

With all the babies being born lately amongst our friends and family, I thought I would get a few items ready for those baby showers coming this summer.

Eventhough I don't often knit with acrylic yarns, I knew that the washability of this yarn would be appreciated by busy parents.

This blanket starts from the center and is knitted on circular needles. It's one of those mindless knitting project. I always love to have one of those on hand when I want to knit and watch tv or expect to be interupted often.

The colours are for a baby girl in lavender, rasberry and white. I also made the hat that was included with the blanket pattern. I have enough yarn to make a sweater or booties too.

Pattern: Hopkins Hat and Blanket (free download from Knitcircus Magazine)
Needles: forgot to make a note of it!
Yarn: Barisienne by Bergère de France

Puppy news:
She is growing like a...well...like a puppy! Well not surprising since all she does is sleep, eat, eliminate...
Now 16 days old and with opened eyes.Her ears are starting to open up as well so she will soon be hearing us walk in the room! Doing her best to get off her belly and use her legs. She actually barked this week! With no littermates, we will have to entertain her till she can be introduced to one of our super gentle golden.

She loves to use the stuffed toys as a pillow.
What's her name? Not sure of that yet. She was born by c-section and when we stepped out of the vet's office, there was a penny by the car. I immediately thought of calling her Penny and register her as Lucky Penny. But hubby doesn't seem to like the name too much so we are still working on this.

FO: Wisp scarf

2011-06-13T09:59:00.000-04:00

I love scarves and wear them at least three seasons of the year. The weight of the scarf will depend on how cold it is outside and how long I will be out.
The first time I made the Wisp scarf pattern was with a colourful lace yarn I had purchase while visiting our daughter in Calgary.

The muliple colours in this scarf allows me to wear it with so many jackets. Because it's so light, it can easily be worn till fall, winter and spring.

Pattern: Wisp (free on Knitty.com) Very easy lace pattern.

Needles: 5mm

Yarn: Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball

A week ago, I completed a second Wisp scarf just in time for my mother's birthday.

Good thing I took a few pics while blocking the scarf because I never got around to it after I gave it to her. Love my blocking wires from Knit Picks. I use them for most of my blocking.

Pattern: Wisp

Needles: 5mm

Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud

Puppy news:

She's now 9 days old! She can be seen here at 2 days old. As the only pup, she has no competition for food and can drink all she wants, whenever she wants...her little belly is solid like a rock!

Her eyes an ears are still not opened...this will probably happen this week.

(The stuffed toy will be used to compare her growth from week to week.)

First FO Monday

2011-06-06T11:17:00.000-04:00

I have several finished projects that I have not added to my Ravelry's project page and that I have not added here. Yes, life is busy!
So I will commit to doing this by showing you a completed knitted item every Monday...for the next few weeks (we'll see how long I can keep this going!!).

I will start with a scarf that I've finally knitted from a kit from Misty Haven Alpacas. This was my first lace project and also first time knitting with lace yarn. I had to frog it several times. I kept getting mixed up and having either too many stitches or not enough at the end of a row. So I ended up putting it away for a while thinking I did not like lace knitting. But this beautiful yarn kept calling me and I got back on it this spring. What helped me tremendously was to use stitch markers every 10th stitch to help me keep up with the stitch pattern. Then I could immediately see if I was missing a stitch or if I had one too many.

Am I ever happy I finished this lovely scarf.

The pattern was designed exclusively for Misty Haven Alpacas.

The yarn is 100% alpaca, 2 ply.

I would knit this pattern again and again.

The alpaca yarn is so soft and light. The colour is almost a chestnut brown, the reddish is not showing up much in the pictures.

As for dog news, Anouk had a very small litter on the weekend...only one large puppy. Mom and pup are doing very well.

I'm heading out to enjoy this sunshine! They are predicting more rain this week.

Awesome!

2011-05-11T08:41:00.000-04:00

I enjoy watching Canada AM first thing in the morning. I've been able to do this for the past couple of months since I've retired....awesome!
This morning,they were interviewing Neil Pasricha who was promoting his new book The Book of (Even More) awesome.

The book is a collection of reflections of life's little pleasures. I'm a huge fan of life's little pleasures. For most of my life, I have tried to be aware of those special little moments in my day and to make a point of enjoying them if only for a few seconds.

Neil was saying that he started to write his blog 1000 Awesome Things during a difficult period in his life. He wanted to become more aware of the good moments happening every day that we sometimes overlook. This has led to his blog being chosen as the top blog of the year and to publishing two books on the subject of small pleasures...that's awesome.

Here are a few awesome things that I've felt in the last couple of days:

Driving through the city and hitting all the green lights...awesome!
Taking care of my orchid plant all year long and notice a flowering stem starting to grow...awesome!
Seeing the first hummingbird is back after a long winter absence...awesome!

Over the course of the next few days, I will try to be even more aware of those awesome moments in my day. What are your favorite awesome things?

I leave you with this little promo video.

Have a wonderful day!

Catching up

2011-04-19T09:31:00.000-04:00

I like to make bébé O a new hat for each new season. Her winter hat was getting to be too warm even though the weather is still quite cold!

So I had this cotton chenille yarn on hand and it just right for a little crochet hat.

This is the first one I made and it's much too small for her (what was I thinking!) so it's now available in my shop.

The next one I made is just right for her.

I also made this multi coloured hat for the shop.

After a trip to visit with our son last month, I visited Wellington Fiber farm in Elora. They have angora goats...just too cute! I could not help myself, I picked up a few skeins of mohair yarn while I was there. This hat is called Mohair topper. The content is 50% mohair, 50% wool.

I just love those colours!

And the piece I'm working on is the Delicate Lace Scarf. The yarn is yummy 100% alpaca from Misty Haven alpacas. I've had the yarn in my stash for a couple of years and started it several times, but I just could not get the pattern right. I kept getting mixed up and would rip it apart...I was almost ready to give up...but I'm way too stubborn for that!!!
So this time, I used stitch markers every 10 sts to make sure I did not get confused with the pattern once more. This way, I know right away if I messed up!
I love it...can't wait to block it to better see the lace pattern.

