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!

Knitting During the Olympics - Super Secret Project

avelympics - the Ravelry knit-during-the-Olympics fest - end tomorrow, with the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics - and I've completed my project early!

Compared to Vancouver 2010, I chose a much easier project this time around; a repeating pattern that you can memorise is especially helpful when half your eye is on the screen.

Actually, now that I've gone and looked back, it seems I finished my 2010 Olympics project early too - and was blithely talking about starting the kilt hose. Little did I know...

But that's neither here nor there. I've completed the super secret (for the recipient) baby blanket! Made-in-Turkey wool, bought in South Carolina, knit in Canada, for a friend in the UK:

The beginning...

Halfway, at the office...

The finished blanket!

Slightly close-up

Folded up

On a more sour note, I had no idea of the controversy swirling around the Ravelympics. I think the US Olympic committee could have enforced its copyright without resorting to such ridiculous statements as "'We believe using the name 'Ravelympics' for a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games,' the USOC wrote in the letter. 'It is disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work.'"

Yea, because knitting doesn't involve any work. Not to mention that a lot of the proceeds from pattern sales were being donated to the Paralympics.

Knitting for the Olympics!, Dover Castle and Myrtle Beach

think I'm going to do it.

I'm going to knit for the Olympics. Last time I made a scarf, and this time... Well, I haven't decided yet. Might be a blanket, a tuque, a couple more booties...

I've almost completed this baby blanket:

But I've taken the Olympics pledge, and I do already have the wool for the blanket, bought at the Knit n Purl shop in Myrtle Beach!

Speaking of wool and knitting in other places, back in April, I visited Dover Castle.

Near the nurses and radio operators' station:

...there was a display of items related to break-time:

And finally, there were some special tips for knitters:

Will you be knitting come 27 July?

Scarves, Olympics, and Knitting in Literature Joke

rojects!


I'm back on a regular knitting schedule, and very excited.
World Wide Knit in Public Day starts today and goes on all week!

I've made two of these scarves, the yellow and black above for an aunt's birthday, and another pink shawl for another aunt's birthday.

Also, I had a gift certificate for Effiloche and bought some gorgeous cashmere/merino/silk yarn to make a baby blanket to go with the booties. But just look:

I wanted to buy everything in the shop!

Part of the baby gift package will include another handmade gift, though not made by me. A friend's mother makes breastfeeding aprons and ponchos - gorgeous.

Meanwhile, I haven't done a knitting in literature post in a while. This doesn't actually qualify, but I thought it was a funny quip: Chaber yarn!

And the Olympics are coming! I haven't decided if I'll do any Olympics knitting this year. But a mystery knitter (today is also international yarn bombing day!) has already beaten us all to it:

Mystery Olympics Knitter!

"A mystery knitter has left a huge Olympics-themed knitted work on the pier in Saltburn-by-the-Sea near Teesside." (there are many more photos on the site)

In Progress - Baby Items - and Yorkshire Bags

've actually been working! Here's a sample of what I've got:

Booties, which still need buttons.

Leggings, which have only just been started. I've also started another Ruffle Hat.

Then there's these, which I love:

Felt bags, made at Linton-in-Craven, Yorkshire.

And I've just met a fellow Montreal knitter, La Souris Verte! So exciting to meet local crafters.