This project is another one going way back in terms of the history of my Ravelry queue. All the way back to September 2008! I used the last 3/4 skein of Cascade Yarns Eco Duo from my Estelle Pullover to make a pair of Leslie Friend’s Toast Mitts for my dear friend Lara. I gifted them to her in February when it was still plenty wintry. My favourite thing about these mitts is that the self-striping yarn makes them a mismatched pair.

I’m sharing this completed wooden carp puzzle because it’s almost the same vintage as the Toast pattern! Phil and Aggie sent it to me for my birthday in 2009 if I remember correctly. When we visited them in Melbourne two years ago they took us to the Japanese restaurant where they bought it. We ate delicious octopus balls, among other things, and they asked me if I had finished the puzzle. I hadn’t. So I cracked it out a little while ago and was very pleased with myself when the carp was finally in one piece. It now sits watching over our sprouting seedlings.

I hope you’re enjoying the last of the weekend. I’m off to make some Sunday soup!

[First photo courtesy of Christopher]

[Ravelled]

This may very well be the last of my seemingly never-ending supply of Malabrigo Sock in Eggplant. The pattern is Gudrun Johnston’s Aestlight Shawl, and it’s knit using a traditional Shetland construction — increasing from the point outwards. A fair bit of garter stitch goodness here! You knit the garter section first, and then pick up stitches along either edge of the triangle for the lace and edging. The Bird’s Eye Lace seemed to take me forever to complete, as did the triangle edging. I’ve had this pattern in my queue for almost as long as I’ve been a Ravelry member so I’m glad I finally got around to trying it!

Chris took these photos at the Toronto Zoo over Easter weekend. As you can see, spring is not quite here yet… I highly recommend the zoo though – the Canadian Domain was pretty amazing. More like a park than a zoo. The bison had so much room to roam!

[Photos courtesy of Christopher]

[Ravelled]

This amazing Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 8-ply was originally intended for Mel Clark’s Diagonal Ribbed Cowl. My mom requested a chunky snood for her birthday and I thought the combination of super soft cashmere and simple design would be just the ticket. After some hemming and hawing over modifications to the cowl pattern I decided to design a new snood especially for my mom. I’m knitting up a version that is chunkier still and will share the pattern once it’s ready to go. I love this yarn but the price is in line with its luxurious qualities! The new version will be less heart attack-inducing in terms of material costs. I had originally thought that the three skeins I picked up from Rose Haven Farm Store would be enough but ended up needing to pick up two more that I found at Lettuce Knit. Lucky or unlucky!

[Photos courtesy of Christopher]

[Ravelled]

It’s starting to feel a lot like spring here in Toronto. What better way to kick it off than with a couple of light, lace knits. I mistakenly bought a skein of lace-weight Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Lace at Knit-O-Matic a while back, when I was obsessed with Hand Paint Suri & Silk. Since I was expecting a dk-weight and didn’t realize my mistake until I got home, it just sat in the back of my cabinet for the past two years. Then I saw Kristen Finlay’s free pattern for Wave, a shawlette worked in alternating sections of Turkish Lace and garter stitch. So pretty and simple, and I loved her samples knit up in variegated yarns.

My second piece of spring lace is another free pattern, The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief by Orange Flower. The pattern calls for dk-weight yarn so I went down two needle sizes and did an extra repeat of the alternating stockinette and eyelet sections. I was a bit stressed over the tightness of the loosest bind off I could manage with Wave (decrease bind off), so with this one I went up two needle sizes for a regular bind off. In the end, I didn’t need to fuss over either – they both blocked quite nicely and I didn’t run into any tight-BO issues.

Oh, and you may notice that my bag in the background of the top photo fits with the knits. Alpacas! Jane showed me this alpaca Baggu a while back and while I was at Good Egg in Kensington Market yesterday they just happened to have one! Mika, the owner, pointed out that the pattern looks like houndstooth from a distance but close up… all alpacas.