The day after

2011-04-17T14:02:00.000-04:00

Here's Mia sleeping on the dog's cushion...that's pretty much how hubby and I are feeling today. Thought I'd spare you a picture of us in this condition!!!
Our daughter's wedding went very well. We are so proud of the young woman she has become.
I'll share a photo of all of us as soon as I get my hands on them.
Bébé O was so good, not a peep out of her during the ceremony, she was too interested in what was going on at the front.
These kind of events are so much fun because we got to spend time with family members that we rarely see.

Ready or not...

2011-04-14T13:44:00.001-04:00

Big day coming up on Saturday.
Our first child, our sweet cheerful, energetic and always smiling daughter will be getting married to the love of her life. Whether the sun is there or not, we'll be having ourselves a PARTY!!
With only a few days left, how are things coming along???

Her dress is waiting...

Bébé O's dress is also ready...

My dress is now steamed and wrinkle free...

Hubby's shirt and our son's are ironed and ready...

We still have a few things to finish up. My hubby and I must finish putting our Parents of the bride speech together.

It's always a little nerve-wracking to plan such events and we hope everything will go as planned.
If you have any last minute advice for me, I'm all ears!

Swiss cheese

2011-04-12T10:43:00.000-04:00

Just off the needles and blocked.
Swiss cheese scarf made with my hand dyed yarn.

The colours are bright and cheerful. The transition from one colour to the next could have been dyed better but it works anyway.

With spring well on it's way (I hope!), the scarf will be put away till next fall.

After reading several Ravelry notes on this project, I did modify the pattern to better suit this DK yarn. I mostly followed the notes from ilovecandyfloss.

I will be adding a 100g maki roll in my Etsy shop later today if anyone else would like to knit a similar scarf.
(Please note that my camera if way off on the colours in this maki roll...I will take more pics for the shop.)

We have our daughter's wedding this weekend...I think we're ready!!

One done

2011-04-03T22:51:00.000-04:00

Christmas 2011 gift list... WHAT? allready!
Yup, I have one gift checked off my knitting list for next Christmas.
Daughter V had told me last year that she would love a pair of thrummed mitts. During one of our visits to see our son we stopped at an alpaca farm in Stratford. I just could not resist a thrummed mitt kit in a wonderful grey yarn. I knew they were exactly what V would like.

As I was knitting these mittens, I kept looking at the roving and the yarn...I was really worried I would run out. So I took my scale out and kept weighing the yarn...just to make sure I would have enough to finish.
Well, it was so close...I did not put any roving in the last few rows on the thumbs and I have only a few meters of yarn leftover. Good thing I did not make the mitts for myself cause I would have run out for sure.

But it all turned out well. I am more than happy with these mittens. They are super soft and very very thick. They will be so warm... I just can't wait to give them to daughter V.

The grey colour is deep and rich.

I blogged here about a pair of thrummed mittens I made from myself.

Look at the difference in thickness between these alpaca mittens and my other thrummed mitts! Twice as thick.

I guess I 'll just have to knit myself another pair!

New beginning and soapmaking

2011-04-01T13:45:00.000-04:00

Although this new stage in my life began almost two months ago, I have not yet blogged about it.
At the end of January, I retired from 31 years of a career in education...still loving my job, still passionate about it but ready to let it go and allow my life to take a different direction.
I must admit that eventhough I loved the idea of retirement, it's such a huge life change that it will take some getting used to.
Don't get me wrong, I love it. I have plenty to keep myself very occupied and I have loads of projects and plans for the future. But that's just it, I still am in the mode of filling my days to the max, just like when I was working. I must learn to let go of my agenda and my calendar!! ...well, at least, let it go a little...and not be so worried about it.
When I left, my boss had told me that she would call me to work a few hours here and there...April will be a busy month...but I am looking forward to getting back to my old habits.

So what has been keeping me busy these last few weeks?

Soaps...lots of soap.

Soaps are white with purple chunks. I used a stamp to leave on imprint on the front of the soap.

I purchased perfect little pruple organza bags from That final touch on Etsy and daughter V made little tags for them.

As you have probably guessed, our daughter will be giving out soaps as guest favors at her upcoming wedding.

I've also knitted a little bit...will be back to post about that later.

Great grey owl

2011-03-05T10:55:00.000-05:00

We heard him at night, we also saw him, high in the trees but again, always at night...till the other day.

There he was, perched on top of the flag pole behind our house. The great grey owl. he is quite well camouflaged and is a bit hard to see from a distance.

He's been around for about 2 months now. Being the largest North American owl, he's huge. According to the Audubon handbook that we have, he could measure as much as 27''. He has a large face with concentric grey and bown circles, white crescents on the throat and yellow eyes.

Quite the sight!

Etsy update and sale!

2011-02-18T18:51:00.000-05:00

I've recently added a few more hand painted yarns to my Etsy shop. And to help with the winter blahs, how about a little sale?
10% off all yarns by entering the code 10OFFNOW during checkout.
Better check it out!

Sale on till the end of the month.

It's what's on the inside that counts

2011-02-15T08:59:00.000-05:00

It all started with wonderful Fleece artist kit that I purchased from my LYS last month to make a pair of Thrummed mittens.
The kit has a great handpainted worsted weight yarn and kid roving dyed to coordinate.

Thrummed mitts are actually a Canadian thing. They have been around for a few hundred years in Northern Newfoundland and Labrador. Bits of fleece were added to the inside of knitted items to add warmth.

After several false starts (a.k.a. frogging), I finally settled on a technique to make the thrums and to thrum a stitch by following the instructions from Biscotte and Cie.
Another great tutorial can be found on Hello Yarn but I did not follow that technique to knit the thrums.

I found that it's best to make a few dozens of thrums at a time.

After knitting a 2 ½ inch cuff, I started to insert thrums every fourth stitch and every fourth row.

Even the thumb is thrummed.(try saying that three times in a row!) Looks really great on the outside, wait till you see what's on the inside!

How crazy is that?

Over time, the thrums will felt to eah other and to the knitted mitt to form a warm felted layer on the inside of the mitten. But to help things along, I intend to wet the mitt and start the felting process by gently rubbing with a bit of soap and hot water, just to make sure that the thrums are lined up properly and don't felt in lumps...I would hate lumps on the inside of any mitts.

