Almost a mitten

I knitted this in the blazing heat (and also in the pouring rain). I believe I deserve a medal just for showing up and trying.

The past two weeks have, of course, been all about the Games. The Ravellenic Games on Ravelry. One is supposed to challenge oneself to knit (or whatever) something in the time between the opening and closing ceremonies of those other games. Here are the original rules. Things have changed a wee bit now that they are on Ravelry, where there are medals galore, for instance. I am not going to get a little .jpeg medal, because I didn't finish two mittens (okay, I didn't even finish one mitten) in the Mitten Medley. 

I didn't get the library book with the pattern in it till halfway through the time, so that was a bit of a handicap. Also, wool, stranding, 2.25mm needles, holiday, etc., etc. 

I also didn't finish (to my satisfaction) my WIP Wrestling event. I knitted up all the yarn on my shawl, but it didn't end up the way I want it, so I will rip out the last four balls and finish it in some other way. Sometime...

Like a good sportswoman, I won't wail and moan too much, but will get back in action, keep training, and be thankful that Team Canada is also taking part in the Para-rava-lympic-whatsit games. So, September will see two finished mittens, yes indeedy!

Car fonts

We hadn't planned on going to Southampton this year, since we had such a big trip in July, but schedules got altered late in the game and we found ourselves with a week booked. Since we were looking for a rental late in the season, there wasn't much available, and the "cottage" we ended up at was in fact a 130-year-old brick house on the main highway in town, with a big yard and a pool! And wi-fi, which we don't usually have there.

One day it rained and rained. Over the week we got two 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles done.

On Thursday the thing to do in Southampton is go to the Cruisers Cruise Night car show. Spot the photographer's reflection!

Or reflections. Here I am in each shiny chrome bumper.

This Ford Econoline van was a pickup! I'd never noticed such a thing before, but they are very cute. And the font is divine, no?

Two reflections of two people, me and Elaine.

I did get some knitting done, and will report in shortly on my Ravellenic Games stumbles and crashes.

A loose end

This is my third "use up the leftovers" hat with the Koigu from my Temperature Scarf. This one is on 152 stitches, which is what the pattern says. I have used 144 before, and this one is definitely for a big ol' man's head, not for a teenage girl's.

I really like the faded-denim blue. It didn't get much used in the scarf, since it signified below -15ºC, but while knitting this cuff I had visions of me going to the store to buy enough for a cardigan for myself. Haven't done it yet, and I now imagine I won't ever get around to it, but I do like it a lot!

I gave the hat to John, cap'n of the Golden Dawn. I don't have a decent picture of the boat, and I don't have a picture of him with the hat, but here we all are in front of a 800-year-old spruce tree at Windy Bay on Lyell Island. John is the one squishing down, perhaps to fit in the picture?! (My SIL Mary, me, Stephen, John)

Just a few disjointed pictures

I took all my pictures on our July trip with my phone because Elaine had my little camera with her. They are long and skinny, cell-phone shape. I find it takes a bit of getting used to! These are from the first part of our trip, all on the north shore of Haida Gwaii.

The beach by our cottage on the North Beach. Grey as far as the eye can see, perfect!

 

We went to Agate Beach in the drizzling rain; all the rocks were super shiny and so colourful!

These are called Jingle Shells. They are quite iridescent on the inside; the bottom shell has a hole in it which allows the foot to hold on to a rock. Very pretty and one will somehow go on our Christmas tree this year.

Some more rocks...

Creatures living on a rock. Limpets, barnacles, mussels, seaweed...

Lichen. This is actually on Balance Rock. 

Just a collection on the deck. Almost every day I took a bunch of treasures back to the cottage and edited them down to a very few to bring home. When I was rearranging things on my shelves recently I did realize I have three bowls of pretty rocks, so I do try to be moderate. Sorta.

A sunny day! A little rain gives you that rainforest feeling, but it is lovely when the sun comes out.

At the dock in town, boxes to put the day's catch in for transport. I'm glad that red one is there. 

