Grey Heron bits

We are on the home stretch... just a few days until KnitFest Spring 2012. I'm busy working on the yarn packages for each class knitter. The goodie bags are taking shape. The menu is almost complete including treats... The last minute yarn order is on the way thanks to Bob... way to go Bob !!!... The printer has my patterns for printing. The camera battery is charging for a couple of photos needed for one last pattern - my Gull Stitch cowl... It's a beauty... speaking of birds, my heron is back home for the summer... I've noticed him flying overhead twice now on my way to work... such a magestic flyer... My check list has a few pick ups left to go.. jumbo sticky notes- who knew... 20" x 23" post it notes... how cool is that.. makes for a terrific flip chart... stick'n on the wall... tada!!... ready to go.. So, off to the yarn winder I go... later..     

Jim and I often take my only day off from work = Sunday and go out for a drive. We started to head to a local maple syrup festival and since we left the house later than planned we decided to drive over to Lake Huron side of things. On the way there I thought about stopping into Philosopher's Wool but I had forgotten the town where they are located. Browsing around the lake side map area I had an Oprah lightbulb moment- ah ha!!... Inverhuron, that's it... Ok we'll head there, find a gas station and ask if they know how to get there...  like so many times before our Zen driving took over... just as we were heading towards Inverhuron I shout- hang a right   there's their sign... I know it's Sunday and they might not be open but since we found them let's give it a go.. Eugene and Ann were most welcoming. We chatted about knitting, wool, their fab beam house and then headed to see the stacks of hand knit sweaters- pieces of art I say... every colour of the rainbow..

Beyond Knit and Purl- what a fabulous book... I have ordered these books for the KnitFest workshop. Buy your copy on the day of and Kate will personally sign your very own copy.

Well, the Thursday group sure had a fun afternoon. Jan came in with my Regal order - Cribbage board shaped like a red canoe, Father's Day gift... I missed getting a picture of Karen's Ilga Leja vest called Among the Birches. Again using Noro silk garden, this sweater will be delightful. Check out Ilga's site;  http://ilgaleja.com/collection_far_north_among_the_birches.php I also missed Jan's grandson's Bibbed Trousers. They are so cute in royal blue. I will have a pic for next week. Heather designed a beautiful Noro Cowl Entrelac - pattern coming - It is so wonderful. I just love the way the Noro colours flow together. Heather's Entrelac Cowl Min's Frilly scarf Heather's Frilly scarf Ruth's Cardie Apple Blossom Shawl Min was having fun making the frilly scarves. Ruth's sweater is taking shape. It's the http://cabinfever.ca/knitters611.html  Classic Cardigan with a boucle collar and cuff in soft muted shades.

We don't just chat about knitting- don't be silly... recipes, kids, dogs, weather, books, weekend stuff, So, today we learned how to fold bed sheets- first, fold the flat sheet into a small package, then fold the pillowcase into the same size, tuck the fitted end corners inside each other and fold into a similar size as others - take the three packages and slide them inside the last pillowcase---- TaDa!! one very neat and tidy package of bed sheets = brought to you by Ruth Carol's discovered that she really likes to start to attach her new colour about 6 stitches before she needs to. She carries the soon to be new colour along the back side of the current colour stitches... this saves weaving in all the threads = brought to you by Carol Can't wait for Thursday group to arrive... and what will the next topic be about? 

We started with Carol's treats- sour cream coffee cake.. anytime Carol.. We had a discussion about colours- Carol found her new book on colours very helpful in choosing accent colours for her pink fair isle socks. Arlene re-vamped her idea about baby afghan colours. Ruth's motoring along on her sweater. Audrey is making good headway on a vest for her husband. Tamar and Mary are working on their Thrum mittens. Have a look... Carol's leftover socks   Mary's Thrum mitts Colour discussion- Brenda's new swtr

The weather outside is - wonderful ... with a big breeze coming along Pine st straight from the bay. The sun is shining and the birds are singing... should we wait for the other shoe to drop... maybe we will sail right into Spring... Well, I've had a knitting frenzy so much so that my left shoulder is screaming pain at me today... oh well... Here's my little Honey of a Hat and Cowl... lovely in Noro Silk Garden- just lite enough for a breezy day... Honey of a Hat Honey of a Cowl The Honeycomb stitch pattern is really easy- a few knits, purls and slips and you're away to the races... We are making these into kits  and including a jar of Beaver Valley Gold honey from our local producer. Our Thursday knit group is starting to arrive so I'd better get going...

