Birthday Time

Yes, I am thirty two. It is time to show you what I have scooped.
Future projects that will be started soon.


#1 Wool for A mobius basket from my mom. Colours match decor, and new technique will be a notch on the belt. I plan to buy ivy for displaying.







#2 Silk fingerless gloves from my sister. I will find useful for those days in spring when the breeze bites the backs of hands. Very fashonable with the youngins.




#3 Lots of retro velour from my sister-in-law. I plan to use for a shady hamock shawl. Perfect for those sunburn lazy days. I will have to find a book report.





~Daughter #2

Unravelling thoughts

There is only one solution for knitting trauma...aka the lumpy mitt thing, and that is to go shopping. I had heard of this store in another town so on Saturday I ventured forth in the sunshine to "check it out". Well, it was a bit of a hole in the wall but the lady was very nice and we had a chat. A lot of the stock was mill ends and I did find a bag with about 2500 yds. of 90%wool 10% angora, lace weight for $8.00!! She had cones of the stuff. all the same colour a medium aqua. Hmmmm Now I have to come up with something to do with it. Oh and I got 2 ginormous cones of white #10 crochet cotton. I have ordered my self Marianne Kinzel's 2 books on lace knitting. I had them once but lord knows where they went. I want to knit a tea cloth for my circular table. I had intended to buy #20 but all she had was #10 and all that for $10.00. so I will just use a 3mm needle. Tension is not a criteria with a tea cloth.

The Celtic stole is finished! Well, the body of it anyway and I have picked up all the stitches all the way around and will now start to knit the border watch the bar for progress. No sense in showing a picture at this stage it just looks like a big pile of "wrinkle."

The new Vogue knitting is out with the sweetest little sweater on the front. I am going to check my stash I think I have some bamboo that is aran weight..maybe not. Why oh why do they knit these things with aran? What is wrong with dk? .....I just checked the bamboo yarn it says 4.5 to a 5 mm needle but they say 27 stitches. Nuts whatever that is. Then I found some Punto that is lime green and white, not sure it it will be too busy but I will throw on a swatch. The picture doesn't do the yarn justice.

Monday morning calls I had better shift myself.

Unmitigated Disaster

Lumpy mitten #1 is done. There will not be a #2!!!! The needles were too small hence the lumpies. It barely fits my hand. I hate it. GAG. I refuse to make something I do not like! I held out hope that maybe blocking would help. Nadda. Nothing is going to help. On to better things!
~MuM

Moving right along!

The pneumonia vest are finished. The yarn was from my late Auntie Sandra. She saved every ball left from what she had worked on. I have about a hundred. I am sure she would like the fact that it has gone to needy children for warmth.


The yolk sweater has been a learning curve. The pattern had to be increased by four repeats. Yet the yolk is too small from the neck to the under arm, so I am adding another row of snow flakes. I finished the body and the arm to long. That means I have to go back and pick up stitches and snip, unravel, then graft back together. All goes right you will never see it. This is the second attempt at a yolk sweater for hubby. The first one is going to his son. Christmas has come and gone and the present still lingers.

Just because she is the best school horse. Goldie she taught 7 year old kids how to ride and on the weekend she took me around Checkmate Horse Trials we placed third. When cross country was done I threw a red and black crochet cooler on her. Thanks

~Daughter #2

Lumpy Knitting...

I hate lumpy knitting. I like smooth stitches all lined up in perfect little rows.

GRrr I am knitting mitts in 2 colours on 4 needles and I have lumps. Damn. I have taken them out umpteen times. I know, I know they are just mitts and she will probably loose one anyway. {Unless I put them on an idiot string.} At this rate I may only knit the one and she can put her other hand in her pocket. Now there is an idea! Crap and I spent a fortune on the Alpaca yarn too....... Weeping and wailing........ They don't look too bad from across the room....I wonder how long her arms are????? Maybe if they are far away she won't notice. Ah shoot, I may as well knit the other one but now I am afraid I will run out of yarn cause I started them 3 times and wasted a bunch of yardage. Oh if I have to buy 2 more balls to finish them I will really be cranky.

I am not having a ZEN moment over these mitts.

The yarn, Misti Alpaca, is very nice to knit with though. Very soft and cosy.

~MuM

Easter Buffet

It's my birthday next week. Being that I live more than a hour away, Mom fed me and presented me with wool for a moebius basket. I do not dare start until trying the beginners pattern.

Yes, I am offically on the blog. Expect to see some book reports and the trials of my often "off the beaten path" projects.

I have been known to knit sweaters for people as gifts accordingly to how well they turn out and who will they fit. Swatch what is a swatch? And what is it for?

~Daughter #2

"Other daughter" is here!!

Today we are adding daughter #2 to the Mother/Daughters blog. Watch for upcoming news from Kincardine!!

Now that's a swatch!

If one must swatch then you might as well get them all done at once. Although I think I may need to do more ribbing to get a proper count.