[Photos courtesy of Christopher]

[Ravelled: Wave and The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief]

Magic gnomes for a gnome impersonator. These colourwork mittens have been specially outfitted with conductive thread at the tips for touch-screen navigation. Jensen, the gnome impersonator below, received an iPad for Christmas this year and so far has no fewer than 10 fart apps installed. This is serious business.

Courtesy of my cousin, Paul

After I had finished and blocked the mitts, Chris shared some of his conductive thread with me. I made the first attempt and duplicate stitched conductive eyes on the gnomes at the tip of each mitten where the index fingers would be. I failed. It sporadically worked when I tested it on an iPad. Chris offered his expertise in functional fabrics and I ripped out my duplicate stitching. The trick turned out to be having enough conductive thread on both the inside and the outside of the mitten. Inside, it’s almost like a small button that you can feel with your index finger and put pressure on for touch-screen use.

Warning: This video contains gnomes, bacon and a high tech whoopee cushion

The pattern is spillyjane’s Gnome Mittens pattern and I used the yarn called for – seven different shades of Knit Picks Palette. Here’s a detail so you can see what the conductive eyes look like.

Courtesy of my cousin, Paul

[Photos #1, 3 and 4, and video courtesy of Christopher]

[Ravelled]

This set was a combination Christmas and birthday gift for my dad. I searched for a suitable fingerless glove pattern for a while and finally settled on this one – Kurt Fausset’s Beer Gloves from Son of Stitch ‘n Bitch. Natalie Selles’ Lomo Mittens were a close second. Either would be a good fit for sport/ dk-weight yarn. I used Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in Salt & Pepper leftover from the matching scarf.

The only modification I made was to work the gloves entirely in reverse stockinette stitch, rather than incorporating the cable chart and seed stitch palms. I wanted something simple and textured that would be a good match for the reversible cables in the scarf.

Chris took this awesome photo of my dad in my parents’ backyard in Powell River while we were there over the holidays. You can really tell that we’re in a rainforest! Everything was so damp and lichen-covered. I think it’s safe to say that my dad was very happy with his new scarf – I’ve seen plenty of photographic evidence since! The pattern is from Bruce Weinstein’s controversial Knits Men Want. I didn’t pay any attention to the “rules every woman should know before knitting for a man,” but I did enjoy the pattern… Library special!

[Photo #3 courtesy of Christopher]

[Ravelled: Beer Gloves and Reversible Cable Scarf]

I had to laugh when I read Kate Davies’ description of this fantastic project: A “skater’s muff.” I’ve skated once since childhood – over Christmas holidays last year – and I can’t imagine having my hands anywhere else but straight in front of me like some kind of zombie ice skater. But I am willing to accept that not everyone shares these challenges so here’s one for them!

Chris’ mom loved the last muff I made her so much that she put in a request for another. As soon as Kate blogged her Mucklemuff pattern I knew this one would be it. It uses a motif from Mary-Jane Mucklestone’s 200 Fair Isle Motifs, and a neat I-cord finish and wrist-loop. Handy if you need to make a quick stop while skating!

I used Lima by Diamond Yarn for the first time – a single-ply 100% wool aran-weight yarn – and would definitely use it again. I think it worked beautifully for colourwork.

[Photos courtesy of Christopher]

[Ravelled]

rams and yowes by Kate Davies (left) and Hansel by Gudrun Johnston

My brother had some good news for me this weekend – he and his wife are expecting a baby and I’m going to be an aunt. I started thinking pretty much immediately about a special knit that I could make them. So here’s where I would appreciate some decision-making help. These are four of my favourite baby blanket patterns: Kate Davies’ rams and yowes, Gudrun Johnston’s Hansel Hap Shawl, and Anne Hanson’s Cradle Me and Honey Baby.

