Something about “crocheters” always sounds weird…
Anyway, exciting news!
There is currently a Groupon (purchaseable until midnight tomorrow) for Unwind Yarn House in Newmarket.
So happy to see a LYS on Groupon! 😀
Author: cnyttende
The most perfect mug ever
So, I was shopping and saw this mug and had to have it.
Kitten (and BLACK like Desmond at that!) and yarn. ZOMG.
Plus, he really does like knitting 😉
Here they are together! …sort of. I was aiming for closer proximity, but this is the best I could get. It’s a little sad just how long I struggled to even get this oh-so-lovely shot of his butt…
I also grabbed this at the dollar store in the same trip. It’s a tin on a keychain that zips up. It came with candy in it, but my first thought was “omg I can keep my notions in it!” Everything in my life gets related to my yarn habit, it seems.
And in project news, mom’s driving mitts are coming along nicely. Slowly, but nicely. After I’m done the mate all I gotta do is put the buttons on the top and sew on the grips to the palm.
And I’ll end with some yarn porn. Swiss Mohair was on sale at Mary Maxim last week (I’d blame Lynn for talking me into buying it, but that would be a lie) and the Alpaca was from the 20-Somethings holiday party gift swap on Thursday 🙂
Jingle Bell Lambs
I had to reblog this. HAD to.
First posted two years ago, I think this fantastic piece deserves another look:
This is an awesome ad, so creative at capturing the innocence and joy of kids at Christmas. Brooks Brothers is older than the song “Jingle Bells.” The second video shows how it was made.
Storytelling and fibre art
The weekend before last, I had the opportunity to take a course through Storytelling Toronto. It was a great learning experience, and to my surprise I was able to successfully complete the weekend’s goal of learning and telling an oral story. I chose this story, one close to my heart as a nerd where Celtic myth is concerned.
One the way home on the Saturday, I got to thinking about the tradition of storytelling. Of our mostly illiterate ancestors, sitting around fires or hearths and passing on their oral history with a dual goal of entertainment on long winter nights and establishing cultural memory. Often they did this while engaging in handicrafts that were necessary in order to food and clothe the village.
This made me wonder if there were myths and legends featuring knitting, weaving, or spinning. If so, how many? How are these crafts portrayed? In my research, I came across some interesting resources:
This page on allfiberarts.com features a pretty decently extensive list of myths featuring fibre arts, complete with links to the myths themselves.
I also enjoyed this blogger’s post on the knitting Huldra character from the folklore of Norway.
Speaking of the northern reaches of Europe, here is a great piece, featuring gorgeous photographs, on the traditional folk costumes of Scandinavia, which of course features lots of knitwear. They even have a book available on the subject.
And of course, one can’t talk about European knitting traditions without mentioning Estonian textiles. Nancy Bush’s seminal book on the subject is something every knitter should read, in my opinion, but the essays of this blogger makes for pretty good reading as well.
There is of course a rich knitting history in the British Isles too. Here are some great sites on the art of Fair Isle, Arans, and Guernseys.
Heading around the world now to the Andes of Peru, no tour of knitting culture would be complete without mentioning the rich textile tradition found there. I could not find as much knit-related folklore from the area (not in English anyway), but this photographic travelogue richly illustrates the vibrant culture and mentions some folk traditions, as do the essays located here and here.
The Folk Knitting Flickr group has a great bibliography of books on folk knit patterns and history on the bottom of their description page. Being a librarian of course, I have a few gems I would like to add.
1) Folk Knits: Traditional Patterns from Around the World by Melinda Coss. It’s out of print and hard to get your hands on, but a few patterns can be found on 
this Flickr user‘s account, mostly on the 2nd and 3rd pages.
2) Knitting on Top of the World by Nicky Epstein
And on a related (to knitting, folklore not so much), the Toronto Star published this article on the rise of the knitting commuter on the weekend. I was so pleased 😀
It’s been a good week
So, if there is some delay in future posts and knitting projects, this is why…
———- ————– ——— ———— ————- —————— —————— —————- ————— ———— ———– ——— ———- – —— – ———- ————- ————– —————- ———— ———— ————– ————– ————– ———— ————— ———— ————– ————– ———— ————- ————— ————— ————— ————– ———– ————– ————— – — – – His name is Desmond (after much deliberating), he’s 7 mos, and he’s the biggest suck I’ve ever encountered.
Unfortunately he also seems to have a taste for yarn already. We’ll have to work on that… — – – – – – – – – – – ———– ————- ————– ———– ————- ————— – —— —— ————– —————- —————– —————– —————– —————– —————————- ————- ————— ————- —————— ————————
In other news, I caved and bought an interchangeable set.
And to help assuage guilt, I am attempting to sell my old needles. Tell your friends!
————– ——— – – ———— ————– —— – – – – – — – – – – – – – – – – – – ————- ————— —————— —————————— ————- —————– ————– ———— —————– ——————————– ————- ——– ——– —– ——— —— ——- ——– ——- ———- ———- ——— ——— – ——————– ——————— ————————- ——————————- — ———— — Speaking of old. Check out what my Grandma found and gave to me over the weekend! (I’m referring to the books, not my Grandma of course. Love you Grandma!)
