I was admiring my socks (and how they feel in Crocs… oh, the cushiness…) and I was thinking perhaps I had enjoyed them quite enough and they were due for a wash.
This got me thinking ‘what the hell was in that yarn anyway?’ which led sadly to ‘I haven’t a clue’.
I bought the yarn from a lovely shop in Victoria BC, hand-dyed by the owner themselves. The store was so fun, colourful and full of fibre goodness that I had to share a few pics.
The owner, winding up the mystery yarn I had just bought. I like how he makes winding yarn look like a cavalier and swashbuckling thing to do.
The socks will be hand washed with my other knitted items to be on the safe side, I can’t bear to lose them now!
They’re called ‘Knotty by Nature’ and they’re right in downtown Victoria. Definitely look them up if you’re in town, and while you’re at it, ask about my socks ;)
My mom and I are both 5 foot 2. She may actually be 5 foot nothin’, but the fact remains that we are both small.
One day she was chatting with Tito and I, and she dropped this gem: ‘Because short things come in important packages’. To get the full effect, imagine it being said in a sweet West-Indian accent.
Some officious douchbag (I think it was me) presumptuously tried to correct her: ‘Mom, it’s good things come in small packages‘.
She frowned at me for a moment, but then grinned her infectious grin and repeated with confidence (and finality); ‘Nope! It’s short things come in important packages’.
Well, I finally realized that she’s right. This entire post is about a hurdle I have finally crossed – my first socks. I’ve been anti sock all these years thinking ‘why waste time like that?’. They’re amazing. They’re comfy. They fit my tiny feet perfectly. They are extraordinarily important.
Because short things come in important packages. As usual, mom is right.
The Blue Brick has 500 followers! Watching the stats on this blog grow has been a very neat experience, we also just passed the 300,000 hit mark. I’ve been wondering about whether it was due for a refresher.
When I post about crafts sometimes I worry that the content isn’t interesting to photographers, and vice versa – that my photography posts are of less interest to crafters. I thought about whether it was time to start a separate blog to feature photography related material only.
But then I realized that, variety is what my blog is about, not a specific outlet for one hobby but a celebration of creativity in general. In my day job I’m the Art Director for a design firm in Toronto, and one thing I’ve realized is that cross-pollination is what creativity is about for me. I think my pottery contributes directly to my feel for advertising, and that graphic design influences my knitting. Being creative in general is the journey (though photography will always be my first love)
BUT there is a new first love emerging. I love when someone takes something I’ve done, and takes it a step farther. I love the idea that a photo of Newfoundland is on a wall in Istanbul, that a photograph of the aurora is now a bat of roving, and the idea that my work in the Bay of Fundy has helped educate people about the tides in physics textbooks in Austria, a museum in Northern Quebec, a magazine in California and many others. I love when work travels, and can inspire others. I really love seeing the projects of people who’ve knitted a design of mine!
So, I am going to make one little change. Rather than make jewellery for sale on Etsy any more I’m going to write tutorials so folks can make their own. In particular, I’m embarking on my first book, a comprehensive how-to of using resin to turn flowers into jewellery. I will still accept commission work, but my days of creating large quantities for sale on Etsy are over (There will be one last update, in late April though, because I just can’t resist making jewellery during tulip season :)). I am looking forward to the creative writing process, to creating my first book and most of all, to seeing what others make!
So it was Lintilla by a landslide… but one of the comments (the lovely Rayna from the Crystal Diva blog) recommended a look at this:
It’s Trillian by Martina Behm, the same designer who created Lintilla. I was instantly smitten and cast on.
And I’d have to say it’s working out pretty nice so far :) Lintilla’s not dead though….
I bought this in Halifax. I haven’t a clue what it is. It’s either fingering or sport, and there’s a decent amount of it, but I’m not sure how much. Martina’s patterns are awesome because you can stop when you think you’re going to run out and you still have a useful thing at the end of it, and that makes this yarn a good candidate! Oh… and of course it’s back in my colour comfort zone…yes, this shall be my Lintilla.
Also making their way onto the needles are a pair of these!
Yes, socks! Me! I hate dpns! I’ve never made a sock! I read this pattern though and actually laughed out loud. The writing is charming, funny, clear, and seems meant to guide a chicken like me into sock knitting. It’s the Easy Peasy Sock by Stacey Trock. It’s worsted, so it doesn’t freak me out too much, and they’re ankle socks so I think I’ll actually wear them. Cast away!
Everyone who knows me knows that turquoise, browns and blues are my colours. Every time I walk into a yarn store I am lamentably predictable. But then… then I picked up this lovely thing.
This is Iris, one of the new colours from Tanis Fiber Arts. I picked up a skein in her blue label sock yarn and I am in love. It’s beautiful and punchy, and more variegated than I typically go for, so the question now is, what to do with it?
I’ve considered Jane Richmond’s lovely Strathcona:
And Martina Behm’s Lintilla:
I have never knitted either of these patterns, though I have done patterns from both designers before and I know I love their work. Both these patterns are simple enough that the textural pieces will allow the variegated yarn to shine, and both are great summer pieces.
But I am totally open to suggestions too! Anyone know of a great pattern for 400 yards of sock yarn that will show off these colours they way they deserve? Of the 2 above, which one would you vote for?
I still haven’t processed all the photos from our trip to El Salvador… but I did finish the Salvadoran knitting. Introducing Yolanda’s Henslowe:
Every time I make one of these I think ‘these shawls go fast!’ and I always forget that bloody picot bind off. This time I got hung up enough on it to calculate – I spent 4.5 hours on the bind off, which is more than a third again of the time it took to make the shawl. However… there were a few things that made this alright this time around… more than alright really, for a start, most of it was done here.
And then there’s the fact that the results are so, so worth it.
The yarn is Tanis Fiber Arts Silver Label Mulberry Silk, 550 yards, and a-one-of-a-kind skein that I picked up at my first ever knitters frolic and have been hoarding since. Nothing could be special enough for this skein.
But then…Tito told me that his mom and I have the same favourite colour. His mom, who I never get to see because she lives in Winnipeg, who treated me with such warmth and kindness on the one occasion I got to meet her. Yes, his mom deserved something lovely from this precious skein.
And of course, Tito’s mom is from El Salvador. Where better to knit her shawl?
I made a few alterations to the pattern (Beth Kling is great by the way, and very helpful). I increased until I had 60 yarn overs, and worked 5 repeats of her Roman Stripe pattern before beginning the bind off. One skein of TFA Silver Label goes a long way and I wanted to use up every last inch if I could. I love the final size, 55″ across and 17″ deep.
I hate it when you cast off a shawl and it’s so tiny, even after blocking, that it sits awkwardly on your shoulders like the funny little wings of newly hatched butterflies…but the pattern increases here resulted in a generously sized shawl.
Many thanks to my effortlessly beautiful model Leslie for helping out with the FO photos :) Ravelry project page here:
Oh, and in between knitting? I took baby steps in surfing ;)