I intend to make more of these. Too much fun.

Friends

2011-02-11T21:04:00.000-05:00

For the past 22 years, three girlfriends and I have been meeting twice a year for girl's weekends. All of us lived in the same city back then but one by one, they moved to other parts of Ontario and I am the only one left here. But even the distance that seperated us could not keep us apart.
Over the years, we have shared beautiful moments together and supported each other through some very difficult times as well.
We usually meet at a Bed & Breakfast, a cottage, or each other's houses (kicking the hubby out, of course!). For our 25th year anniversary, we are planning a major trip involving a flight and passport...destination yet to be determined! All four of us should be retired by then...it will be a great time!

My January knitting was all about them. I made three pairs of fingerless mittens from the Fetching pattern, available on Knitty.com

The red mitts are knitted without any modifications. They fit a very small hand. I knew I would have to modify the pattern to lengthen it a bit for the purplish blue mitt for a medium hand. The black mitt are the longest, made for a hand with long fingers like mine. We all met last weekend and I was happy to see that they all fit.

I love fingerless mitts. You can wear them when the weather gets warmer, when you are shopping and they look nice over a pair of thin gloves as well when extra warmth is needed.

Cables are at the wrist and also near the fingers.
A 4 X 1 rib all over the hand part makes this mitt really snug fitting.

Tomorrow, I take a course to make thrummed mitts...more on that next week.
Enjoy your weekend

Unconventional

2011-02-07T12:36:00.000-05:00

Doing things differently is always fun. You get to see how far you can push the limits to get the results you are looking for.

I recently purchased a hand dyed sock blank to knit a pair of socks. If you have not seen those yet, they are basically a knitted rectangle that you take apart to knit a pair of socks (or whatever else you can knit with sock yarn). They are usually knitted with with two strands of yarn so that both of your socks will be identical when you knit them. What makes them fun is that you are not quite sure what your socks will look like when they are done. Clic here to see an example sold on Etsy.

I decide to make a blank of my own by using the same technique but with the sleeve of a wool sweater I took apart to recycle the yarn.
In th next picture you see one of the sleeves on my dogs grooming table. I already started to apply fushia dye to the cuff of the sleeve.

I continued to add dyes of different colours all the way to the top. Now my problem was that the 'sleeve' was really saturated with dye because I wanted the colours to be vibrant. I knew I could not move it or the colours would mix and I would end up with a muddled mess. How to add heat to fix the dyes? I knew that the microwave was not the answer, nor was the steaming pot of hot water.
I thought I might have another option, something that I have not seen elsewhere though...so I covered the blank with plastic wrap to test it out.

Then I went in the garage to get a few work lamps and set them up over the soaked blank to see if they would produce enough heat to set the dyes.

It actually worked. It took a few hours, as I moved the lamps around to make sure every section was heated through. After a while, I started to press the blank with a paper towel to see if the water left was clear and it was!!

Here is the first dryed blank.

And here is a second one I made the same way.

Of course, these blanks are not knitted with two strands of yarn so I intend to knit a scarf, cowl or hat with them. Yarn is more like a DK or a light worsted yarn. Now to find the perfect pattern!

Bliss

2011-01-05T20:55:00.000-05:00

Bliss is defined as perfect happiness, utter joy or contentment.

Winter makes me feel that way.

Even though there's very little snow on the ground, due to the rain and mild weather of the past week, I could not wait anymore. So tonight, when I got home for work, I went snowshoeing.

The sun was allready behind the trees but the trails were calling me!

I always like to bring a dog with me and Anouk is the perfect companion. She loves to explore the trails and to have the chance to run as much as she wants. She won't get distracted to the point of chasing a deer should we meet one.

She probably runs two or three times the distance I walk because she's going back and forth all the time. (Blurry picture because I did not have the right setting on my camera for an 'action shot'). But she was coming full throttle at me with a smile on her face...I kid you not!

She pays attention to every noise around us.

Mother-daughter mittens (Rav project page) are now blocked. I forgot that I also have the embroidery to add to the flower, so I might get to that later this week but in the meantime here is a night picture of what they look like.

I hope you also felt a bit of bliss in your day today!

Look twice

2011-01-04T15:54:00.000-05:00

What do you see? Well, beside the yummy pasta dish on tv!

I was cleaning the living room and jumped out of my skin when I saw two eyes looking at me.

Mia, will find little spots all over the house to call her own . Sometimes she's on top of a dresser, or behind a curtain, inside a cupboard or in a closet.

My Mother-daughter mittens (Kristin Nicholas pattern) are almost done. I have lots of yarn ends to weave in! As soon as I block them, I will show you.

I still feel the tightness but my back is better.

A few more millimeters of snow fell today! I hope to get back on my snowshoes by the weekend.

2011

2011-01-02T11:27:00.000-05:00

The beginning of this new year has been not so good. I hurt my back again on New Year's Eve and had to spend lots of time in bed...not good. The meds work but they make me very sleepy. I'm not sure if I will be able to make it to work tomorrow, or even this week.

The beginning of a New Year often lead us to think of where we would like to be in a year from now and we usually come up with a few resolutions to get there. This year, I'm keeping it very simple.
HEALTHIER
That's all. Just do what needs to be done to be healthier. For me this means two things.
1. Be more active: I need to get back to my yoga. I love doing it but I haven't made it a priority this past year and I'm sure that I'm paying the price for it today. I need to put aside 15 to 60 minutes a day to do yoga. Simple, now just to get off my butt and do it!
With my new snowshoes, I know I will enjoy the outdoors more. As I'm looking out my window, I am very excited to see that it's snowing. With all the rain we've had in the past few days, we need snow!!
2. Learn more about eating healthier. My body is becoming more and more sensitive to certain foods. This past year, I've had to accept that I cannot tolerate any milk products at all, not even small amounts. Now that all kinds of research shows that soya milk is not such a great food, I need to explore other products. I've tried almond milk and goat's milk but it's difficult to find cheeses (I'm a huge lover of cheese) or yogurts that I can eat or that I like to eat.

