Month: October 2018

Are you a monogamous knitter? Do you stick to your plan of starting and finishing each project as it comes up the queue? If you do, I could use some tips.

I know some people are programmed to finish what they start. They buy yarn for a particular project, get started and FINISH. Wow. I’m in awe. I usually have several projects on the go at one time. Now that I am trying to work on one at a time, I am having some problems. I’m a newby. How do you do this?

Last weekend was our Cabin Fever Retreat. Imagine lots of knitters in class all day learning all things I-Cord. We knit a back and front of a small purse (all sides worked in I-Cord), joined it all together with more I-Cord. They knit with 100% wool  Northern Lights so when they get home, they can felt their purse.

In the evenings, knitters are knitting on their class project or one of the projects they brought with them. I am knitting on my monogamous wrap project. All good. I can knit my wrap while talking and laughing. No problem there. What I can’t do its bring it with me to meals and knit at the table. First of all the wrap is getting big, too big to carry around. Also I am at that stage of wanting to protect it from spills or anything that could damage all the work I’ve done. So knitting at the dinner table is out. Trying to be monogamous, I didn’t bring another project with me. A mistake. Imagine me fiddling with my silverware while everyone else is knitting, waiting for our meals to arrive.

What is your strategy? Stick to one project, no matter what? Work on two projects at one time? Say, what the hell and work on many, many projects?

My wrap is now a stay-at-home project. It’s almost too big for my knitting bag. That’s a good sign, I’m making progress. It may be time to dig out one of my UFO (unfinished objects) or come on, let’s be honest, start a new project to carry around.

Thanks for reading,

Deb

Cabin Fever patterns on ravelry

 

 

Do you have a “thing”? Let me put that another way. Do you have “strong opinions” about certain aspects of knitting?

My friend, Gayle of Knits From the Woodlot, has decided opinions about reversibility. If there is any chance that you will see the other side of your knitting, it also needs to look beautiful.

From her blog 5 Things I Love and Hate About Knit Designs, this quote was first on the list:

• For me, reversibility is essential for shawls, scarves, cowls, and shawl collars, anywhere the wrong side will show. Knitters are not on the fence about this issue. We fall into, “I love shawls, therefore I’m OK with the wrong side showing sometimes” or “No way, I don’t want to be fiddling with what I’m wearing or what’s on the sofa.”

I agree. I’m also not on the fence. So when my daughter asked me to knit her a wrap for her winter wedding, first I was thrilled and second, I thought immediately that it needed to be reversible.

I checked out the book that Gayle recently recommended. Reversible Knitting Stitches, Knits From The Woodlot

I swatched several cables. I am new to reversible cables so it was fun.

 

My decisions made, I knit a scarf. This is now a New Cabin Fever Pattern called Three Cable Reversible Scarf.  It’s a charted pattern.

Then, the saga continues, Gayle sent me her latest design for tech editing. You guessed it, very similar. Great minds and all that. Out of 200 stitch patterns from the Reversible Knitting Stitches book we chose the same central cable. It’s obviously the best looking cable in the book, ha, ha.

The Marksbury Wrap   Check it out.

And how is the winter wedding wrap coming along? So far, so good.

My daugher wanted a very wide wrap so this is approximately the Three Cable Reversible Scarf x 3.  I’m about half way done, OK maybe not quite half but it’s moving along. I might need some cheering from the sidelines for the last couple of feet.

FOLLOW ME for more knitting adventures.   Thanks for reading,

Deb

Cabin Fever patterns on ravelry

Imagine if your local yarn shop came to you. OK it’s not like the ice cream truck cruising your neighbourhood but if you see this truck, STOP, there is yarn.

Purlin’ J’s Joan Sharpe, roves around to various fibre festivals in the Kingston, Ontario area bringing yarn to the masses. That would be us.

Joan came to the Sticks, Strings and Stewardship Retreat I was at last weekend. She is very engaging and has a great story of how she got here inside a roving truck: Purlin’ J is me, Joan Sharpe, and I have years of knitting expertise to share with Purlin’ J’s customers. My late mother, Dorothy, taught me to knit when I was eight years old. (It took a few tries for me to get the hang of it!) My mother encouraged me to work at my local yarn shop when I was still a teenager. This part-time job helped pay my way through a two-year Fashion Design Diploma program at Sheridan College, where I majored in knit clothing. I was hired straight out of college to join the hand-knit pattern design team for the Bouquet brand of yarns manufactured by Spinrite Yarns. As part of the design team, I worked on turning design concepts into written patterns and finally into completed garments.

Since 2013 her 1982 fire service rescue truck has been packed with goodies.

I think this is even better than the ice cream truck. Don’t you?

Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving,

Deb

Cabin Fever patterns on ravelry

I retreated last weekend …

with my favourite people, Knitters! At the Sticks, Strings and Stewardship Retreat in Sudbury, ON, we knit, laughed, learned some new skills, ate, laughed some more and knit. I feel refreshed and the best part is that I feel right in the world about my knitting obsession.

I exposed some knitters to the wonders of I-Cord (much of it “unvented” by the wonderful Elizabeth Zimmermann). It was wonderful to see the light go on as we discussed all the ways I-Cord can be used:

1. free standing I-cord (here’s an i-cord photo tutorial)
2. built-in i-cord,
3. applied aftermarket,
4. worked as a cast on & cast off,
5. different styles of buttonholes
6. decoration (putting i-cord worms on a sweater being my all time favourite).

I’m going to do The Magic of I-Cord again at our next retreat: Cabin Fever Retreat on October 26-28, 2018 at the Fern Resort in Orillia. We’re going to tackle all things I-cord in a little project that you’ll have finished by the end of the weekend. There will be great food, lots of laughs, new skills and lots and lots of knitting. I’m primed now and can’t wait to get started.

I did a little stroll through my Cabin Fever designs where I used the Magic of I-Cord. I was surprised by the number. Here are just a few of my favourites.

My first retreat of the season convinces me that this is the most wonderful way to spend a weekend. I wonder why it’s called a retreat? I can only think that it is a retreat from our normal lives where people don’t get our devotion to knitting.

Thanks for reading,

Deb

Cabin Fever pattern on ravelry