Swatchless

First of all, I’d like to thank all of my guest blogging friends who have shared their knitting adventures over the past month while I was out having some adventures of my own.  This past month has been a whirlwind of road trip and camping adventures with my friend Evan.  For the full story check here.

Of course, I brought along a knitting project with me–a sock!

Pattern: My recipe for Basic Toe Up Socks (Ravelink)

Yarn: Regia self striping sock yarn of some variety

The first sock was knit while relaxing on the Nile, and chilling out in the desert with the nomads last summer.  I started this sock when I was staying at my cousin’s house in Connecticut on my first evening on the road.  We watched a movie, and I knit, trying to stay awake and figure out “who done it” before the film ended, or I fell asleep.  I had never driven more than 3 hours in a day before, to either Toronto or Montreal.  This day marked many firsts: first time to drive across the border, first time to drive almost 7 hours in a day, first time to meet my cousin’s baby girl who is now 17 months old.

The next day I continued on my journey, visiting Yale campus…

…and skirting the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island so I could see the ocean before heading to Providence to meet my friend.

sunset at Watch Hill Rhode Island

We camped in Myles Standish state park, and then visited a near by cranberry bog to see the crop as it grew, then we followed some signs to find the Ocean Spray cranberry processing plant.

Ocean Spray, Carver MA.

The next stop was Cape Cod, where we visited some gorgeous beaches, played in the freezing cold surf, and went whale watching!  We saw so many humpback whales, but either because they moved so fast, or I was too excited, or the boat was lurching too much on the swells, I ended up with very few good pictures of whales.  It was such a spectacular day, even the naturalists on board were excited by what we saw.  This whale was much more cooperative, posing for a picture with my sock.  I had to wait a while for all the passing kids to get off of it.  For some reason everyone wants to ride whales (even Evan).

Dolphin Fleet Whale Watching, Provincetown MA

After our stay on the cape, we explored Boston museums and aquariums, then went to Six Flags New England, all of those places were far too exciting for knitting.  Things calmed down a bit when we returned to Providence to get Evan all settled in his residence room and get things like student cards and meal plans figured out.

Brown University, Providence RI

At the end of my journey, just as I was preparing to leave, Evan’s panda was willing to pose with my vacation socks.  The completed one was the 2009 version, and the one that is almost done is the 2010 version.  They match, up to a point.  For some reason, there was a knot in the ball of wool for the 2010 sock, so the stripes suddenly reverse their orientation.  Now I will know which sock is which!

Evan's Room, Providence RI

I have not yet finished this summer’s sock.  I think it is because I am not willing to admit that my vacation is over.   I’m going to wait until the last possible moment before I finish those final rows of ribbing, cast off and weave in all the ends.  There’s something symbolic about finishing this project for me, something that signifies the end of summer, the end of my adventures, and the beginning of a more structured and stressful routine for the next 10 months.  I need to take time to make this transition.

Here’s the question you have been asked each September of your youth…What did you do on your summer vacation?

I’m headed off on Saturday for a little bit of a vacation on the east coast of the USA.  A friend and I are roadtripping and camping through Massachusetts, and spending some time on Cape Cod.  Relaxation on the beach, seeing the sights, whale watching, museum hopping–all sounds good to me!

image source visitrhodeisland.com

I’ve packed up all the necessary camping gear, and all that remains is to pack up my knitting.  My plan is to work away on sock #2 of the pair that I started last summer on my vacation in Egypt and Jordan (vacation pics here!).  Socks are a project that you can always keep with you for ferry/train rides, and these particular socks are very plain, so I’m sure I could knit them in the dark around the campfire too!  My travel companion has mentioned that he wants to try knitting….so who knows, maybe he’ll do a row or two as well.

One of the neat gadgets I picked up this year from Knitpicks.com was a set of sock needle protectors.

image source: knitpicks.com

They are two cardboard tubes blocked off on one end, open at the other, with a slot cut in them large enough to hold socks/mittens in progress.

Hopefully this will save me from impaling my fingers, poking a hole in my bag, losing needles, or accidentally dropping a needle’s worth of stitches and having them unravel in my bag all day long.

I have several friends that have scars to prove the power of an accidental sock needle impaling.  I don’t need to tempt fate!

Tonight, I cast on, and we’ll see how things go.  I will do my best to blog from the road if I can find the internet.

Buy the pattern for this cozy set for $4.00 CAD

August brings with it the threat of some chilly evenings, specially for those out camping.  This hat and mitts set were designed for a quick end of summer knit.  Toss them in with your camping gear, and be toasty warm all night.

Knit in the round with a garter stitch border, they are decorated with butterfly stitch.  Knit the hat in cotton and enjoy it as a summer beanie.  Knit it in wool or alpaca it will warm you all winter long, and you will be forever remembering the beautiful butterflies of summer.