Notice the 50 cent price tag!
Grandma said she remembers making a sweater with this bear motif on it for my uncle when he was a baby. I love that it’s still around.
The Granny Squares one is so awesomely 70s. Would be worthy of appearing in the Museum of Kitschy Stitches. Then again, they have been making a comeback in recent years, albeit in rebooted form.
——————- —————– ————- ———— ————— —————– —————- ———————- ——————- —————– ——— — – – — – – – — — – — – —— — —— ——– ———– ———- ——– —– —— – — – – – – – – – — – – – – – – – – – – —
One final sharing: here is the back cover ad from Granny Squares.
I especially love the line “it takes a very special yarn to make a sweater that can be handed down to every kid in the family.”
Not that, you know, it’s every younger child’s source of embarrassment or anything. Naw, they’ll love it!
Extreme Shepherding LED Art
I know this video is a little old, but if you have not seen this yet you need to.
Uh-oh, I’m engaged
You know what this means… wedding related knitting. The fiancé is going to looooove this.
Alas, I am not the first to blog on the topic, surprise surprise. JoAnnaJae does a particularly good job of it here.
A whole gallery of hand-knitted wedding dresses can be found here. Some are gorgeous, some hideous, all of them make my hands and brain hurt just looking at them.
And then there is the woman who loves sheep perhaps a little too much.
Though even that is nice compared to this:
Just not my thing I guess…
Though I must give kudos to the Dr. Who nod ❤
That is one epic scarf.
So I’ll skip the knitted dress, thanks.
I LOVE this idea, however. In fact, I kind of want to steal this couple’s entire wedding.
This calls to mind their TARDIS cake topper…
What is it with knitters and Dr. Who? Are we just all quirky like that?
There are also library-themed weddings out there! Diana of our.city.lights and her beau, Scott Douglas (a famous librarian-writer, for those of you not in the know) threw a fabulous affair that I am sure smelled of vellum and newsprint.
However, my fave for library-themed has to go to this wedding at the James J. Hill Library in Saint Paul, MN.
In all honesty, we will probably have a low-key affair and just follow our whims and play ofo of our many quirks instead of one unified theme, but you can bank on these babies hitting a mailbox near you.
That, and the fact that I’ll be knitting my garter 😉
Happy Hallowe’en!
Not much to report on. Just finished chomping on one of these:
yes, the brand is “Sugar Daddy”
I think I’ll be peeling layers of taffy off my teeth for a week…
Currently still wearing my TMNT mask. Idea from here. Pattern from here, though modified for Berroco Comfort Chunky on 4mms, cause that’s what I had. The tight stitches work great for a mask, especially one that will be resting on top of glasses: thick and wide is my friend (that’s what she said). But I must admit that worsted would probably have been easier.
And these babies went over well at work:
All in all, a good day 🙂
Head Over Heels
So, going to be lazy here, and point you all in this direction (click picture for link)
I know it’s not knitting related, but it is library related! I hope you’ll forgive me. And seriously… so pretty. Plus it’s also slightly Gothic in honour of Hallowe’en, so there you go 😉
In Canada, the closest we have if this:
Still nice, but… *sigh*
It (Emmanuel College Library, btw) does have this claim to fame, however.
Post-festival
Well, I didn’t get it finished in time 😥
So close though! Ok, maybe about half-way… but I got the entire green section and one blue done in 2 hours! Evidently if I’d not procrastinated and been distracted by other, more shiny projects I’d have had it finished in time. Here comes the guilt setting in! To make amends with the universe, I feel I must promote another charitable craft-related campaign. If you are a reader of crafting magazines (and really, who isn’t?) please consider renewing and/or getting your subscription through Nazareth House‘s fundraising campaign. Located in Toronto, Nazareth House is a supportive non-denominational community that provides a home-like environment to women at risk and their infants. Over the past twenty-five years, Nazareth House has been a safe haven for over 1,000 women and 160 children. Over 650 of the magazine titles are available at up to 85% off the newsstand price. 37% of proceeds goes to Nazareth House.
And now on to my Creativ Festival adventure! It was a great experience. Next year I’ll definitely plan to go for an entire day so that I can see more. 2.5 hours just isn’t enough! That being said, I did come home with some great finds 🙂
Books!
Possibly my favourite, albeit impulsive, purchase: this handmade wooden shawl pin from The Woodlot‘s booth. Now I just need to finish my shawl to go with it.
And of course, yarn! I was really impressed that it was $1.85 for 100% wool.
I also bought this kit to make a framed piece of felted artwork. I always thought felting was… blah. I never much liked the look of felted knitwear – I’ve only ever seen old ladies wearing felted pieces (granted an aunt once gave me a felted tea cozy that was quite cute, 
but the difference is it is not a wearable nor worked in the bright 80s-esque hues and pastels one sees so often). Little did I know you could use wool to both paint and sculpt in addition to knitting and crochet! Further justification of my obsession!
Cnyttende Textiles 