July 30, 2007

More little friends!!


Scrap bag from Funky Carolina
Originally uploaded by miminh3
My 26 new friends arrived by mail today, in a 8 oz scrap bag from Funky Carolina . Carrie was really nice and made a scrap bag of roving for me so that I can sample different fibers and colorways before committing to a larger spinning project.

I also received Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. This would be a great gift for a beginning sock knitter and the section on the sock anatomy is especially well written. I would recommend this over Sensational Knitted Socks. The only caveat is that she does not cover toe-up socks but it's full of great tips, it will take me a while to try them all!

Sorry Arleta, I don't have a picture of the Seasilk shawl... I blocked it the day before giving it to my coworker and totally forgot to take a picture. I'm thinking of making a pair of pyjamas out of seasilk, it's so soft and luxurious. I have another skein of Seasilk and will probably knit a shawl for myself later on.

The Ribbons Baby Blanket and Tuscany shawl are both done, ends are woven in so as soon as they're washed and blocked, I'll post pictures.

I'm off to watch Season 3 of Miss Marple on PBS. Bye!

July 08, 2007

Knitting Canadian


Blue Moon sock candy
Originally uploaded by miminh3
The Tangled up in Blue socks knitted with Blue Moon Sock candy ("Banded agate" colorway) are finished, courtesy of sitting in the back of a car for many hours on the way to Canada. I followed the pattern except that I continued the K2P2 rib on the heel flap instead of slipping stitches and I did not use the drop stitch pattern on the leg (it didn't look good with this colorway). I will probably give away this pair of socks because they're too big. It was a good learning experience though - it was my first time knitting cotton socks and my first toe-up heel-flap sock.

Even while on family vacation (aka 3 non-knitters and me) in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick I was able to stop at three yarn stores. In order to support the Canadian economy, here's what I brought back with me:
- Lucy Neatby's DVDs on sock knitting and two skeins of Celestial Merino
- patterns by Ilga Leja and Sivia Harding
- one skein each of Seawool, Woolie silk, and Cashlana all in the same "Lupin" colorway. I've wanted to sample these yarns by Fleece Artist/Handmaiden so I'll knit a shawl with all three yarns. If I can find a lupin lace pattern in Barbara Walker's treasuries, I might even design my own shawl.
- some spinning fiber (Polworth, Kid Mohair and South African fine top) from London Wul.

Did you know that effective April 1, 2007, non-residents of Canada will not be reimbursed for the HST they paid during their visit? This is a bummer considering the Canadian and American dollars are almost at par so getting the HST back was one of the incentives for shopping there.... OK, who am I kidding?! I'll buy yarn regardless!

I just learnt that one of my co-workers is moving to another department within our company in two weeks. She is really sweet and I noticed that she likes wearing scarves at work so I'm fiercely knitting a Knitted Wings Seasilk shawl for her.