Knitting Year in Review, and Upcoming Gorgeous Scotland Project

ear end knitting review!

This year I featured knitting in literature and on The Vicar of Dibley, my aunt Beysun's lovely sweater, my Pinterest knitting board, knitting for the Olympics, crafts by my sister, and knitting in art, among other links and images.

As for finished projects, I've got a blanket and hat, a golden scarf, a baby blue blanket- which was later set into an adorable basket - a hat, a full set of baby items, a basketweave scarf, a throw blanket, a new hat modelled by my cats, and... the kilt hose! I finished a pair of kilt hose!

I'm still working on the complicated Fair Isle sweater, and finishing up another throw blanket as a belated Christmas gift, but I have a new, huge, big, scary goal in mind.

A couple of weeks ago I got Kate Davies' Colours of Shetland:

The cover does not do justice to how beautiful this book is, and how delicate and lovely and intriguing the ten patterns inside are.

So my goal is choose one, get the wool from Jamieson and Smith, and try to make it as perfect as I can.

Here's just one of the images (featuring Bruce the dog):

Adorable Items and Craft-related Paintings

dorable things!

First, snowmen! From the Toronto Knit Cafe site:

And an update: I knit this blanket for author friend Talli Roland, and look how adorably she used it:

Speaking of blankets, I also finished this one, but haven't taken a photo yet. Here it is in progress:

T
he Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is running an Impressionists exhibition, and I took photos of knitting and craft related paintings!

Millet - Shepherdess

Millet - The Knitting Lesson

Renoir - Girl Crocheting

Boldini - Young Woman Crocheting

What other paintings have you seen that feature knitting?

Inspiration, A Knitting Meme, and Sam Models a New Hat

ompleted projects, as promised!

Before that though, here's my first ever Fair Isle project, from the Stitch n Bitch Nation book that Helen got me:

Also, I was in Anthropologie the other day and saw this shawl/throw, which I'd like to knit for myself:

And I caught this funny meme on the KnitTraders at Kingston newsletter:

And now, the completed hat. Here's Sam, in my latest knitting bag:

And here he is modelling the last project I finished:

Chillin'

Finally, here's an extra shot of Frodo, because I like to be fair:

Bits n Bobs n Links n Fobs

uthor Jo Bourne talks about knitting in history.

She adds, "I do not imagine I will ever find a use for the willingness of European men to engage in decorative handwork."

I sense a challenge... Whether it's a writing challenge or a knitting challenge remains to be seen.

Came across this article the other day: Joyce Carol Oates on quilting

Where would you like to be? I'd like to spend some time - a lot of time - on Shetland, especially during wool week. A bookstore that sells wool? I could own that!

Okay, I was teasing a bit with the fobs in the title, what I really meant was a garland, of knitted stockings. I might try to make this next month:

Knit Matroyska dolls! Adorable!

Also, for kids, a gorgeous book and a leaf-blanket.

As for real projects, I've finished a hat and am working on a blanket as well. I've also gotten half way on my first ever Fair Isle sweater. Photos coming!

What are you crafting?

Fair Isle and Basketweave

learned something new about Shetland wool today:

"Like most traditional Fair Isle garments produced before the 1940s, the yarn used to knit this cardigan was worsted spun. This process -- in which the raw wool is combed rather than carded, then drawn short, and spun so that the fibres sit parallel to one another -- produces a yarn with a smooth hand, and a very even finish. Many old Fair Isle garments have a slight 'sheen' that is the result of the smooth worsted yarns that have been used to knit them."

I've never made anything with a Fair Isle pattern, mainly because I find charts confusing to follow. I'm not an intuitive knitter - I need to have every step spelled out. But I'd love to try making a Fair Isle garment with this gorgeous wool:

"This is Shetland Heritage yarn. It is the result of an exciting collaboration between the Shetland Museum and Archives, the Shetland Amenity Trust, Curtis Wool Direct, and Jamieson and Smith -- the idea being to produce a modern yarn as close as possible to that which was originally used to hand-knit traditional Fair Isle garments."

Thanks to Kate Davies Designs for all this info!

Meanwhile, here are the promised photos of the basketweave scarf I finished last week:

What have you been working on?

Bombing and Waulking

arn bombing!

I still haven't tried it, but here are a couple of posts with photos of various yarn bombs around Montreal:

Political Yarn Bombs, Solo Yarn Bombs and Les Ville-laines Collective.

Meanwhile, I came across a couple of funny patterns the other day. One was for a Canadian Cloud. I couldn't figure out what it was! A little Googling turned up this explanation: a cloud is a stole.

A Canadian cloud, according to Murray's Magazine in 1888 is explained this way: "Their tuques are smaller and closer, and generally almost concealed by the fleecy folds of a 'cloud'–that peculiarly Canadian wrap which, consisting of a fringed strip of loosely knitted or woven thick soft wool nine feet long and eighteen inches wide, is both comfortable and becoming."

Also, there's this:

Hardly seems worth all the work. Speaking of work, here's something I doubt is done by hand anymore, though I wish I could witness it firsthand:

   

Waulking wool in South Uist, 1970

I can't even use a drop spindle yet! But I have just finished a scarf. Photos coming soon!

It Runs in the Family...

andmade items!

I start a hat...

Finished hat!

Another shot of the hat...

My sister, meanwhile, made an awesome Alphabet Board for my nephew. She drew the background and the items for each letter, then had them laminated. Then she put a magnet on the back of each one:

These are just a few of the items...

The goat's head was covering up the queen...

There she is!

Love this guy!

A Set of Baby Items

nother baby set!

Folded blanket

Pretty colours!

Booties!

Another ruffle hat (I love making these!)

A second set of booties

From above

From the front

Both together

Meanwhile, I got a pile of old knitting magazines from a friend.

The models are cheesy but some of the patterns are quite lovely!