shrug

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Knitter’s Frolic

So this past weekend was the annual Knitter’s Frolic. I went with some members of my knitting group, and we had a lot of fun.

  Above photos from CanadianChia.

And saw some amazing things.

  CASHMERE ROVING. IT FEELS LIKE CLOUDS.

And when it comes to shopping, I made out like a bandit this year. A bandit who pays for all their loot, but a bandit nonetheless.

Everything there was just SO AWESOME this year. More awesome than it already normally is. Plus I got more back that I thought I would with my tax return, so happy early birthday to me.

Here is the pile, in all its glory:

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And now for the breakdown, minus the Addi Turbos and the Indigodragonfly project bag with the hilarious print.

First we have some beautiful lace weight. Seriously, the picture does not do the emerald tones of this skein justice. It’s Shalimar Yarn‘s Breathless Lace in Loden. Handpainted! 850 yds! $30! 😀

I plan on making this beauty with it.

Then I stopped by a family-owned farm‘s stall and grabbed me some more hand painted goodness:

Once again, my camera does not do the deep hues of this yellow any justice. I normally don’t go for yellows, but it was so gorgeous it had to come home with me.

The Black Lamb (another local yarn producer) had this at their booth:

Merino mixed with angora rabbit! Get in my shopping bag now please!

Then at the booth for Gateway Fibreworks (another local outfit that makes yarn from Ontario alpacas – noticing a “local” theme yet?) I saw this skein, the last one they had of it’s colourful yet undyed (these are natural alpaca fleece colours) kind and had to have it.

While I was there I grabbed these mini skeins because alpaca mini skeins.

I’m thinking it should be enough for fingerless gloves.

So that’s it for the local fibres. I had planned on buying only local, normally-hard-to-get-your-hands-on stuff, but then…

Classic Elite Yarns Provence on sale for 30% off at EweKnit‘s booth.

Since I needed some DK weight cotton for this vest, I figured I might as well buy it while it’s on sale.

This Habu skein was also 50% off at Unraveled. I’ve always wanted to try Habu (the ones that brought you yarns made from paper, steel, and etc) and at this price for a little skein I figured why not?

It’s called Kibiso silk. It may not look very silky, but that’s because it is actually made from the waste silk, which is the fuzzy bits on the surface one gets when you reel silk from a cocoon.

And last, but not least, we have this skein from Skein (har har). When I saw it at Shall We Knit‘s booth, I had to have it. It’s just so different. The colourway is Tuscany.

I also got a good deal on hand carders from Gemini Fibres. I’ll need them if I ever actually start spinning.

Speaking of starting spinning, I’ve taken a step in the right direction! I took Barb Aikman’s class on the Sunday of the Frolic.

I’ve got a long way to go, but at least it’s a start. I had trouble with the single treadle I was using, so a fellow student was kind enough to let me try her Ashford Joy2. Muuuuch better.

…aaand now I want an Ashford Joy2. It’s a beautiful machine.

But, before I can think of that, or use all this new yarn that is burning a hole in my stash, I must finish the baby knitting (yes, there is still another set of these:

as well as a blanket to go) plus the shawl I’ve started for myself:

I think I needed to finally make something for myself. People are starting to ask why I knit so much but hardly wear any knitwear :S

Luckily this shawl is in worsted weight, so hopefully it won’t take too long.

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My Knitted Wedding

Well, I talked about doing it, and I’m pleased to say that I actually did.

With the help of some friends, including Ilana, Joanna, and Lynn, I have knitted my wedding bouquets, corsages, and boutonnières.

Not only can I still not believe I got them done on time, I am beyond happy with how they turned out. They are even worth the 240 inches of i-cord I had to knit.

As you probably know, I also knit my wedding shrug. Here are a few pictures of it.

I’m now married to the love of my life and knitting was involved. No wonder I’m smiling.