Model: Milena

This pattern is suited to someone who is an intermediate knitter or beyond; it is a great way to practice knitting in the round, and add a new stitch to your repertoire.

Skills:  Cast on, Knit, Purl, Knitting in the Round, Increasing, Decreasing

Size: Adult Small
Yarn: worsted weight yarn
Needles: 4 mm DPNs or circular for hat
Gauge: 4.5 sts per inch, 6 rows per inch in stockinette stitch

Buy your .pdf copy of the Butterfly Hat and Mittens pattern now for only $4.00 CAD

Get out there and enjoy your chilly autumn nights in style!

If you like this pattern, you may also enjoy some of my others.

You know when inspiration hits, and you can’t really seem to put a new project down?  I know that sometimes it’s easy to get lost in a book.  This time I got lost in a pair of mittens.  For some unexplainable reason I just kept picking up the needles to knit just a little bit more, and before I knew it, all that was left was to knit the thumb.  Thumbs are quick to knit, so I cast on for the second mitten, and then I had to do the cuff before I forgot what I did with the first one…Next thing I know it is past midnight, and I am done!  The picture doesn’t do justice to the colour of the yarn, but I’m thrilled with the results.  I think it’s a record!  On Tuesday this was a bag of fluff.  On Saturday it is a pair of mittens!

Knitting with handspun is interesting, the colour of this pot luck roving does not stay constant, so each mitten changes colour slightly, and the thumbs don’t match.  I like it though….it’s proof that they are hand made, and they are definitely unique.

Now that they are done, I can get on with other important things like doing my dishes!

After the harrowing canoeing adventure on Wednesday, I decided to stay on land for most of the day on Thursday.  I spent part of rest hour watching over the children as they relaxed under the trees and I finished up some i-cord ties.  I am thankful that my camera revived itself enough to take several photos.  I think the water has ruined some of the electrical workings on the insides.  I can’t turn the flash on or off anymore.

Pattern:  Top Down Bonnet (Ravelink) by A. Bizilia (blog).
Yarn: Cotton Supreme Batik (which I now adore!)

I noticed that the colourway “summer camp” seems to match the paint at Camp Hyanto perfectly.  I love the combination of these natural colours, the colours of the beach on a sunny day.

Camp is certainly a peaceful place to be when the sun shines.

I know some people get nervous when I don’t write for a few days….so I’m signing out.

I’m going to spend a few days volunteering at Camp Hyanto.  I wrote about how much I love this place a while back, and I try to spend a week each summer giving back to the place that gave me so much.

I’ll be bringing my knitting….but I’m sure I’ll be so busy having fun that not much will get done.  In any case, I will be completely disconnected from technology, and that’s probably a good thing every now and again.

What do you do to disconnect?

At 8 AM I was at the car place…..knitting the last of the cabled baby vest, and getting my car checked out before I take it on a bit of an adventure this August.  The car guys noticed that the chip in my windshield was no longer a chip, and starting to crack and spread a little…..

Long story short, I headed off to Speedy Glass to have the chip filled in with resin–I’d had this done before, and it worked really well, and cost a whole lot less than a new windshield.  Of course, on the way there I happen to leave a few extra minutes for a quick trip to Wool-Tyme…(it’s on the way if you plan your route correctly)  I bought some more Cotton Supreme Batik in the colourways “summer camp” and “waffle cone”–it’s SO soft and silky, you’d hardly know it is cotton!

knitting while waiting for the windshield outcome

So I sit and wait (knitting a top down bonnet for yet another friend who has just had a baby) while my windshield is being operated on.  And after half an hour I get notified that the chip wouldn’t seal, and in fact, the pressure that was used to try to seal it has now cracked the windshield even more!

Great….

So, I am the proud owner of a new windshield.  Luckily they had the right kind in stock, and it was early enough in the day that they could install it before closing time.

In the mean time, I knit while the Speedy Glass man drove me downtown to meet some friends (blog)  visiting from out west, and their two darling boys.  We took a fun ride on the Wolfe Island Ferry and saw boats and windmills and enjoyed the sun.

I went on the roof WAY up there.

My next adventure for the day was to find Maggie, another crafty girl who makes pottery for a living, but she knits and spins and sews too.  She has recently been in search of vast quantities of denim.  Since I had worn through the knees of my jeans and made them into shorts, I donated the bottoms to her.  She’s turning all of the pieces she is collecting into a denim ball gown!  Pretty cool idea.

I got invited up to her roof and enjoyed the view and the breeze from up there.  I don’t know that I have ever been on a roof like that before!

Since I was already downtown, and it was hot and sticky and I was ready to have a rest and knit a bit, I headed to the screening room to watch The Secret In Their Eyes, a mystery that is entirely in Spanish.  It’s a challenge to knit, follow a pattern in your head, and read the subtitles.  After the movie, the woman sitting behind me started talking with me.  It turns out that I was a camp counselor for her kids, she wasn’t sure that she recognized me until I pulled out my knitting–I guess it’s my trademark!