2011 looks like it will be a very exciting year.
I'm retiring at the end of January (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Our daughter is getting married in April.
We will have alpacas on our land as soon as the fencing is up (late spring??)

All great reasons to be in better shape and HEALTHIER!

What are your goals for 2011??

All is now quiet

2010-12-28T10:25:00.000-05:00

After three days of festivities,we are now relaxing! The house is very quiet, everyone is gone back home. Hubby is at work. I will make myself a good cup of tea and take it easy today...pure luxury!

The Réveillon, Christmas dinner and Boxing day dinner all went well. We had lots of good laughs and good food. It's so nice to see eveyone enjoy themselves and share the same old stories year after year adding new ones here and there.
Now I just need to find my recipe for Turkey Pot Pies so that I can do something with the leftover turkey.

I received a pair of snowshoes and will be trying them out today. I look forward to going down the trails with a dog or two with me.

I made my godchild a pair of 100% baby alpaca mitts. The yarn is from Misty Alpacas (not Misty Haven Alpacas this time). The pattern is a mixture of several mitten patterns I've made in the past. I love the chunky yarns and Sara really liked the colours.

And these bright red mitts were for my daughter. They are a bit big but she assured me she would wear them over a thin pair of gloves for extra warmth.
I think I will trace everybody's hand on paper so that I have their size whenever I want to knit mittens for them. I'll do the same for their feet while I'm at it!!

I had bought a beautiful mohair and merino yarn from Wellington Farms this fall. These socks were for my daughter. I really like how thick they turned out. And these fit her perfectly!

And here is the same sock but in a different colour, for me! They look a little scruffy because I have not blocked them yet. Might do that today.

I had purchased the Kristin Nicholas Color by Kristin book a while back. This book is great inspiration for anyone that wants to add colour to their knits.

Last night, I casted on the Mother-daughter mittens from the book.

I used four colours of Cascade 220 I had on hand.

And here is how far along I am.

Sold some hand dyed yarn from my Etsy shop last night! I don't think that the post office is open today so I will have everything ready to mail out early tomorrow morning.

Hoping you can spend time doing something you love today.

I hear my knitting calling me! I'll show you my progress in a few days.

Traditions of Noël

2010-12-24T10:09:00.000-05:00

Traditions give me a sense of continuity, a link between the past and the present, a time to appreciate the way things used to be and the joy of how they are today.
One tradition that is very important to my family and I is the Christmas Eve Réveillon. As for all french-canadian families, the réveillon is bigger than Christmas day. It's when the gathering starts and the party gets going.
As a young child, the réveillon was always celebrated at my paternal grand mother's country home. My grand parents had 14 children and we were all there on Christmas eve, so you can imagine the party! No one was late, no one absent. My grandmother would bake and cook for weeks! I would get to be with all my cousins and uncles and aunts.
The réveillon always started close to midnight, after Christmas mass, and we would drive back to our home in the early morning hours so happy and content and very sleepy too. Then of course, the gathering would happen all over again for Christmas dinner.
By the time my children were born, the réveillon was happening in my own parents house and eventually we started hosting it in our own home.
The family is definitely not as large as back then, but the festivities are just as wonderful and the energy in the air is intoxicating! This year, my parents will be able to join us once again for the réveillon. I am so looking forward to it.
We are almost ready...
the tree is decorated,

the house has touches of Noël here and there...
some were gifts,

and some were made by me over the years...

the Christmas dishes are out,

the name tags are ready,

the gifts are wrapped,

the apron is hung in the kitchen,

the candles are ready to be lit. (Can you believe that my daughter brought this on the plane from Calgary last year?? That girl is willing to go thru anything to please her mom!)

the wine is chilled and the food is almost ready, and even all of the knitting is done. Pictures of knitted stuff to come after Noël.

and Santa is greeting our guests at the door !

Now, do I have everything, is anything missing, do I have enough? Oh I'm sure we will manage just fine. My son just called to say he was on his way home from southern Ontario, my daughter is hoping bébé O will have a good nap so she can stay up with us a while tonight. Life is good. The traditions are still alive and still bring so much joy to this household.

I hope your holidays sparkle with joy !!

Another one to check off the list

2010-12-16T18:34:00.000-05:00

YAY!
Another project done and ready for gift giving.
Dear hubby asked for socks very early this fall, hoping he would have them in time for his annual hunting holiday. But I just couldn't get into it, I wasn't in the mood for socks,especially men's socks. So even with his encouragement to knit them in any colour and use any pattern, hunting season came and went without a new pair of socks to call his own.
But I think he will be very happy to see these worsted alpaca yarn socks under the tree on Christmas Eve!
Pattern: from the book Getting Started Knitting Socks (author Ann Budd)
Yarn: Misty Haven Alpaca
Colour: Natural brown

I added a bit of red yarn for the heel, toe and a couple of stripes from leftover yarn.

Another item to cross off my list. Things are looking up!

Just in time

2010-12-13T16:45:00.001-05:00

I completed this wonderful alpaca yarn cowl a few weeks ago but could not find the right buttons. Isn't that often the case?
But last week I found these wooden buttons in the perfect shade.
I sewed them on last night while the wind was howling outside and the snow was accumulating at the front door!!

The cowl is from Alana of Never Not Knitting blog. It's called Shawl Collared Cowl. It's very thick and with the cowl collar, it fit very high and tight around my neck. Great for any winter storm coming my way.

I used yarn is 100% alpaca from Misty Haven Alpacas. I fell in love with the colour right away. It's a little heavier than what the pattern called for but the pattern could be ajusted easily to accomodate the chunky yarn.

I also made a pair of matching mittens. They were such a quick knit, completed in two evenings. I could not find a mitten pattern for chunky yarn so I ended up making one up. I really like the feel of chunky yarn, especially when it's alpaca chunky yarn from Misty Haven Alpacas. I really must get more of this chuky stuff!

I even had a chance to try it on today out there in the wonderful winter wonderland.

Keep on knitting!!