It's a fun little thing these boot cuffs... since my daughter mentioned them I've had such fun making up designs. Here's a picture of the Baa Boot Cuff... pattern soon

Cowls are such a small portable project. I've been working on a little collection to make into kits- March break is on - a couple of balls of yarn, a set of needles will make this week fun for many. We are in for very balmy weather which might not make for the best skiing - so I'm ready for the knitters to arrive. Kits are so easy - packaged already to go Apple Pie Trail Sock kit Gull Stitch cowl, Harris Tweed Cowl ,  Noro Honey combcowl  

What could one make with just one skein? That's what Ilga thought to herself... one skein of self striping yarn, a beautiful lace pattern and Five Easy Pieces emerges... Let's think a bit about it- start at the neck line, work your way down and end when your yarn ends... Having fun with colour is so much fun... watching the changes in both colour and lace... I can't wait for the collection to arrive. The collection will be here until the middle of April... I have pattern support for all pieces... With spring time right around the corner, knit up one of these lovely beauties for yourself or for someone special...          

My yarn orders caught up to me... new/new colours to our shelves Santa Fe sock yarn - 2 free sock pattern downloads Crofter DK (5 colours, fake fair isle) - lovely pattern support Inca wool alpaca blend (7 colours) - worsted weight- the new go to yarn Galway chunky (4 autumn colours) - free hat pattern download Noro Silk Garden blend - it's Noro, what more can I say Donegal chunky (8 colours) - tweed effect, from Ireland Summer Stripes -(5 colours)  beautiful pattern support  

 We have a colourwork class coming uo at KnitFest Spring 2012 with Glenna C. I thought I would start on a few kit pieces for the colourwork class to purchase. Donna and I did a little "knit jam" session and came up with a corrugated rib cuffed fingerless fair isle. The heather brown main colour and variegated contrast  look great together... and so the Rustic collection gets a leg up. Rustic fingerless fair isle Rustic beret beginings The designing fun part for me happens around 3am... I know you are probably thinking OMG 3am... some of our best ideas happen when we least expect it... I get up and start planning, after all my mind will just keep  circulating ideas until I get up... one more for the pattern  list... and on with the beret...

Sheep boot cuff Well, when my mind gets going it's hard to stop it. I worked devilishly to get this ready for today. The Thursday knitters want to see the finished cuff... It's not just about creating a pattern, taking pictures - now I have to take my hieroglyphics  and make some sense of it. With the little scribbles here and there -  a few false starts - my pattern writing will take over my afternoon. As with the Berner cuff, this will lead to other pieces in this collection... as well as the black sheep version ... Now onto the Rustic fair isle collection... 

Our Comax BC daughter tells me that boot cuffs are all the rage on the ski hills @ Mount Washington. I jump right on that. Karen has two Bernese Mountains dogs - Canuck and Taya... so I chose these colours as they reminded me of the Berner colours. With a little false start the knitted creation takes form. Of course this leads me to a cowl pattern, a hat with the dble coloured ribbed band, perhaps fingerless with a matching cuff... you see a knitters job is never done- good thing because it's great fun!!

Last week I asked our Wednesday knit group to bring along their i-pad or laptops so they could follow along with a how to class on maneuvering Ravelry. We started simple with how to sign in - how to find/add friends – how to find a pattern based on the yarn you have – and so on… We had a great time.. Once they discovered what options were available to them, they were off to the races. Our Thursday group got the up date and info about knitty.com. I suspect that this past weekend several hours were spent browsing new sites, collecting new ideas for Spring projects.  As a knitter who loves browsing knitting websites, I love to learn new things. I challenged myself for the coming year to make the time, take the effort,  endure the risk - try something new every chance I get.  My new mantra - I can do it... I can do it...

Every year since moving into our house we have a flock of 40 - 50 cedar waxwings land in our crabapple tree for a feed up. Today was the day. In the middle of high winds, blowing snow and rain the waxwings are hanging on for dear life in this old tree, along with our resident robins who didn't fly south this year. The four robins were in the tree protecting their fruit as best they could. The waxwings were having a great time frolicing about. The ground is littered with berries which my guess is the robins will enjoy over the next couple of days. Once Jim figures out his new camera I will post the actual tree photos. Until then, here's what a cedar waxwing looks like. If you see a flock of waxwings flying  erratically, they are just the Farmilo cedar waxwings drunk on fremented berries... LOL

 Get your knitting needles ready, the Sashay frilly scarf yarns are here!! Waltz - brown – blue- grey Disco - royal blue – dark wine - orange Shuffle - brown- off white- cream Tutu -  pink - white Conga -  olive green- beige- dark green Twist - turquoise- lime- light blue- royal Boogie – lilac- lavender – dark purple