Cradle Me (left) and Honey Baby both by Anne Hanson

I’m leaning towards either the Hansel Hap Shawl or rams and yowes. I think either would be lovely in undyed shades of Shetland wool. rams and yowes involves steeking, which is a technique used in circular knitting where you knit a tube and then cut the finished piece to allow for openings like the front of a cardigan, armholes or necklines. I’ve never steeked before but would love to try it!

Which one do you like the best? What are some of your favourite knits for special babies?

[Photos courtesy of, from top left, Kate Davies, Gudrun Johnston, Anne Hanson]

I paid a pre-holiday visit to Romni Wools here in Toronto to find that there was a December run on worsted-weight charcoal yarn. There was not a ball to be had.  If you’ve been to Romni before you will find it hard to believe that they could be short on anything wool-related. Ever. So I drifted over to the aran section and ended up sitting on the ground rooting around in a cubby full of Naturelle New Zealand wool by Naturally Yarns. At the very back there was a single, unmarked ball of charcoal. Hurrah! I used it to make this Windschief as part of Chris’ birthday present. You might recognize the snood he’s wearing — the Sag(ittarius)  Snood that I made for him for his birthday three years ago. Still in very good shape!

Yesterday was my birthday and I really had a great day. Chris and I went to Morning Glory for breakfast – my favourite breakfast spot in the city – and I met Jane for an afternoon of coffee, chocolate and a make-up lesson. I was a bit nervous and felt even more so after the make-up artist told me that she would do half of my face and then I would do the other half. My skill level in this area is very limited! I think we were all surprised when I ended doing an okay job… I definitely felt fancy for the rest of the night and learnd a lot.

Chris rolled three of my favourite things (Australia, food and travel) into one and gave me a copy of Kylie Kwong’s new book It Tastes Better. We spent our first night in Sydney at Billy Kwong. The experience was intensified by our extreme jet lag; delicious but there’s not a hope in hell that we’ll ever remember what we ate.

Jane gave me a beautiful gift box edition of The Travel Almanac. I can hardly wait to dive into this. Plenty of inspiration for future travel!

My knitting partner for life, aka Erin, sent me a gorgeous Bandana Cowl made out of Misti Alpaca Hand Paint. It’s the perfect thing for this bout of -20 weather we’ve been having!

A big thank you to everyone for helping me celebrate my birthday. 36 isn’t looking so bad! Although I almost had a heart attack typing that number.

[Photos 3 & 4 courtesy of Penguin Books Australia; 5 & 6 courtesy of The Travel Almanac]

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Happy New Year! Chris and I rang it in at Pearson airport after collecting our bags. We spent the holidays in British Columbia – plenty of good times with family and friends. We also made some tasty discoveries while there. Most notably Oyama Sausage Co. on Granville Island and the Soho Road Naan Kebab food cart in front of the Supreme Court in Vancouver. I highly recommend Sarb Mund’s veg sabji. It was the perfect combination of sweetness and spice — delicious. He’s opening up a second cart soon — this one for chai — lucky Vancouverites!

We spent most of the time in Powell River, my hometown, and made a woolly discovery there. Great Balls of Wool is celebrating its first anniversary. I’d never been there before and was very happy to see such a nicely stocked yarn store in Powell River. They have a knitting lounge so next time I’ll have to sit and stitch a while.

I was a bit lax in blogging my holiday knits as they were finished so here are two of them! Both are from Heidi Kirrmaier’s Come Sail Away collection. The scarf in the top two photographs is Windward and was a gift for Jane. I used Viola M/C/N sport in Sea Storm and absolutely love this colourway! The pairing of pattern and yarn seemed perfect for Jane, who was born and raised in Ireland and loves the sea.

The cowl in the last photograph is Circumnavigate and was a gift for my aunt Tracy. I used a few skeins of Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend in Pewter and am pretty crazy about this colourway as well! Nice cool, moody shades. Both patterns were fun to knit – especially Windward with its changing directions.

All the best to you and yours in 2012!

[Top five photos courtesy of Christopher]

[Ravelled: Windward and Circumnavigate]