Friday 28 June 2013

Nap time!

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Rowan has started napping relatively predictably (key word here is "relatively" as in he's done a proper morning and afternoon nap once or twice and I'm hanging on to that with everything I've got! Let me be happy with my delusions!) which has afforded me much more knitting time recently. And trust me, I have been putting it to good use! I'm working on a little pattern and have mastered the art of sewing a zipper into a wee knit. Details coming soon! Well... soon-ish, I may have a bit more knitting time, but I'm not sure that I've got enough pattern writing/editing/perfecting time to get this ready "soon". 

Wednesday 26 June 2013

TFA Tuesday on a Wednesday! - Vivid Blanket

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Yarn: TFA Palette in the Signature Colourway, plus 2 skeins of Yellow Label DK Weight Natural.

Just look at this stunner of a blanket. This is exactly the sort of thing that I hoped people would do with my Palettes. Pick a gorgeous colourful project, pick your favourite Palette, and go to town! Obviously I love the Signature Palette, but as Alexa points out in her blog post about this blanket, this would be gorgeous in any combination of colours really. I love the pretty lace panels bordered by squishy garter stitch, and I know for a fact that you can never have too many blankets with a baby in the house. 

Alexa has put together an awesome Vivid Blanket tutorial on her blog, definitely worth checking out if you plan on knitting up one of these beauties for yourself. 

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Monday 24 June 2013

3 Colours

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Betsy by Amy Miller, Colour Affection by Veera Välimäki, Happy Street by Veera Välimäki, Daybreak by Stephen West (project photo by MrsSophie)


The beautiful striped shawl trend does not look like it's going to go away anytime soon. And that's terrific, because playing with colour is my favourite passtime. :) I get emails all the time from knitters wanting suggestions for colour pairings. Often times they have one or two favourite colourways that they know they want to use and they're just missing that last one to tie the whole look together. 

There are lots of obvious choices, take Veera's gorgeous blue Colour Affection (top right) where she's stuck with a tonal palette, look to any of my TFA Palettes, pick 3 colours from any of them and you'll be all set! Or the Happy Street shawl photo featuring 2 neutrals and a pop, chose any two greys add  your favourite bright shade and you're in business! I'm trying to branch out a bit and chose colour pairings that don't always fall side by side on the tonal colour wheel. I do love my gradient rainbows, but every once in a while it's fun to do something a little more unexpected and interesting. Although, having said that, I think that my favourite image in the collage above is hands down MrsSophie's gorgeous Daybreak shawl... done in the colours of my Signature Palette... maybe I'm not totally ready to change my ways just yet. 

This morning I snapped some shots of a few interesting colour combos for you, just in case you've got a colourful shawl in mind and need a bit of inspiration!
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Charcoal, Royal Flush and Chris Grey :: replace the red with any of your favourite brights (maybe Peacock or Lemongrass!) Change the Chris Grey for Sand... the possibilities with this sort of combo are endless!

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Chris Grey, Seabreeze and Brick :: Chris Grey goes with everything! And I really love the warm rust and cool turquoise together.

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Gold, Lucky Penny and Truffle :: Lucky Penny is such a great colourway, but it can be tricky to figure out what it's best mates are. I love it with Gold, add the richness of Truffle and I think that this combo really works.

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Iris, paired with Seabreeze, Gold, Jewel and Sunset :: Iris is another dynamic colourway and it looks great with lots of other shades. Gold seems to be a favourite of mine for pairings, it's such a nice warm neutral and really lets the more complex colourways shine.

So, there you have just a few of my favourite combo's from this morning. Hope they inspire you to try knitting with colour today!

Thursday 20 June 2013

Blue and Bloglovin'

So, first a little bit of business. If you're an avid blog reader like me, then you've probably noticed that there is a big shift happening out there these days and that lots of bloggers are asking you to follow them over on bloglovin'. Well, now it's my turn! I was addicted to Google Reader and was really upset when they announced that it was disappearing. I made the switch to bloglovin' a few months ago and now I actually much prefer it to my old Google Reader ways. 

Come join me and:
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Now that that's out of the way, I can tell you a little bit about my latest WIP. I'm knitting a big, beautiful, warm shawl for my grandmother. I've chosen the French Cancan pattern and am knitting it in the luscious Orange Label Cashmere Silk Worsted weight yarn in Frost. It doesn't look like much at the moment because I've got about 200 worsted weight stitches crammed onto a 24" needle, but trust me, it's squooshy, cushy lovelyness!

My Grammy LOVES blue. She passed that, along with her obsessive compulsive knitting down to me. She turned 95 last month and I think that something like this to throw over her shoulders on cold evenings will be perfect for her. 

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Sparkle

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Amid a sea of smooth merino waves I spot one single, sparkly skein. It catches my eye every time I walk by, and I think I like it. Oh the possibilities! 

