Yarn Bits

Knitters' Fair

Another great knitting show was put on by the Waterloo County Knitters' Guild last Saturday in Kitchener at Bingeman's.  I believe approximately 2000 knitters visited the show during that day and each and every one of them seemed to be having a great time.  The venue is wonderful-large and bright.  The organization was super.  From a supplier's perspective, the unloading and setup was as easy as it gets at such events.  Don hardly had a chance to breathe until well into the afternoon.  The knitters were very interested in our Tencel yarns and it just vanished before our eyes.   We will definitely take more with us next year as we were not prepared for all the interest in the finer yarns we saw this time around.  There were also several knitters wanting to try dyeing their own yarn that purchased our undyed Tencel. Of course, many knitters also purchased some of our "silken twist" hand-painted skeins which was to be expected.  All in all, a good time was had by everyone and Don and I will certainly be heading out to Kitchener next Fall again.  Happy knitting to all of you who found some treasures on Saturday!

Success

Three cheers!!!  I have finished my first sweater with sleeves and it really does fit.  I used a combination of our "Silken Twist" undyed yarn, along with some thick and thin white rayon yarn from my weaving stash.  It is the "Simple Cardigan" pattern from Book 2:The Purl Stitch by Sally Melville.  I find her instructions to be very, very clear and easy to follow.  You will notice the closure on the sweater is not the button arrangement suggested in the pattern.  This is a combo made of beautiful wood that I picked up at a knitting show in the Spring.   They are made by John, the husband of Alfie Galda of A B Original Designs.  He also has some gorgeous buttons.

I do have some weaving projects on the go as well. There are a couple of woven shibori scarves waiting to be gathered for steaming.  I'm trying some orlec yarn out as a polyester substitute to see if it will also hold the shape after steaming.  I would love that to be the case as there are so many great colour choices in the orlec yarn.  I'll report my findings when I've had a chance to complete the experiment.  

First Frogging Experience

  The last project I talked about is now history, I'm afraid.  I really didn't think I would have enough yarn to finish the sweater I had started and so, after contacting the shop where I had purchased it and finding they did not have any more of the same colour mix, I decided to take apart what I had done.  This was about 2/3 of the body of the sweater.  Having never taken apart my knitting before I just blindly began from the beginning of my knitting.  This proved to be a real challenge.  I eventually went to the top of the piece which is where I ended the knitting and from there it just unravelled as I had thought it should.  Another lesson learned the hard way.  I'm now finished the front and working on found in Sally Melville's "The Knitting Experience-Book 2-the purl stitch".  I have substituted the cotton variegated yarn that I had purchased in Florida for the lower body of the top and am using some silk noil along with some tencel for the yoke and sleeves. Visit Sally's site for inspiration and a whole lot of knitting tips.  www.sallymelvilleknits.com   She has also written there about her newest book which should be out next week.  This latest edition she has co-authored with her daughter who has also become a knit designer and teacher.  Apparently there are styles appropriate for both mother and daughter and guidelines for finding styles appropriate for your body type.  I'm on the lookout for this latest Sally Melville treasure. I have always found her instructions to be very clear as are any illustrations.

Update

Just to update everyone.  I was diagnosed finally with a very mild case of Guillain Barre Syndrome a few weeks ago now.  It didn't seem like a mild case to me at the time, but after researching this rare disease I fully realize just how lucky I am, as it could have been so much worse. However, it still takes a long time to get back to normal, many weeks in my case, but I'm on the way.

Besides watching the idiot box and sleeping, I have been doing some knitting when I have the energy.  We still don't have the computers sorted, so I can't send pictures as yet.  Don and I did have a couple of patterns designed for us using our new product, Silken Twist, which is a blend of silk, wool and a little nylon.  One of the designs is for a lacy scarf, knit in the natural yarn.  I'm working on a stole with some of the variegated Silken Twist that I have hand-painted in the "Hollyhock" colourway. There is a photo of the natural coloured scarf posted previously for you to have a look at.

Knitters' Fair

Don and I have been busy lately preparing for Fall shows, hence no posts.  We were in Kitchener last Saturday, the 13th, for the Knitters' Fair at Bingman's Conference Centre, a well-organized event.  About 70 vendors were on hand with their products on view for all the knitting enthusiasts. Tencel is not a well recognized yarn in the knitting world, so we were able to introduce this great product.  An Estonian lady, Reet Triefeldt, designed an absolutely beautiful triangular shawl for us  knit from 2/10 handpainted Tencel in the English Garden colourway.  She sold us the rights to the pattern as well so we can offer the yarn with the pattern as a kit.  It was stroked and admired all day and we sold out of the colourway that the sample was knit with.  I'll have to remember to dye more of that colourway for the next knitting show in the spring.  Reet also designed a lovely lace scarf with our natural 'Silk Twist' yarn and provided us with that pattern. I will try to knit it up in a handpainted colour mix as well to see just how the colours will fall, although it is lovely in the natural yarn.  This coming Saturday we are headed back to Kitchener for the '5-Counties Weaving Seminar', so I'm furiously trying to add to our handpainted Tencel warps so we can present a reasonable selection for the weavers.  Thursday night will be packing time again and then we'll head out to set up on Friday afternoon.

Enjoy the pictures and remember a quick click will enlarge them.