This was hanging in our cottage. Of course (of course!) I collected several shells with holes in, but my dangly thing will not be as large or as varied as this one. Sea star, abalone, scallops: this has everything.

And finally for today, my attempt at a picture of the moss in the trees!  Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.

Three things or maybe four

I am back after three weeks away. Still no oomph to sort the 900+ pictures and write about the whole thing, but I can offer the following tidbits:

A fallen pole at Skedans in Haida Gwaii. We spent 10 days on the North Beach and in Gwaii Haanas.

Then we flew to Calgary, got a car and went to the Rockies. Banff, Jasper, glaciers, rivers, waterfalls, trees, rocks...

Finally we drove to Castlegar to see family.

Stephen and I did all this on our own. Arthur stayed in Toronto, but we had to deliver Elaine to the Calgary airport one day, and pick her up there three weeks later, because she was doing this: 

photo by Outward Bound on Flickr

Three weeks of hiking and climbing and getting to peaks and summits and crossing creeks and sleeping under the stars... You go, girl! 

Please stand by

We are off for a few weeks. Keep calm, and I'll see you in August!

Another hat and so on

Once upon a time I was invited to a knit night with some neighbours. The person whose turn it was to host was someone I'd never met before, but the knitters were all very friendly and I went along. Actually, I google-mapped her house first because it was a bit outside the immediate hood, and then I had not only knitting reasons to go, but real-estate-gawker reasons as well.

When I had young kids, I would aim to go out around 7 and be back home for bedtime, but these modern folk seem to stay home till the kids are in bed and then head out, staying out knitting and whooping it up till all hours. So... I am always first to arrive.

I got to my very lovely destination and my hostess, in between running around with family, asked if I would like a drink. We eventually ended up in what I think of as her "would-you-like-a-drink room." Close to the kitchen, dining room, living room and family room, it was a large pantry with a fridge, snacks in the cupboards, a wall of bottles and glasses for all occasions. I'm sure I was gawping.

We had prosecco.

And, in order to have something small and easy to knit on, I had started a hat. Which I have now finished. More leftovers from the Temperature Scarf.

Arthur kindly modeled for me, although it's a tad warm these days. Yes, it matches his hair.

Some knitting and perhaps some sewing

I am still plugging away at this cotton shawl, although it is often too hot to work with most of a shawl sitting in my lap.

I did the triangle bit for a while, then I switched to some "Peruvian Lace" for a straight stretch, and now, with 4 balls of yarn left, I am starting to decrease to a point again.

Nothing to show of the new part. I have done a few rows of a simple slanting eyelet pattern, and will decrease only on one side, so the whole thing will be not only in three stitch patterns, but also asymmetric and lopsided. I hope it is long enough! I am going to BC in a couple of weeks and would like to have this done for then, for strolling along the beach in the evening and so on.

Another thing I would like to have done for that trip is a bag made of these scraps of jeans. So far, this is all I've done, although there are ideas whirling about. I hope to have something to show in a few days. First thing might be to make all the pieces about the same size.... hmm.

Got some yarn

Quite some time ago, like almost three weeks ago, I went to the Textile Museum volunteers' annual sale. It was such a madhouse this year, in a new, more cramped location, so I got out in a hurry and didn't get a whole lot of stuff. I did pick up some fabric that I think I'll make a skirt out of, and a couple of books, including Rowan 7 for a dollar.

I also picked up a bag of wool bits. It looks like someone made a fancy-pants fair isle thing and gave their leftovers to the museum sale.

The marvellous thing is, they included their cheat-sheet, with the poetic names of the colours. Curry, lagoon, nut... red. It's about 250 grams altogether. 

I think I will start with a pair of Alice Starmore mittens. Maybe for an Olympic project this summer? If that doesn't drive me crazy, a hat. 

My friend also went to the sale, and also bought some odds and ends, and then had a change of heart and just gave me the bagful. Since I hadn't chosen this yarn, hadn't paid for it, had no allegiance to it at all, I dropped everything to knit with it. Weird how that works. It was so cute in its little skeins.

See how quickly I thought, "Ah, I should take a picture for the blog." 