Video question

2010-12-13T12:19:00.000-05:00

I would love to share youtube videos with you once in awhile. But the problem I'm having is that the video doesn't fit on my blog page because of items I have on the right hand side. Can anyone explain to me what I need to do to reduce the width of the vidoe so that you can see all of it?
Here is an example of what I mean: (great fun song by the way)

Still at it

2010-12-09T10:13:00.001-05:00

Before I get to the knitting...
We have been so busy with our latest litter of Golden retriever puppies that I have not had much chance to come and tell you about my knitting!
Here they are a few weeks ago, nice and quiet!

The pups are growing very fast and most of them are leaving this weekend. They are a lot of work at this point and they require loads of attention, they are people lovers and really crave being with us.

But now they are all over the place and into everything, a lot of fun to watch them as they explore the world around them.

Because of a back problem, I have been off work this week. My back is slowly getting back to normal. For a while, I could not even knit...now that's not good!!

But I have completed another hat for bébé O. This one is based on the Susan Anderson pattern called Go team hat. But I've modified it a whole lot to better suit our cold windy winters.

I've added super wide ties to the ear flaps. They cover her ears, cheeks and chin when they are tied up.
Did you see what she's wearing on her hands? How can a knitting grandmother let her grand daughter wear a pair of socks as mittens??? I have enough yarn to make a pair of matching mittens. Now I must get that project going really soon!!!

Méli-mélo

2010-11-24T21:30:00.000-05:00

Méli-mélo is a french expression meaning a mish mash of things. For example, the french version of the snack mix of Bits and Bites is Méli-mélo.

This post has a bit of everything, hence the name of Méli-mélo as title.

I don't think I've talked about my dogs much. We have Golden retrievers. The best breed there is. Very gentle and people friendly. We actually have a few of them. We are involved in Obedience, Agility and Conformation shows with our dogs. We take them with us everywhere.

Here is Anouk (Tibsen Tiger Lily). She probably feels that she's attached to my hip because she always follows me around...everywhere I go, she's there.

She actually sleeps with her toy under her chin but tonight she still had it in her mouth and fell asleep that way.

Anouk became a Champion very easily. Lots of fun when that works out ! It's a lot of work, time and money to show a dog.

On another post, I'll talk to you about Bjorne and the others.

I've completed one Christmas gift for bébé O. It's Plain vest from Pickles website. It looks like it will fit her with room to grow. Still looking for the right buttons to add the finishing touch.

I have a matching hat made as well. I'll be back with pics after Christmas.

My Shawl collared cowl from Never Not Knitting is done as well...well, not quite done, since I have buttons left to find and sew on.

I love it. I made it with 100% alpaca hand painted yarn I picked up from Norma from Misty Alpacas. The yarn is bulky and a super fast knit.
The colour is called Autumn Rose, a blend of pinks and golds. So nice and super soft.

And this last picture is for Norma! See what I have on top of our cookstove?

Back to sewing...

2010-11-13T19:08:00.000-05:00

Sewing has always been a favorite passtime of mine. I was sewing my clothes at the age of 12. I was sewing for my mother's and sister's at the age of 15. I loved it! I sewed in the evening after work, on weekends and on holidays. In other words, I sewed all the time. That was back then.

My mother taught me to sew. She was a wonderful and talented sewer. She had lots of patience and lots of skills.

But I've gotten away from sewing in the last 10 years. I mostly sew stuff for the house now, curtains, duvet cover, roman shades, pillows, and such.

Allthough I've given away a lot of fabric from my stash, I still have enough left to make a few things here and there.

I wanted to make something for these. Any idea what it might be?

I read through several tutorials online to make a needle case but I mostly followed this one.

Black and white outside.

With yellow and red added on the inside.

Lots of room for all my needles and other knitting stuff.

Finally, my needles will all be in one spot and organised.

Even though there is room in this needle case for my double pointed needles, I think I would prefer to make another case for those. I have lots of DPs and I would prefer a smaller case for them. So next time I feel like sewing, I will have a project waiting!

Giving thanks

2010-10-10T19:52:00.003-04:00

This is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. Allthough I am thankful every single day of my life, today I take the time to write about it.

I am so thankful for all that life has given me. Thankful for my family. Thankful for the wonderful weather we have been having! Thankful for all the simple little pleasures my daily life has been offering me.

Twenty years ago, this fall, I had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The year that followed was just awful. The chemo was shear hell! Even though it has saved my life and I would do it all over again, I still wonder how they can get away with treating humans with those drugs. The radiation followed the chemo and made me that much sicker and weaker. Thanks to the two little sweethearts I had at home, I kept getting up every morning and hoping I was still making their life as normal as possible. My daughter was 7 years old and my son was only 4. Hubby was and still is my rock, my light and soul mate.
Anyone that has gone through severe accident, or trauma, death of someone close or illness will tell you that it changes you completely, it's like hitting a brick wall and making a sharp 90 degree turn. Nothing is the same after. I must say, life is better than it has ever been. I don't think that it's luck, I beleve that life is good if you wish it to be so, if you make it so.

My father is fighting his own cancer battle now. He is strong and brave and has a wonderful attitude. I am thankful for having him as my father.

I leave you with this wonderful fun video taken in the Toronto Eaton center.

Happy Thanksgiving. Be sure to bring light to those that you hold dear. And enjoy the simple pleasures of life every single day.

Lonely Oak

2010-10-10T11:49:00.003-04:00

At the entrance of our driveway, there is a huge rock. There can't be much soil on top of that rock but this beautiful oak tree has decided it would be it's home. Every year, we clean the shrubs and weeds growing around the tree but we don't want to disturbe the roots of the oak too much. This is the only tree growing on top of this rock. A majestic lonely oak tree.

So in it's honour we have chosen to call our future adventure Lonely Oak Alpaca Farm.
We have been dreaming for more than 5 years of being alpaca owners. We have visited a few alpaca farms over the years and each time we come home more eager to get our own. When we bought this property it had no fencing and no barn either. The land is full of rocks and boulders. Holes everywhere makes it very difficult to walk around without fearing breaking a leg or spraining an ankle.

Hubby has worked many many hours to remove as many boulders as possible (he buries them !) to kinda level off the land a bit.

As for a barn, we have decided to convert this big shed behind the house into a shelter for the alpacas that will one day live on our land.