I think there is enough of Madil Yarns Denim in my stash to do the whole thing. This stuff is a Cotton/Acrylic blend that feels like a t-shirt. It should wash well too.

With the amount of planning and math I'm going to have to do for this one, he will wear the finished product whether he likes it or not. LOL

I did have a thought while working on this monstrosity of a swatch. Wouldn't this make a cool pair of knee socks?

~Daughter

"Why can't you just make me the same one again?"

The title was uttered by my husband when I asked him about patterns. It's been over a year since I made (started) a sweater for him. Apparently the Steelers blanky doesn't count.

His favourite sweater of all time is a blue and cream fair-isle I made a VERY long time ago. It is a drop shoulder with fair isleing along the shoulders and around the top of each sleeve. It did turn out gorgeous if I do say myself.

He wants me to make him the exact thing again, just in a different colour if I want. **rolling eyes** BORING!!

I found a pattern that he thought was OK but then I suggested a couple changes and he has Agreed!! WooHoo....of course this means I have to create the pattern myself.

Sheesh.

Let me clarify that I happen to think skulls are the coolest clothing accessory ever LOL I'm the only mummy at my girl's school who has black runners with little white skulls over them.

So here is the inspiration for Chris' sweater:






Pub Crawler by Debbie Stoller from her book "Son of a Stitch'n Bitch".
This pattern is made out of aran, but hubby wants double knit...ok so we will have to start with a swatch.










Instead of the simple cable running up the sweater I will be working this ultra cool skull motif. The swatch shown is in bulky and mine will be in DK.... *sigh* another swatch.











The fair isle skulls here will be a replacement pattern for the arm band. Another pattern from "Son of a Stitch'n Bitch"

There is another really cool pattern I have found on Ravelry. I haven't decided which I'm going to use. All depends on the *sigh* swatch.







I don't want to do this in typical black and white. Mainly because I have been avoiding making him a black Steelers sweater by saying black is a bitch to knit with. (ssshhhhh) Also he will want to wear this to work, so I'm thinking a nice gray and cream. enough to make out the pattern but keep it subtle enough that he doesn't look like a 36 yr old trying to act like an eighteen year old.

Wish me luck. Any suggestions on yarn?

~Daughter

Speaking of the Stash

Me thinks I need to go on a yarn diet.......sigh....with some it is cigarettes, alcohol or drugs...... mine is fibre.
I spend some time working on a double knitting swatch last night. "By George I think I got it." Now I have to decide what to do with it. I am afraid it might entail the purchase of some yarn..oops

Double Knitting and I don't mean the yarn!

Other daughter, Julia, who we have to get on here one day, kindly faxed an old pattern, from the Knitters mag circa 1989, for the Pachedyrm Parade blanket. In lieu of going anywhere to take a class, too poor and no time, sucks to be me, I figured it is time I taught myself something new. It's the whole fair isle thing, which I love, but with a twist everything comes out jaquard. It is possible to make reversible sweaters. I see possibilities here.

Google Web isn't a lot of help. I found one tutorial but it didn't satisfy me. I did find a lot more info on Google Images ..still..not great.Sooo guess I will just do it my self. I remembered this pattern that Anne Featonby had given me a copy of, years ago, and thought it would be a good way to learn. I have a whack of Canadiana yarn in my stash just crying out to be used up. Of course once the Alberta Lace Weight, gets here I may digress.

Speaking of my stash..Ahemmm.. I foolishly (??) gathered in all in one place. A cedar chest. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Who knew there was so much. Nuts! and the Downtown Collective has the Knitter' Frolic in April. I still haven't blocked the poncho I knit from last year...or was it the year before? I need some time off work to finish up some of these projects. Now where are all those T pins I know I had a couple of hundred of them once?

~MuM~

With a view like this what else can I do?

This is what my front yard looks like this morning. UGH! Makes me want to curl up in a cozy sweater and knit.

I, the same as many of us, am plagued with the curse of the single ball. You know, when buy enough yarn to make a sweater, but not wanting to run out of that dye lot you get an extra one just in case. Which usually you don't need. So it sits in the bottom of you stash supporting the new stuff.

Every once in a while I come across a pattern that I like and allows me to dig down to the bottom of my stash.

Today I get to use my last ball of Sirdar Denim Aran. I love this yarn and it's DK equivalent. This colour is called Starling and is left over from a sweater I made my husband a few years ago. It's one of my favourite sweaters of his and I've been known to steal it on occasion.

What I am going to make is a neck warmer for myself. Something that I can shove in my pocket or purse instead of deaing with the bulk of the long scarves I seem to gravitate to. It's called Tudora and has a very Elizabethian look to it.

Perfect for a Sunday afternoon project, and a jolt of instant gratification, and I get to use up a single.