I mixed most of those whitish bits in with the finer yarns. There were a couple of bits of mercerized cotton I didn't include, and a pale blue chenille that was just not right, but everything else got made into a (not very big) garter stitch scarf. 

I didn't get very far before I got bored and did some short rows to make a triangle of light blue.

Some eyelets even appeared later on. 

If I were doing it again, I'd use a slightly bigger needle. Actually if I were doing it again, I might knit really long rows, and change colours every row or two! There were so many ends; I wanted to leave them as a design element, but my kids pointed out that really they didn't look like anything but a bunch of dangly ends left by a lazy knitter. 

I have more to show you! Maybe tomorrow!

New old patterns

Last night I went to the Distillery District to see a play at Soulpepper Theatre. We saw the Odd Couple, which was quite fun, but my modern, sympathetic daughter did not enjoy the fact that most of the humour was actually kind of mean. Why are they laughing at Felix? Indeed.

Fun fact #1: One of the actors was Derek Boyes, who was a couple of years ahead of me at my high school! Cool. Great to see that he is a nice guy, as well as someone I sorta knew.

Fun fact #2: There is a shop across the way from the theatre, where, if you get to the theatre too early, you can browse through "vintage" and "retro" and various bath oils... I dunno. Anyways, I found the box that said, "Knitting patterns, 10 for $10."

In no particular order, then...

These two are from a Disco-era Pinguin magazine. Many novelty yarns in one sweater, and you can even find a model with a cigarette!

Fabulous fashions! No date, but I'm guessing early 60s. Each pattern can be made in any of three yarns, and they give the different stitch counts, but to change sizes, it looks like you just change needle size and gauge. No wonder if people had trouble getting their garment to look like the picture!

Can't get much more fashion fun than a crocheted jumpsuit, can you? 

This book is a gem of 1960s delights. Much crazy crocheting, but also a knitted skirt and jacket set that is not bad. The jumpsuit, though, is the best. 

This is an "all-purpose cardigan" from Monarch. This pattern book cost 25¢ originally, and is dated 1946. If only people in 1946 came in larger sizes. Really, was everyone a 36" bust then?

This is from a Spinnerin booklet from 1960. Very nice -- I love those big collars, but might find it a bit hot to wear. 

More Spinnerin from 1966. Très chic chapeau, here. I think Elaine needs this whole outfit. 

These are from the same book. The red coat is super, and the pattern says you can just use the knitted pieces as a pattern and make yourself a lining. "Assemble lining, making 1/2 inch seams." Those were the days. 

Last but not least, three little pamphlets. The raglan jacket, again with the big collar, is my favourite. One day I will make the pheasant sweater, maybe! 

I think I had other things to say, but these put all other thoughts out of my mind. I'll remember another day...

Maybe it's spring

A lovely fluffy dandelion head. The city has stopped putting weed-killer on public land, so there are dandelions all over the parks and roadsides. An improvement all around, I think.

I am knitting a cotton shawl. I imagine using it this summer in the mountains and on the beach, but my design has changed drastically since I began.

It started out a simple triangle, getting one stitch wider every row. Here it is with my giant witchy shawl. It needs to get a lot bigger to really wrap around me! But, my needle is full of stitches and the rows are getting really long (it seems) and maybe I should do something else now.

So I found this pattern, called Peruvian Lace, on my 2010 Vogue Knitting calendar, and will make the pointy bit the end of a long wrap, this straight striped bit the middle, and some other pointy bit on the other end.

This will take forever, I think. It is a 10 row pattern, and 6 of those rows are plain knitting, but the big knotty loops are very time-consuming. 

You knit a row making double loops on each stitch (I shake my head, recalling I chose to do this because I couldn't fit more stitches on my needle...) then on the next row, you take the stitches 4 at a time, drop the extra loops, and do K1, P1, K1, P1 in each group of 4 stitches. I think it is somewhat unusual and exotic and unique, but it's a pain sliding all those double stitches on to the point of the circular needle. (Whine, whine about nothing....)

Must crack on, so as to have this done before I go to said mountains and beaches!