Tonal rainbow

You know how I always talk about colour? How I've clearly found my calling because I love being surrounded by colourful yarn all the time? And sometimes I'm minding my own business in my office when I look over at the drying racks and am completely enamored with the colour combo's that happened to fall into place? Well, Chris does it too. Another reason why I love that guy. The other day he stops in the office and admires the racks and says that he would love to own a striped sweater knit in those colours (I should have taken a picture because I have no idea what colours they were...) and then as I get up to come and admire the colours with him, he says to me: "never mind, you wouldn't get it, it's not a tonal rainbow." 

What!? Is he trying to tell me that I only like colour pairings that make a perfect gradient rainbow!? That's totally banana's. 

And then I started thinking... maybe he's right! Maybe I'm in a rut. I was laying out all of my Green Label aran weight yarn and getting it labeled and boxed up for the K-W Knitter's Fair next week when I noticed that I had lined them up in rainbow formation... 

I had printed out my stickers to label all that yarn and, you guessed it, more rainbow formation...

And last night I started a new sweater. I love it, it's going to be amazing, I don't have a picture of it yet, but it's going to look like this hat, only in cardigan form and, yup, totally blue rainbow formation.

I think I'm going to make it a goal to knit something colourful that is not a tonal rainbow at some point. I seem to have a "thing".

Watercolour Baby Sweater

Another languishing WIP finished! It feels really great to be cleaning out my knitting basket. 

This little sweater, my Blank Canvas Baby Sweater pattern (free!) knit up in leftover bits of sock yarn in only the prettiest, watercolour tones, turned out exactly how I'd dreamed it would. I'm completely crazy about it. I'm really glad that I waited for that extra little bit of purple to be leftover after my last Clara dress to knit the sleeves. I think they needed the light pinky-purple, otherwise it would have been too much blue. 

These blue-green-purple shades are totally me, I wish I had this exact sweater in my size!

Ravelry project page here. 

Small Victories

I finally finished this Clara dress. I had planned on finishing it as one of several Ravellenic Games projects, but I was on vacation during the Ravellenic Games, we don't have a tv at the cottage, I was completely not following the Olympics (which I really missed because I LOVE the Olympics) and I didn't knit while on vacation at all. I'm not entirely surprised by this. I always pack enough knitting to last me at least 4 months when I go out of town, and I rarely knit while I away, I think it's because I'm so used to my routine here at home. I have my knitting nook all set set up in my living room (I only ever knit in one spot in my house, the same corner of my sofa, no exceptions!) and when I'm out of my knitting routine I just never seem to be able to find a new knitting mojo. 

Anyways, thrilled to be able to call this little dress done, but I'm not super pleased with the colour... I loved this skein, it was so multifaceted and pretty, but knit up it's left me feeling kind of bleh... I think it's the brown bits, they're just not working for me. I haven't blocked the sweater or sewn on a button yet because I'm considering over-dyeing the whole thing a slightly darker purple to play down the browns. But then again, maybe I just need to sit back and live with it for a bit, maybe it will grow on me. Stay tuned!

The good thing about finishing up the Clara dress is that I was able to use the leftover yarn to finish knitting the sleeves of my Watercolour Blank Canvas Baby sweater. This little number is hitting all the right marks for me. I love everything about it and plan on finishing it tonight so I can block it, add a few buttons and have another wee FO. This was another project that was supposed to be part of my WIP Wrestling for the Ravellenic Games... 

This last image has nothing to do with knitting, but I finally finished reading this epic novel, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I started reading this book in February I think, and just finished it yesterday. It's nearly 1200 pages, and took me forever to really get into. After the first few hundred pages, I really started enjoying it. I consider it a real personal victory that I actually finished it. Yay me!

Making lists

A few of my fellow Canadian knit-bloggers have already blogged about this, but I was on vacation when this issue of Canadian Living came out so I'm a little behind. I have to share this myself though, because it's just too cool not to mention: I am quoted in Canadian Living! 

A few months ago I received an e-mail from Austen, the Canadian Living craft editor, asking me what type of notebook I use to organize my thoughts. Honestly, that's kind of a tough question, a quick round up of the notebooks that I had laying around my office, coffee table and knitting baskets produced 5 different books, all in active use. The big Ecojot notebook that is pictured in the center of this pile is the one that lives permanently on my desk, and it's where I jot down most of my to-do lists. However, the second Ecojot notebook pictured on the left is also a favourite. That one has blank sheets of cardstock, making it perfect for sketching design ideas and doodling. Plus, don't the Ecojot books just have the best artwork! I love those owls!

The truth is, I often grab sheets of looseleaf or post-its to jot down notes, and I have a  massive spiral bound Hilroy notebook where I keep track of all of my TFA wholesale orders. When I'm working on patterns they usually start in one of the notebooks pictured above, but then when I'm working out the math for sizing I switch to loose leaf. Interestingly enough the one place I never takes notes is on my computer. I'm on my computer all day long, so you'd think I'd be more comfortable with it, but there is something just so extremely satisfying about writing out a list and then crossing things off! I think better with pen and paper. 