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Flora and Fauna

First, the fauna:

Happy Easter Monday! From Desmond

Now for the flora:

As mentioned in previous posts, I (with the help of some awesome fellow knitters) am knitting the flowers for my wedding in addition to my shrug. This is why I’ve essentially been away from the blogosphere for the past month or so. That and the other elements of wedding planning and getting ready to move in May. Now I finally have some actual FO flowers worth sharing, so I thought I would.

First is this tulip from Lesley Stanfield’s beautiful book 100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet. (she has also made it available in a few other places, one for free!). I think it might be my favourite so far.

So favourited, I had to take several pictures.

Here are the others I’ve been working on:

An anemone, also from Lesley’s book.

This calla lily is another favourite. The pattern is by Cathy Ren.

A peony, also from Leslie’s book.

And lastly, a rose. It’s this pattern I mentioned in this post.

I think the calla lily and tulips will win out as the bouquet flowers. Now to figure out what I want to do for corsages and boutonnières…

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Excitement

Now that the mittens from my last post are done, I’ve finally had time to work on my wedding shrug prototype (originally mentioned here).

Aaaaand *drum roll*

Ta-da!

Now to start it in white!

… and then take it to where my dress is beings stored to make sure the colour matches. Man, getting married is a lot of work.

Speaking of the wedding, I also need to start making some prototype flowers. My fiancé and I have decided we’d like to have homemade flowers at our wedding. I originally got the idea when I was first looking at knitted possibilities back when we first got engaged, and he agrees that it would be a nice, personal, (and inexpensive!) touch, and very “me.”

One idea:

Bunch of other ideas:

crafted bouquet

Patterns I’m leaning towards:

Crochet version

Knit version. However, I like the leaves and stems from here better.

Another knit version that I really like for the corsages and boutineers, simply because it is flatter.

And, since I’ll need about 50 flowers, I’m very lucky to have awesome knitting friends who have said they’ll help 😀

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Creativ Festival haul

Two posts a tad close together, I know, but I had to share the fruits of my second day at the Creativ Festival. Pics of my adventures as a model for the Fashion Knits show to hopefully come soon.

Voilà my haul of goodies, comprising both days:

Breaking it down, we have the two awesome books I got, more detail in my other post. Both are entirely worth the investment, but I love that I got them at a huge discount from Grantham Books. They’re at the festival every year, and I always come home with something. On their site they list other shows they go to as well as permanent locations.

In the foreground you can see some navy blue DK possum merino. That’s right, possum. It is made in New Zealand, and available in Canada here, the UK here, and the USA here or here. Apparently, “the possum fur is hollow and, when spun with merino wool, produces a hardwearing yarn with superior heat retaining qualities.” Either way, it feels awesome and I am excited to try it. Here’s a close-up.

I also picked up some good ol’ Berroco Vintage Chunky in white from Creative Yarns. It shall one day (soon) become the shrug for my wedding dress. I’ll be using the same pattern as for the one I talk about here.

I think it will be gorgeous. Actually, I know it will be because someone has already done it:

I also got some neats beads, pendants, and a pair of cool glass earrings at this store’s booth.

After much hunting, I was finally able to find a booth that sold Brother equipment for my Brother sewing machine. I got some thread, extra bobbins, a blind presser foot for fancy hems on dresses and dress pants (I have a backlog of stuff to fix…), and a teflon foot and twin needle for sewing onto knitting, so that maybe I can finally get the lining onto my cabled belt from way back.

One thing I did not buy, purely because I have a large enough stash already, is the HPKY I fell in love with. Their website isn’t the greatest, but I believe the yarn is called Lamé. It’s a bulkier weight and has strands of glitter running through it. The booth selling it (called Yarn Deals, LLC) I could not find a website for anywhere, but they had these wicked knitted samples that only need 1 skein:

I especially like the one with the tapered and braided ends. It makes it really easy to wear as a scarf or snood/hood type thing. Gotta remember this design idea for later.

And finally, you may remember Ozzy the Alpaca from yesterday’s post. Today, I leave you with a fortune.