The fencing was to be done this fall, but we are still waiting for the delivery of our posts. If the weather stays beautiful till late fall, hubby might still have time to start digging holes for the posts and at least get that part done before the winter.
I was really hoping to have a few alpacas before next spring but we might have to wait until next summer now.

With my retirement being a few weeks away (16 weeks!), I am really looking forward to this new beginning. It will be a adventure for sure with a huge learning curve.

On fire!

2010-09-22T23:36:00.002-04:00

This was such a fun knit project. It's nice to knit something quick when you also have long slow projects on the go.
I hand dyed the yellow mohair / wool yarn with oranges and reds, keeping some of the yellow untouched earlier this year.

Mixed it with black 100% wool yarn and knitted this hat in two evenings of movie watching!

Top of hat is very interesting with a petal shape or star shape design. Love it!

I am tempted to knit another one but to change the black designs with elements of this other hat I knitted last year.

Pattern is Fake Isle Hat by Amy King. I used 4 mm needles. Lots of yarn left over for a pair of mitts.

First birthday

2010-09-19T20:01:00.004-04:00

Bébé O is now one year old !

I remember last year when our daughter called us from Calgary to tell us she was on her way to the hospital and we were scrambling to get a flight out of Ontario as soon as possible.

Now, my daughter's little family have moved back to Ontario, very close to home. This little princess has brought so much joy to all of us, we are so grateful to have her in our lives.

The Pinwheel cardigan that I made her fits her well with lots of room to grow. The colours are happy colours and go well with this happy little girl.

This cardi is fairly quick to knit and I decided to continue with the colour changes on the sleeves as well.

I've been thinking of making her a matching hat. I had seen such a hat on someone's website, but I can't find it anymore. I guess I should have wrote it down somewhere when I saw it.

Here comes the fall!

2010-09-19T15:58:00.006-04:00

I am not a big fan of the fall season, I much prefer the winter months. I think that it's the rain and the shorter evenings that I object to.

But on a beautidul day like today, what's not to like.

We have had a doe with her two fawns visiting almost every day lately. They come for the apples in the apple tree by the house. The fawns are so much fun to watch, they are playful and energetic.

With the cool weather of the past few days , a knitted hat was on the knitting list. I had this hand dyed yarn. It's a mohair and wool blend that I dyed this summer.

And mixed with black wool yarn I had on hand it became this Fake Isle Hat. You can find this pattern on Ravelry here.

The top looks like a star. I blocked it this afternoon and it fits me just perfect.

I think that a pair of matching mitts would be really nice to have. Thanks to Ravelry, I might have found the pair that I will make to match this hat.

But it's still oak!

2010-08-04T21:47:00.006-04:00

A change is good, right?

We have just repainted our bedroom walls and the ensuite just didn't match at all anymore. So one project leads to another and the ensuite needed to be done too!

To paint the walls is one thing but to paint the oak cupboards is another. I have been talking about doing this for a couple of years now. At first DH would just say : No way, those are oak cupboards. I would answer: They'll still be oak cupboards, just a different colour! Most men have this unexplainable fear of painting over anykind of wood. As women, we need to help them get over that fear!

Our cupboards were in a honey oak colour. See the before picture. The walls were in some kind of Dijon yellow...nice at first but I was tired of it.

After a visit to the local paint shop, I was ready to tackle the oak painting project! The cupboards are painted in Cloud white (Benjamin Moore paints). The walls are a dark taupe brown as is the ceiling.

While we were at it, we replaced the handles on doors and drawers and the lights above the mirror as well.

Quite the change, isn't it?

Guess what I will be doing next? The kitchen cupboards. Hubby is all for it now! Maybe I tackle that project this winter. We'll see.

Alpaca softness

2010-08-03T19:52:00.005-04:00

I picked up some wonderful worsted weight alpaca yarn from Misty Haven Alpaca farm this spring. The reason for a visit to the farm was to pick up a birthday gift for my mother (and a little something for me too).

Hand dyed in a rich denim colour.

100% alpaca = pure softness

The cowl is Foxglove. Available on Elann.com.

I modified by casting on only 108 stitches instead of 144. I prefer my cowls to fit closer to the neck.

Now, I 'm not wishing for the cold weather to come, I am enjoying this warm summer way too much! But when the cold wind does start to blow, I will be ready!

Are you ready?

Round and round we go

2010-08-03T18:23:00.006-04:00

Our grand daughter, bébé O will be one year old in september. Time flies by so fast. She is such a joy.

I wanted to knit her a sweater for the fall. I must have looked at several dozens of patterns but none had that special little something I was looking for.

But that all changed when I came across the Pinwheel sweater. Have you seen it? It's basically a circle with two sleeves knitted into it. The pattern says this little sweater will fit from a one year old to a 4 year old...one size only will fit a growing toddler for 3 - 4 years. Even if she can wear it two seasons that would be a bonus...cause we all know babies grow so fast!

But what really got to me were the colours knitters were using to knit them. Have a look at the project page on Ravelry, here.

I had a lot of Cascade 220 left over from other projects. I only needed to buy one ball of purple.

Here are the seven colors all knitted up with a partial first sleeve done.

I knitted the seven coloured circles in one day...I wonder if that's why my wrist is so sore! That is what car knitting will do to you! I was so excited to see all those circles of colours appear that I just could not put it down.

The next day, I worked on the I-cord bind off. Now who would of thought of this? It's so brilliant! This bind-off will surely show up in my work again. It was long to do but really worth it.

The red line of knitting that you see in the green section is a waste yarn that I will remove to pick up the stitches for the sleeve. This does such a great job. No holes and no uneven picking up of stitches.

So I am hoping to finish both sleeves this week and work on a little hat to match next week.

So what do you think? Fun sweater, right?

I've dyed and gone to heaven!

2010-07-26T15:53:00.005-04:00

That's right...gone to heaven!

A new beginning in my fun with dyeing yarns. I've experimented lots with recycled yarn and dyeing. I have a bit of a feeling for how the colours react allthough I am still learning all the time.

I have now progressed to dyeing new yarns. I received a huge order of 'bare' yarn last week and have just started dyeing them.

It seems to be different from dyeing with reclaimed yarns...the colours take better, they are sharper, cleaner looking.

