Toe Up Socks

If you're a knitter you must receive the "Knitting Daily" newsletter from Interweave Knits. If not, you should... it's a great way to learn new techniques, meet designers, new yarns, new books, etc. Most importantly, you get to preview and download free patterns. It's easy to sign up; go to www.knittingdaily.com. I was recently inspired by one of those free patterns: William Street Socks. My friend Pam loves wool socks and I thought this pattern would be perfect for the Romni I had just spun. Even though I have been knitting for years, this was my very first attempt at knitting socks from the toe up. It was easier that I had thought and no grafting; how cool is that!

Pam came over for a visit the other day and tried it on for size and I must say, it looks great. The cabling at the top of the foot adds thickness and will keep her toes warm (I hope) this winter. I'm sure this pattern would look great on mittens too!

One question remains... now that I knit toe up, does that mean I'm a"bi-sockual" knitter? ;c)

Introducing Louet North America

I am pleased to announce that I now offer Louet products to my customers. Louet offers wonderful products for knitters, spinners and weavers. Here's an excerpt from their website. Check it out!

Extraordinary fibers, fantastic colors, wonderful patterns and a company dedicated to providing you the best possible service. From hand knitting to spinning and weaving, Louet North America is committed to offering outstanding products and services. Being sensitive to environmental issues we focus on using the best of traditional and contemporary techniques, in order to produce the highest quality products we have come to be known for in the past 30 years.

Golden Retriever Mitts

As I am typing this post I can hear the rain, which is now ice, clicking on the windows. Winter is definitely trying to make an appearance. Great time to spin and knit!

Spent Tuesday at my friend Kerry's farm/studio which is located just on the outskirts of Codrington (about 40 mins or so from Baltimore). Kerry is a master spinner, rug hooker, knitter, etc. (it's a long list, she is so talented) extraordinaire. It's hard not to get inspired by her work (see favorite links - Kerry Burke). She was kind enough to help me out with the blending of Golden Retriever hair with some Border Leicester fleece. Christmas is coming (yikes!) and I've been getting requests for dog hair mittens. The Border Leicester blended beautifully with the dog hair. Kerry is presenting on fiber blending at our next guild meeting and I can't wait. I must say, dog hair produces a lot of "fluff" material in the air during processing which can turn knitting into bouts of sneezing fits. Very similar to angora but oh so worth it. I put the foot to the wheel this morning and created these mitts from it.

Displaying Your UFOs

UFOs are commonly known in the knitting world as UnFinished knitted Objects. Nobody's perfect, we all have those little demons hiding in the closet, under our knitting chair or in storage. You all know what I'm talking about. I personally have a HUGE bin I hide downstairs for rainy days which never seem to come. Sometimes we are too quick to jump on another project and we slowly forget what we had been working on in the first place. Solution: hang it!

Has she gone mad, you say? Nope, not yet anyways. A few years ago, I started working on the "Great American Afghan" which was a cumulation of a 5-part series in the Knitter's Magazine which ran over an entire year. It contained 25 various patterns each created by a different designer. Squares varied in difficulty and I highly recommend it to any knitter who needs a challenge or simply wants to improve their skills. I knitted a few squares during the summer months but Fall came along and other projects called to me and it ended up in my UFO bin. About a year ago, while sorting through yarns I came across my little squares. I had forgotten how pretty and unique the designs were. Lightening struck! Why not frame them and display them as they truly are... beautiful! So I visited a local craft shop and got myself a few shadow boxes which I placed prominently just above our bed. Not only pretty, it provides me with daily inspiration. Not a bad idea, n'est-ce pas?

Wellington Fibres

Hooray! Just received a shipment of Mystery Fibres from Wellington Fibres (see my favorite links) and it is absolutely gorgeous. The colors are to dye for :c) It's always rewarding spinning blended rovings. This particular blend is made up of wool, mohair, and alpaca and is a dream to spin.

Cotton Candy

Dyeing fleece is one of my favourite things to do. Although it can be messy at times, the end product makes it worth the while. It's always fun to play with various color combinations and as Forrest Gump would say: "..it's like a box of chocolate - you never know what you gonna get". Which brings me to my latest project dying Border Leceister Fleece using nothing but Koolaid and liquid food dyes.

The liquid food dyes gave me the Blue and Green and Koolaid the Red, Orange, and Purple (Cherry, Orange, and Berries). The colors were too bold for my taste, so I decided to blend them using English Carding Combs and the Cotton Candy Color was born. Amazing, n'est-ce pas?

Border Leicester

I visited a friend from the spinning guild who operates a Border Leicester farm North of Port Hope last weekend. The sheep have recently been sheered which explains the picture :c) Purchased a bag of fleece and I've been busy combing a spinning ever since. It's a lovely fiber to work with - light and soft when combed.

The Border Leicester is described as one of the old British long wool breeds which was imported from England to Canada in the mid-nineteenth century and, with the Oxford, became the dominant breed of the early Canadian Sheep Industry. It is a medium-sized sheep with a thick fleece, proud stature and Roman nose. The fleece quality is long, strong and lustrous. Staple length is 15-20 cm... not baaaaaaad :c)