~Daughter~

Row 395

I had better get knitting on this Celtic Shawl. I still have to knit the border all the way around. Hmm... that seemed like a good idea in the beginning.
Received an email from Laura today. My Alberta Shetland Lace Weight is in the mail. Woo Hoo!.. I am so jealous, she is off to FibreFest – www.fibrefestinternational.com...sigh
This is where I found my next project:
Gladys Amedro's book, Lace Knitting is now out of print. It is a treasure of authentic Shetland Lace work. However the patterns are written out stitch for stitch. I created some graph paper on excel and have been busy transforming the pattern into symbols right on the computer. So easy to do. Then with my trusty post notes and high lighters I will be on my way! Here are my graphs for the Celtic Shawl

~MuM~

Pneumonia Prevention Vests

As I have mentioned in my blog, Myfanwys' Journal , a little charity knitting is good for the soul. I am well on my way to finishing vest #5. When I knit the first one I thought I would never finish. I wanted to purl a row all the time. Once I got my fingers trained it just flew along. I thought I would pass along some of the adjustments I have made to the original pattern. Sizing is not crucial, children come in all shapes and sizes and these are meant to be more functional than stylish. Having said that, feel free to experiment with colour and play around with garter stitch. The odd row of stocking stitch gives it some depth but keeps the denseness of the finished fabric.

I originally cast on 66 stitches. I found that varying this by 6 stitches would alter the finished vest by a size. The smallest I have knit was 48 stitches wide, adjust the length accordingly better a little longer than too short.

Here is the pattern :

4.5 mm needle ( I knit loosley) if your "normal" use a 5 mm, if your "uptight" you better go to a 5.5mm (*grin)

3 balls Bernat Satin or 2 balls Paton's Canadiana Yarn...if only one colour...more colours the more yarn you will need...(all those ends doncha know) This yarn is nice and soft, if the yarn is too scratchy don't use it. Would you want to wear it?? Must be washable!!

Cast on 66(60)[48] stitches and knit every row for 134(128)[94] rows (that's 67(64)[47] ridges on the front and 67(64)[47] ridges on the inside). Now knit across 22(20)[16] stitches and cast off the next 22(20)[16] stitches then knit to the end of the row. Turn. Place the first 22(20)[16] stitches on a hank of waste yarn we will pick them up later. Knit the 22(20)[16] stitches remaining on the needle for 32(28)[20] rows (16(14)[10] ridges). Put these stitches on a hank of waste yarn. Go back to the other 22(20)[16] stitches and put them on the needles and joining a new ball of yarn knit 32(28)[20] rows on them. This first row should be knit from the neck toward the side or you will end up with a big "ditch" on one side. When this is done knit across the 22(20)[16] stitches, you just knit, cast on 22(20)[16] stitches and knit across the 22(20)[16] stitches on the waste yarn. Voila! you have just created the neck opening. Keep knitting on these 66(60)[48] stitches until you have 67(64)[47] ridges or 134(128)[94] rows the same as the other side. Fold it over and sew up the 50(48)[36] ridges on the side seams. These leaves a generous arm hole for ease of wearing. Weave in the ends. NO KNOTS please.
I knit the toddler size (48 stitches) one Saturday during a marathon movie watching session during a snowstorm. Like I was not going out that!


If you can't knit without looking at your hands teach yourself! It is very satisfying to crank out row after row while watching TV and the man in my life is so impressed!
~MuM~

The Panopticon

Now this is truely a blog of note..... The Panopticon......great writing, wonderful knitting projects , great yarn links and then there is "Dolores!"

Two pounds of Romney Roving that arrived on his doorstep,"on the hoof." I almost choked with hysteria reading about her.

There are some extremely articulate knitters out there and I just love passing these links along to anyone "lurking" out there
~MuM`

I am so offended......

Yesterday, I went to a wool shop that has been, up till now, my favourite. I was there to pick up a gift for my daughter and to ask a technical question. Now, I have worked in retail in various positions since I was 16 plus the fact that my parents taught me to be courteous. I asked the owner this question, "Do you have any cob web lace weight wool that I could compare to 2 ply lace weight?"
She looked at me like I had grown a horn in the middle of my forehead, flicked her hand in my face, tossed her head, laughed and said,
"There is no such thing."

I stood there in shock and said politely, "It is used for knitting Shetland Shawls." She said, in a deprecatory voice,"I have been knitting for 35 years I would know if there was any yarn of a "cob web" weight. It is not a recognized weight." I countered with, "Well, I have been knitting for 50 years and yes there is and you obviously don't have it." Then she contradicted herself by saying, "Oh, that's a yarn Jameison Smith came up with and if it was a recognized weight Habu would have it." ( who the hell is Habu)
Sigh.....
My mother always said,"Don't lower yourself to other's standards" so, I let it go and frankly if I could have bought my daughter's gift anywhere else I would have done so.
I did not go in there with the intention of having a confrontation and to continue the discussion would have been futile. To compound the situation she spoke to me in that manner in front of another customer. Very unprofessional. In future I choose to take my business else where. How nice for her that she can afford to offend a good customer like me.

~MuM