What did you do today??

There’s nothing like eating watermelon with feet dangling off the dock, toes dipping in the water, listening to the loons call from a distant corner of the lake.

I’ve taken a few days away from the computer to sit in the woods, by the water, and enjoy the company of family.

My knitting came with me.  I picked up a ball of brown Life DK from Wool-Tyme.  This yarn is such a joy to work with. It feels like wool, it has a nice shine and softness to it, the brown colour has glints of green, blue, pink, orange in it–it will coordinate with many outfits, and it is completely machine washable–something VERY important for baby clothes. It is the same brand of yarn that I made the Eilidh sweater from.

I’m working on a little sweater for a friend who has just had a baby girl.  Making up the pattern as you go is such fun, but you have to be sure to either keep notes, or finish it fast so you remember what you did in previous rows.  I’m trying the “finish it fast” approach.  The ends got sewn by Monday morning!

front view

back view

I really like how the neck turned out, the cables continue from the front and back, framing the neck, and meeting up along the shoulder.  I think I might incorporate these ideas into other projects.  What is best (in my opinion) is that I did not have to sew ANYTHING!  There are no stitches picked up either!

front of neck

The body is knit from the bottom up, in the round.  The front and back are knit flat, but the shoulders are joined by a three needle bind off.  I like the look of the neck as it is, so I will not add any ribbed border.  The sleeve openings are also nicely defined by the seed stitch.

back of neck

I look forward to seeing this sweater in action.  I hope it could be a dress this fall, and a sweater next year.

I’m having fun searching for inspiration on Ravelry now…but when the new search features kick in, I’m ready to have my socks knocked off!

I usually get excited about fiddly colour work or interesting lace patterns, but today I was looking for something extra creative and colourful.  Here are some of the fabulous socks I’ve found in my search today.  May you be equally inspired!

1.  These socks are remarkable.  I’m not sure how people come up with this kind of completely different idea.  The pattern is called Hexagons and it is by Kirsten Hall (blog).  I’m thinking of having a look at the book Think Outside the Sox (the source of this and many other inspirational sock designs).

Image source: Ravelry Pattern: Hexagons by Kirsten Hall

2. These socks inspire me because they are so cute, and the idea could be transformed to many other different kinds of animals.  The yarn she used is Opal in the colourway Tiger.  The pattern isn’t available yet, but there are notes so you could do it yourself….I think I might have to try it sometime!  Thanks so much to Marlene (blog) for her creativity and inspiration.

Image Source: Ravelry Pattern: Wovenflame's Tiger Toes Socks

3. These are a pair of knee socks (pattern) knit by someone who doesn’t usually make or wear socks.  Kelly (blog) sure did a lot of knitting!!  I am impressed by how they match, and that she dyed some of the yarn herself.  Really cool project.  They’d brighten up my day for sure.  I’d wear them with my rubber boots!

Image Source: Ravelry Pattern: Knee Socks by Diana Parrington

4.  The next pair of socks are totally different from anything I’ve seen before, or even imagined.  They are knit first, and painted later!  What’s cooler is that they look just like bananas–Who would have thought of that?!  Brigitte from Germany (blog–in German)–Here are the pattern notes for these socks.

Image Source: Ravelry

5.  Another great pattern from Think Outside the Sox, is the Lonely Socks Club:Entrelac Sock by Natalia Vasilieva.  Kirsten (blog) knit these lovely socks.  I’ve never tried the Entrelac knitting technique, but I really like how it looks.  These socks are unique because the entrelac part goes all over the heel and toe too!  Pretty amazing design work.

Image Source: Ravelry

What patterns inspire you?

Ever since I saw the Top Down Bonnet pattern on Ravelry by Adrian Bizilia (helloyarn) I was smitten!  I made the original bonnet with the anime face on it, and sent it to a friend in Japan.  The ears aren’t sticking up, but they are there!

I’ve also made it without ears, and with stripes, for another friend’s baby.

Today I worked up another little variation.  I added some lace…

This is the lace pattern that I used.  Since I worked it in the round, row 2 and 4 are knit.  If this were worked flat, row 2 and 4 would be purl rows.

Row 1: (K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK) repeat

Row 2: knit

Row 3: K2tog (YO, K3, YO, Slip 1, K2tog, pas the slip stitch over *this decreases 2 stitches*) repeat

Row 4: knit

After working 12 rows of lace, I cast off knitwise.  The edge kept rolling, so I added another border.  I will not admit to crocheting, because I didn’t actually use a hook.  This is my process:

Pick up a stitch through the cast off edge.  Work a chain of single crochet 2 times then crochet through the border again 2 stitches away from the first stitch.  Continue this (or something like it) around the edge of the bonnet.  It helped the border stay flat, and I think it makes it extra cute.

What do you do to spice up your regular patterns?