Tuesday 18 June 2013

TFA Tuesday - Freesia

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Top Tier Knitter: JumperCables
PatternFreesia by JumperCablesKnitting
Yarn: TFA Yellow Label DK Weight yarn in Brick
Ravelry Project page here

Such a beautiful DK weight shawl. Warm and cushy, this thing would feel amazing wrapped around your shoulders. Annie, aka: JumperCables on Ravelry, is both the knitter and designer of this gorgeous shawl. I find it difficult sometimes to find patterns for shawls/scarves that are warm enough for our frigid Canadian winters yet still interesting to knit and stylish to wear, this design hits all the marks for me. Simple, graphic, perfect. And even though I don't typically consider Brick to be a summery colourway, I love the way that it looks like fiery embers from a bonfire in these photos. Almost glowing!
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Monday 17 June 2013

Moodboard Monday - Brick

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Clockwise from top left: TFA Red Label in Brick, Terracotta pulloversunsetfoxsquirrelflowersdoorway

Brick:
Rich, warm, cozy. I used to think of this colourway as only for fall, now it reminds me of beachy sunsets and bonfires. Pairs beautifully with cooler blues and turquoises as shown by the 2 photos on the left.




Friday 14 June 2013

Our Day at the Farm

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Sara Caracristi, me & Rowan and Jenna Rose
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Last week Chris, Rowan and I went off together on our first adventure. This adventure involved about seven hours in the car spread over two days and an overnight stay at my brother's house. It was a big deal for us and it went off without a hitch! A small step for mankind, but a huge step for Chris and I as new parents. 

The main purpose of our trip was to get together with a couple of my best friends. Last year Jenna and Jeff moved from the city to the country. They now live on a farm, own a cheese business and among other things they have 3 adorable piglets! I've mentioned Jenna here before, she is a textile artist and makes the most beautiful products with her hand dyed and screen printed fabrics under the label Jenna Rose. They've converted the old sheep barn into her studio. It's beautiful. Jeff runs the cheese business, Back Forty Artisan Cheese. His cheese is made with Sheep's milk, and are hands down the best cheeses I've ever tasted. If you're ever in an area where you are lucky enough to find them, don't even think about it, just buy them, eat them with a pear and thank me later. 

Oh, and I guess I should mention the archery! Jeff has a compound bow and of course the guys were super keen on getting a little archery lesson from him. We discovered that Chris is left eye dominant, but with a right handed bow he had to aim with his right eye (I think). Bottom line, we also discovered that Chris can't close his left eye! He's exclusively a right eye winker apparently. So Jenna rigged him this awesome bandana eye patch so he could aim with accuracy. He was a natural and hit the target every time!

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Anniversary

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Today marks 3 years that Chris and I have been married. I didn't have a blog post planned, but then I checked my e-mail and my cousin had sent me this photo that she took of us lounging on her deck at the cottage 2 years ago. I think that this is the first time I've seen it. I love it and I love that gorgeous man.   

Tuesday 11 June 2013

TFA Tuesday - Cloud Illusions

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Top Tier Knitter: Forget-Me-Knit 
Pattern: Cloud Illusions by Boo Knits
Yarn: TFA Red Label Cashmere/Silk Single in Natural.
Ravelry Project page here

When I spotted this shawl on Ravelry the other day it completely took my breath away and I knew that I wanted to share it. It's so light and airy. Knit up in the Red Label yarn this shawl looks incredibly soft and lush. This knit was the inspiration for yesterday's Natural moodboard. I am so drawn to bright, saturated colours that I sometimes forget how perfect a neutral, natural knit can be. Light as a cloud!
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Monday 10 June 2013

Friday 7 June 2013

Rowan's very own Gramps

And the winner of this weeks giveaway is... Tanya! Congrats and thanks to all who entered.

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Pattern: Gramps by TinCanKnits
Yarn: TFA Green Label Aran Weight yarn in (almost) Chris Grey and Natural.
Ravelry project page here

This is the very first thing that I have knit specifically for Rowan. Sure, I knit a bunch of baby knits while I was pregnant, but they were all for "the baby" that we didn't know yet. This was made with Rowan by my side, especially for him, the little dude that we know and love. 
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I'm hoping that this will fit him in the fall when the weather gets cool. Look how happy he is about his new sweater! He loves it! You're welcome baby, I promise you many more hand knits to come!
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Wednesday 5 June 2013

Giveaway!

Cashmere Baby Sweaters
I was pretty excited when I noticed the other day that my Sunnyside cardigan pattern has over 1000 projects on Ravelry!!! To celebrate this exciting milestone I'm giving away a skein of Purple label Cashmere Sock yarn in Midnight to one lucky blog reader so they can knit there very own Sunnyside. 
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Rowan has two Sunnyside cardigans of his own that he gets a lot of use out of. I am rather relieved that the sweater fits him so well and has proven to be such a wardrobe staple. When I designed it I didn't have a test baby to try it out on but now that I have my very own tiny knit guinea-pig I can say with authority that every baby should have a Sunnyside! Cardigans are the way to go, so easy to pop on and off. Knit in fingering weight yarn it's warm but not bulky, it fits great and is quite flexible in terms of sizing. He's been wearing this sweater since he was only a few weeks old, at first with the sleeves rolled up, then it was a little loose, now it fits quite well and soon he'll wear it with the buttons open.   
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I'll be knitting him another in the next size up for the fall. I plan on making it in Midnight since Rowan has the best dark blue eyes. I doubt that they'll stay blue forever, but I might as well make them pop with a gorgeous midnight blue sweater while I still can!

So, to enter the giveaway for your chance to knit with a skein of Purple Label Midnight right along with me just leave a comment on this blog post. A winner will be announced on Friday, June 7. Cheers!

Monday 3 June 2013

Moodboard Monday - Buttercup

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Buttercup:
Cheerful, innocent, refreshing and surprisingly fashion forward.