New Project

Well, Don and I escaped to the north for a few days last week and visited with some friends at their cottage.  It seems to have become an annual ritual.  Don golfs every morning with Roy and Lynn and I visit and read and sometimes walk with a bear bell jingling all the way.  I finished a couple of good books while away;  "The Culprits" by Robert Hough and "Helpless" by Barbara Gowdy.  I'm going to look for other titles by these authors my next library visit.  The weather was fabulous and we both feel refreshed and ready to tackle the Fall shows.  There is a little work to be done yet, dyeing and weaving, winding off yarn, ordering, packing and so the list goes on.

While at the cottage I began a new knitting project using our "Silk Twist" yarn (formerly called Silk 'n Wool) which is a combination of silk and wool with 10% nylon.  It is a series of 16 small squares knit together by casting off and picking up stitches as you go which then form a large block approximately 12"x12".  My block has worked out to be about 13" square which is just fine as long as all the blocks are the same size.  I used #5 needles with this yarn and chose the "English Garden" colour mix.  I love the result.  The small squares  are simply all knit stitches.  You  are to knit 10-12 of these large blocks which then are joined together to make a lovely shawl.  I hope the pictures will  clarify my description.  I'm not sure when I might finish my shawl as it is now relegated to a T.V. watching project only.  I do have an order of woven scarves to be finished.  They are woven but the fringes have to be worked on yet.  I wish I didn't need to sleep.  I could get much more accomplished.

Remember that the pictures can be enlarged with a quick click.

New Sample and Some Great Websites

Just finished knitting up a scarf as a sample using some new to us yarn imported from Italy.  It is 50% wool, 30% silk and 20% nylon.  It came to us undyed so I have been experimenting dyeing this new combination, new for me.  I have been using MX Procion dyes for years on cellulose yarns such as cotton, rayon, silk,  tencel and rayon chenille.  I would like to continue to use these dyes as they are cold/warm water dyes not requiring any heat.  So I don't need to enter the kitchen and use the stove.  I have tried using ProChem directions for dyeing wool and it seems to be working great.  I need to get more citric acid crystals as they give me an acid soak for the yarn before I try to dye it and then the colours are richer, still with a little heathery appearance, but that is because of the mixture of fibres and it really is quite appealing.  More info as I experiment further.

On a completely different note, here are a few gorgeous sites for wearable art--knit.  They are international. It's always interesting to see what is happening in other countries.    Enjoy!!

http://artknitsbyamal.com    Spain,  English

http://pays-de-jocerane.blogspot.com  France, beautiful images with some English translation

http://napmatka.hu/nyuzugen.html   Hungary, English translation

Knitters' Frolic

  Last weekend Yarns Plus participated in the Downtown Knit Collective's annual show which also included workshops.  We had a great time introducing the knitting world to Tencel.  We were able to display a beautiful Estonian lace shawl knit by Reet Triefeldt using our 2/10 variegated Tencel.  We also had several socks on display knit with our new 3/5 variegated Tencel.  I was fortunate to be able to take part in a full day workshop on Sunday with Sally Melville.  She went through a lot of basics that us self-taught knitters just aren't aware of--various cast-ons and cast-offs, seaming, picking up stitches along selvedges to add trims in a way that won't leave any holes, bobbles, buttonholes, and so much more.  She had many gorgeous knit pieces to generously share with us.  Her work is so inspiring and not always complex. I would highly recommend her knitting books.  Sally's instructions are always very detailed and clear.  I am planning one of her tops in her first book, "The Knit Stitch".  All the patterns in this book are simply knit in the garter stitch.  I think I can handle that.  I am first going to dye some leftover silk noil tomorrow and then I will knit that up along with some tencel to give it a little zip. This will be my first ever knitting beyond scarves.  I am still working on the sample black silk lacey sleeve I'm designing to add to a woven jacket.  More about that later. Happy knitting!!

Gauntlet

I just finished a completely different piece using our 3/5 Tencel  www.yarnsplus.com  with size 2.75 mm double pointed needles.  It will be on display at our booth at the 11th annual Downtown Knit Collective's "Knitters' Frolic" on April 26 and 27 at the Japanese Cultural Centre.  I tried a fingerless lace gauntlet unsing our "Flame" handpainted 3/5 Tencel. I'm really happy with it.  More details about the "Knitters' Frolic" can be found on their website www.downtownknitcollective.ca  There are workshops planned for both days, but the vendors' marketplace will be open on Saturday only.  Don and I will be there selling our handpainted yarns, especially the 3/5 Tencel that I have been knitting the socks with, and now the gauntlet.  I have registered for an all day workshop on Sunday with Sally Melville called "Essential Skills for the Self-Taught Knitter".  So, on  Saturday I will be helping to work the booth, but on Sunday I get to play.  I can hardly wait.

Remember that by simply clicking on the images you can enlarge them.

Those Socks Again

Well, I have finished one of a pair of Tencel socks, using our 3/5 Wine Country handpainted yarn and I'm almost half way through the second sock.  It's quite fascinating how the colours in the variegated yarn have worked themselves out.  No two socks will ever be quite the same.  I have found that the knit Tencel softens after washing, just as it does when woven.  This sock feels absolutely fabulous on my foot. I handwashed the finished sock and laid it out to dry and it didn't change too much, except for the feel.  When I compared measurements from before and after washing I noticed that there was shrinkage in the length of the foot, from 8 1/2" to 8", but other measurements stayed pretty much the same.  I did knit a size smaller than a first try which resulted in too large a sock for my foot.  I'm also surprised that it seems an entire pair of socks will be knit from just one of our 3 oz. skeins of 3/5 Tencel.  It makes for quite a reasonably inexpensive little project.