I have put the recycled yarns in my shop on sale in order to make room for the new stuff. But I will still be adding some recycled stuff from time to time since I have some left.

I've also reviewed my shipping costs and reduced those as well. I have sold lots of yarn in the last couple of weeks because of that.

But on with the new!

Here they are...TADAAAAM!!!

Beach ball:

Strawberry shortcake:

Sun and Surf:

Summer meadow:

I have also been knitting. I'll show you those things in another post.

A walk in the clouds!

2010-05-29T22:40:00.004-04:00

If you would like to experience a little adventure, I recommend the suspended trails (sentiers suspendus in french) in the Forest of the Eagle (Forêt de l'aigle) situated in the Valley of the Gatineau in Maniwaki, Québec.

What a fun experience!

I went on this fall walk with three friends and just loved it. It turned out to be a 2 hour walk over a beautiful forest. It was raining a little bit but that did not take away from the beauty of the walk.

At times, we were well over 50 feet above the forest floor. We also crossed a river. If you look at the picture above, my friend is wearing a harness around her waist and you need to tie the other end to the red cable over her right shoulder. Should someone slip, this would allow you to get back on the board

Something I would love to do again.

Braided rug

2010-05-29T21:57:00.004-04:00

My grandmothers used to make braided rugs with rags. Yours might have done them also. Since very little was wasted in those days, they would use remnants or old
sheets or clothing to make them. The braided rugs were durable, colourful and long lasting.

I started one of my own a while ago. I seem to work on it mostly in the winter and leave it when the weather warms up. It's not done yet but probably will be next winter.

I am doing my rug with old jeans and other denim clothing such as skirts or dresses. I cut the denim in stips using a rotary cutter. But I must say that the fabric is really rough on my cutter and on scissors as well. Eventhough the jeans have been washed numerous times they still have lots of sand still left in the fibers of the fabric. And that is the worse thing for sharp scissors or rotary blades.

I will use dark jeans, light one and some with stripes or other pattern.

I have these things that are used to fold over bias. I don't know what they're called but as you can see in the picture, I use them to fold over the jean fabric as I braid it. That way, all the edges are hidden.

I usually will make the braid about 1 meter long then start sewing. I use heavy thread doubled up and roll the edge of the braid on itself and sew it up.

As you can see, I try to blend the different blues. I am slowly making progress. I am making mine an oval shape. At first, I thought of making it at least 5' wide but I won't make it that big! Maybe 3' would be big enough. It will probably be placed in front of the wood stove.

It's getting quite heavy now and I need to place it on my table (and not on my lap) to work on it. So, for now, it's back in the laudry room closet. I will take it out again once the weather gets cold and the days are short.

Hopefully, by next winter, I will be telling you it's all done!

New colours

2010-05-14T22:49:00.003-04:00

New happy colours out of the dye pot.

I love their brightness. 100% wool - 100g each

Now available in my shop.

Catching up

2010-05-08T17:44:00.005-04:00

Work has me feeling like I am on a roller coaster! It's unbelievably busy. I have had to travel out of town for meetings or conferences every single week of April. I have hardly had any time in my office to tackle all the files on my desk. And it doesn't look like May will be any slower!

But I'm not complaining. I'm lucky to love my work and to still feel very passionate about it after almost 30 years.

I am now 9 mths away from my retirement date and slowly preparing for it. I'm very excited about that new chapter in my life.

Even though I haven't posted much, I have done some knitting at home but mostly in airports, airplanes and hotel rooms. A couple of weekends ago, I have taken out the dye pot.

Have a look at a basketfull of newly dyed yarns. I have been experimenting with Wilson food dyes.

This yarn was dyed with Black dye. That's right, even though you see lots of colour, only Black was used. You see, depending on how much heat and acid you add to your dye water, the colours that make up Black will seperate and do fun stuff with the yarn.

This yarn is also Black, but very little of it. It turned out to be a wonderful blend of greys, blues and lavenders. I love the softness of the colours.

For this Pink Panther yarn, I dyed the whole skein in light pink then squirted darker pink here and there. Nice girly colour. Might become a light cardigan for bébé O.

Green, aqua and yellow make a nice blend as well.

But this one is my favorite. The dye is called Copper and it's components also will separate and produce differents shades. Allthough I don't wear oranges and rusts, I do love how this turned out.

I can't keep all the yarn that I dye. I doubt that I would get to knit it all in this lifetime! So it will make it's way into my shop.

Wishing you a great weekend!

Soap in a coat (part 2)

2010-04-19T12:30:00.003-04:00

I just made another Soap in a Coat with yarn I dyed myself. This is lambswool and it's so soft. I am quite happy with how this yarn looks once knitted up. The colours are soft and pleasing to the eye. This dye job was done with KoolAid.

Soap is now available in my shop.

Soaps need wool coats too!

2010-04-18T08:43:00.008-04:00

This fun project combines two of my great passions...soapmaking and knitting!

How do the two combine? I am not talking about making a soap to clean my knitted items, allthough that would be a good idea.

I am talking about making knitted wool coats for my soaps!

I have fueled (felted) wool roving around my soaps before. I used white roving and wrapped it with coloured yarn. Then fueled everything together by rubbing it, alternating between cold and hot water. Here is a picture of those soaps.

But this project is done in a whole different way. I basically knitted an envelope to fit the soap in. Inserted the soap and kept on knitting to close it off. Super little coat for my soap!

I used Cabin Fever Northern Lights 100% wool yarns for this project because they felt very well and quite quickly too.

These are the handmade soaps I made last fall for Christmas gifts. They smell wonderful and lather really well. They have lots of olive, coconut, canola oils and cocoa butter. Wonderfully rich feeling!

Why should you use felted soaps?

It's like having a built in washcloth. Gentle on your skin, and easy to handle onto in the shower or tub. The wool coat will enhance the lather as it gently exfoliates. The felt will also make your soap last twice as long and you will use every last little bit of soap. Once the soap is gone, use the felt as a scrubby or put it in a drawer to give your clothes a yummy scent.

To use: Wet your soap in a coat and create a lather.

I intend on giving them away unfelted. You can see the Before and After in the picture below.

I made a bunch of them to trade in a soap swap I am participating in. I will add what I have left to my shop to see how they do.