I'm currently in the process of making lists (the kind of lists that seem to go on forever) with all the things that we need to do to prep for the K-W Knitter's Fair in September. It always takes us a bit of time to readjust to our work schedule after a vacation, and this past week has been no exception. We've had a few setbacks, including Chris, the head dyer, recovering from a finger injury that left him in no position to dye at his usual pace (luckily his finger is just about all better now, so this week should be closer to normal) and I have been feeling under the weather, which makes things move slower than I would like. I'm sure we'll get 'er all done, we always do, as long as I've got my lists to keep me organized! 

Vacation

Did you know that Chris and I have been out East on holiday for the past 2 weeks? Ha! Aren't I tricky? I planned a few blog posts to go up while we were away so nobody would feel neglected and I was able to almost completely unplug. It was glorious. Like most other years I spent my summer vacation at my family cottage in Nova Scotia doing absolutely nothing. I managed to bring my camera out a few times over the course of our time away, but most of the time I was too busy relaxing to remember to reach for the camera. 

We timed our vacation so we would be out East for my best friends' wedding. Sara and Marcel tied the knot in style. She is gorgeous and they both looked so happy all night long. 

Another highlight was when my 94 year old Grandmother got to meet her newest great grandchild Annika. Grammy is a G-G (Great-Grammie) to 14 great grandchildren now! Incredible. I love that shot of Annika's plump, wee little hand next to Grammie's beautiful 94 year old skin (Grammie has the softest skin, I don't know what her secret is!) 

And of course, Stella got to meet Annika for the first time too... she was slightly less impressed. She didn't seem to mind her, but I'm not sure she was completely certain of what exactly she was either. I think they'll be best buds soon enough. :)

I hope that you all managed to take some time for yourselves too this summer. My two weeks in paradise were just what I needed. Now it's time to shift gears and start thinking about fall!

Mooncrest

Remember this scarf? I loved the yarn, loved the pattern, but the two just didn't work together... so the scarf got frogged and I re-knit it into my new Suncrest pattern. I am thrilled to finally have the right project for this gorgeous yarn. Hopefully in this incarnation I'll get lots of use out of it and it will be the signature piece I've been dreaming of!

This shawl used just about every last yard of 2 skeins of Koigu (kpppm) fingering weight yarn. 

This pattern grows a lot after blocking. The garter stitch stretches out beautifully to show off every last garter ridge and the border really opens up.  

I can't get enough of this scarf!

My summer garden

I've already mentioned that Chris and I tackled a tomato garden for the first time this year, and it's been a huge success! We eat tomatoes every day and love them. I also have a few flowering perenials, which are my favourite things to have in my garden. They are so rewarding. They come back every year, and are so pretty.

We planted several different tomato specimens, but y'know, the sweetest ones and my favourite ones are the simple red cherry tomatoes.

Watching the tomatoes ripen on the vine is like magic. The way that they naturally ripen in a gradient rainbow is right up my alley!

Pretty right?

Nanook - FO

My Nanook (design be Heidi Kirrmaier) is finished, and it is perfect! After a good wet blocking the fronts of the cardigan flow open effortlessly. The fit in the body and sleeves is very comfotable and I have to say, knit up in my Orange Label Cashmere/Silk Worsted weight yarn, in the Sand colourway, it's pretty much a dream to wear.

What drew me to this pattern initially was the collar. It's a show stopper! But upon closer examination I was also really intrigued by the interesting construction elements. I love the combination of lace, garter stitch and stockinette stitch. And I really wanted to see how those gorgeous yoke increases would work out! They create a really pretty starburst pattern of increases along the upper back of the sweater and I think they are just so pretty. I'm mesmerized by how well fitting the resulting sweater is, it definitely makes me re-think the standard sweater yoke construction I usually use (set in sleeves or raglan yokes are not the only options!)

In the photo just above I love how the fabric transitions from sleek stockinette on the sleeve to textured garter stitch for the front. So pretty. It's details like this that really make a sweater design stand out for me. 

The pattern was really well written, easy to follow and fun to knit. The resulting cardigan is an instant favourite! I would even consider knitting it again. My mom is currently knitting one for herself in Atlantic, I think that everyone should knit themselves a Nanook! 

I knit this sweater as part of the Luvinthemommyhood Summer Sweater KAL and I've finished it long before the end date. What I should be working on is my Ravellenic games WIP wrestling challenge... How are your Ravellenic Games projects coming along?

Club - July 2012

The July instalment of the TFA Year in Colour Club was a pretty exciting one for me. This months designer is Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed! Kind of a big deal. I was really looking forward to working with him, and the resulting collaboration exceeded my expectations. So professional, so friendly and of course, such a great designer! Jared and I worked together to come up with this light grey Smoke colourway, and dyed up in the Red Label Cashmere/Silk Single ply yarn, it's so soft and dreamy. 

The Guernsey Triangle is a beautiful, geometric, triangular shawl featuring simple but dynamic knit and purl combinations. The look is so crisp and clean and so wearable. I just love it!