Have yourself a wonderful Sunday!

Just out of the dye pot

2010-04-04T15:00:00.003-04:00

A quick post, mostly pictures today.

Just out of the dye pot, more bulky lambswool yarn. A mixture of several colours.

Skeined.

One of my favorite combination...green and blue.

Skeined

Guest are arriving for dinner!!

Northern Sunset

2010-04-01T16:43:00.008-04:00

My lastest hand dyed yarn, with Wilton Icing colour in pink and yellow I had on hand, reminds me of some of our northern sunsets.

I had not yet tried Wilton as a dye (not for icing either !) I was eager to see how they would look. I have a lot of bluky yarn on hand so I thought it would be fun to use it for this.

I ended up having to play around with it a lot because I had too much yarn in a too small pot. I kept ending up with too much white sections. After a while, I then decided to sprinkle some orange Kool Aid powder where I could still see white spots.

The results are okay. I find the colours a bit too bright for my taste. Mind you, I shouldn't say that cause it reminds me of a sweater I bought last summer.

Wow, till I got it out of the closet, I did not realize how similar they are! Maybe I don't mind it so much. What looks good in the summer as summer colours, should look good in the winter as well, right?

I might use it to make another cowl. I might also add it to my etsy shop..we'll see.

I will have to do some experimenting to see how to tone down those Wilton colours a bit though.

I have also been working on another fun project combining two things I love to do...soap making and knitting. I'll be back with pictures this weekend!

Till them, do something nice for yourself, you deserve it!

Spring dyeing

2010-03-18T19:29:00.004-04:00

Spring break means time to do some experimenting with dyeing. And this wonderful mild weather does not feel like March but more like late April! The snow is just about gone and the sun is warming things up nicely.

So with spring around the corner, I decided to take out my pots to do some immersion dyeing.

According to the book Teach yourself Visually Hand-dyeing, Immersion dyeing is the process of creating a dye bath in a large pot, adding fiber, and heating it over a period of time...Heating the dye bath triggers the chemical bond between fiber and dye. Because large pots are used, this process is sometimes called kettle-dyeing.

I had a worsted weight lambswool yarn in a shade of yellow that did not appeal to me too much. Since the yellow was so light, it would make a good yarn to overdye.

The first skein of yellow was overdyed with teal and chartreuse. It produced a yarn with shades of yellows and greens that remind me of budding trees in the spring.

The second skein was overdyed with teal, ans saphire blue. It reminds me of a sunny spring sky.

The yarns are now listed in my shop.

No way I'm keeping it like this!

2010-03-13T07:43:00.009-05:00

Good morning!

Today is the first saturday of my one week of holidays. The sun is allready shinning and temperatures are so mild.

I showed you the wonderful blue yarns from Sheepstings earlier. I promised to come back with pictures of my shrawl (shawl + shrug) as soon as the sleeves were sewed.

Well it's done! It feels great. I love all of the different textures each yarn has to offer. And those blues! oh those blues! Beautiful!

But that's where it ends. I wore the shrawl around the house for a couple of hours....and it grew and grew and grew some more. It's fairly heavy, so I am not surprised it grew so much. It's much too long now. I feel like I'm wearing an afghan and that's not what I want to wear!

So last night, I started to take it apart and I'm reknitting again as I go. I am shortening it by 10 stitches, I know it does not sound like much but had only 48 stitches to start with. So it's enough, I hope!

I had about half of it reknitted by the time I went to bed last night (after quite a few hours of knitting). Yes, it's a fast knit.

I hope so much that this time it will be just perfect !!!!!

So once again, I promise to come back with pictures of my shrawl, this time quite a bit shorter!

Do leave me a comment if you happen to come by. It makes my day to read them.

Transformation

2010-03-10T20:07:00.003-05:00

I love picking up older pieces of furniture, I always look for them and intend on painting them. I do not have any unpainted furniture in our house, except for our bedroom furniture...and that will change soon.
But I needed something for the front entrance of the house. I was looking for some storage also. You know, a place to put away mittens, and purses, and a few candles.

I picked up this dresser for a song. I loved the legs on it. It was in pretty bad shape. It needed a good sanding and new handles. But the furniture was solid and the curves on the front gave it some interest.

Here is the dresser after a first sanding and when the handle holes are filled up. You can see one of the pups having a peek at what I am doing.

After a coat of primer tinted black, I painted the dresser with a colour called Black bean soup. It's not a pure black, it has a touch of brown in it. But from a distance, it looks very black.

Here it is:

We picked up brushed nickle handles and they do add a nice touch. I will be painting the red mirror above it in the same shade of black. Quite the transformation, right?

How do you like my Eiffel tower lamp? That was the pièce de résistance for me. I loved the lamp as soon as I saw it and knew it would have a great spot on that dresser.

I am quite happy with the results.

Loving the blues!

2010-03-07T08:22:00.008-05:00

Blue...one of my all time favorite colors.

These beautiful yarns are all handdyed by Karen Lawrence.

Bought at Sheepstings yarn shop last spring. Unfortunately, Sheepstrings is now closed but Karen says on her website that she will pursue with her dyeing and designing, which is great news because she does such a fantasting job!

Just before the shop closed last spring, I purchased a kit from her. The kit has 4 different types of yarns all dyed in several shades of blue. The yarns have wonderful names like Algonquin Dew, Tanglewood, Muskoka Forest Vine and Rainbow worsted. The kit is to make a wonderful shrawl (shrug + shawl)

Karen had two made up samples in her store and once I saw the samples, I could not resist.

I started the shrawl right away on #12 mm needles. I was halfway done and concluded that there was no way that the shrawl would fit me. It was much too short. I put it away to ponder on the next step. I put it away for almost 9 months!

I took it out again last month and decided to take it apart and start over on #15mm needles. But I could not find # 15mm anywhere in town.

I had a conference in Ottawa and hubby came with me. Guess what he did when I was in conference all day?? He went to a yarn shop downtown and purchased a #15mm circular needle for me! I was so impressed!

So as soon as I got home I had it on the needles again. It took only a week to complete. I only need to do sleeve seams and I will have pictures of it to show you.