In honour of Wovember - a celebration of real wool from real sheep – I’m posting this 100% Shetland wool shawl in one of the most gorgeous colourways I’ve seen in a long time. I ordered the Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift for Ysolda Teague’s Sherilyn pattern from Schoolhouse Press and chose the colour, Nighthawk, on a whim. When I opened the box I was kind of blown away by how lovely the colour is in person. I’m thinking about using it in Veera Välimäki’s Gathering Stripes as well. Maybe for next winter!

I’ve been doing tonnes of holiday knitting lately, as I’m sure most of you are too! I’m looking forward to seeing and sharing holiday projects soon. Happy knitting!

[Photo courtesy of Christopher]

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I decided on two wee sweaters for two new babies in my life. This is the first, for my friend Karen’s daughter, Arhana. The pattern is a quick, lacy knit from Marya Speton of Swallow’s Return – Eulalie. It’s knit seamlessly in reverse stocking stitch with an asymmetrical closure and pretty eyelet and bobbles centre panel. I used a skein and a bit of Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Lettuce and vintage Japanese buttons that I ordered many moons ago from assemblage’s Etsy store.

The one to come is Nadia Crétin-Léchenne’s Livingston pullover. I ordered some Koigu Kersti Merino Crepe in a dusty rose for my new niece, Sibella. She was born on August 26, the day that I arrived in Paris. I’ll be sharing her rams and yowes baby blanket shortly – I’m running out of space to block!

[Photos courtesy of Christopher]

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I revisited both the yarn and the pattern for this project – Gudrun Johnston’s Hömin Shawl in Misti Alpaca Lace. I had a skein and a half left over from my Ishbel and it turns out I’m getting pretty good at using the yarn I have! My first go at this pattern was in a fingering-weight Malabrigo, which I loved and gifted to Sara for Christmas. This one, in lace weight, was a gift for Chris to give his mom for Mother’s Day. I love the pattern construction – the edging is knit first in one long strip and you pick up stitches along one edge and continue with the garter stitch crescent-shaped body. I used needles two sizes larger than those used for the body when casting off. I learned this lesson from my lace weight Wave!

I hope you fellow Canadians out there had a great Canada Day! I have many samples from my dyeing class to share – reds and blues. Until next time!

[Photos courtesy of Christopher]

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Two alpaca knits to share with you! This is Gudrun Johnston’s Sylkie knit in Berroco Ultra Alpaca. The slipped stitch pattern is worked without a cable needle, which was quite nice once I got the hang of it and trusted that I wouldn’t drop the stitch! It’s knit lengthwise and grafted together at the end so you could easily knit it as long as you like.

And this is Amy Christoffers’ Norfolk Hat. This was a very exciting project for me – my first using the tubular cast on technique. I’m in love. Seriously. It results in such a neat, flexible edge. I used these two tutorials.

Now for more projects using tubular cast on…

[Second photo courtesy of Christopher]

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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]

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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]

I seem to have a never-ending supply of Malabrigo sock yarn in Eggplant.  So far I’ve made Hömin and Simmer Dim shawls with my stash and I think I still have enough left for one more project!

This is Ysolda Teague’s Damson from Whimsical Little Knits 2 – I love the scalloped shape and simple lace pattern. It also offers a fair amount of garter stitch goodness.

I can’t help but think of the poor Damson plum tree at my parents’ place in BC when I think of this pattern. This black bear may look innocent but he not only devoured all the plums on the tree but snapped the trunk and killed it before taking a nice long nap.  My dad has since planted a replacement Damson… likely more appealing to the bears than the last!

[Top two photos courtesy of Christopher; bottom photo courtesy of my dad]

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I can’t think of another time when I’ve cast off a project and immediately started another one of the same design. I wanted to make Simmer Dim as soon as designer Gudrun Johnston posted photos of it on her blog in a colourway called True Blood. The pattern came to mind recently because I’m so darn excited about the new season of True Blood starting next weekend! I had the perfect skein of red in my stash — Dream in Color Smooshy in In Vino Veritas. Done! And I love it.

And here is the second version that immediately followed the first — this time in Malabrigo Yarn Sock in Eggplant.

This pattern has a really interesting construction, and one that makes it suitable for subway/ bus/ streetcar knitting! It begins with the centre triangle and then you pick up stitches on either side to start the semi-circular lace edging. Addictive, obviously!

P.S. I’ve been using Twitter more often lately, @newedist if you’d like to connect

[Photos courtesy of Christopher]

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I bought this Malabrigo Sock yarn for Veera’s Plain and Simple pullover. I even went so far as to bring it on the road with us when we travelled to Australia. In fact, I finished the entire body with only the collar left to go and bought some vintage Czech glass buttons to match at a shop in Sydney. All of this is to say that I changed my mind. On their own – perfect – but the yarn and pattern just weren’t working together. I’m very happy with how the yarn worked out with this pattern though - Gudrun Johnston’s Hömin Shawl. I’m keeping this one!

I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend! I had a lot of fun yesterday at a Fiddlehead Mitten class at The Purple Purl. Kate Atherley is a great teacher and I can see now why colourwork can be addictive! I’ve blocked my first mitten and we’re going to work on the lining next Saturday so I’ll be able to share some photos soon.

[Photos courtesy of Chris]

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I loved working with this colour. There’s just something about greens! I’m definitely looking forward to autumn, and this shawl will be perfect for chillier days. The pattern is Gudrun Johnston’s Wast Side Shawl and the yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in Peat Mix. I’m a big fan of Gudrun’s patterns. In fact, this is my second in a row. The shawl is worked from the edging inwards, so once you move to the body you feel like you’re almost done!

Wishing my knitting partner for life a very happy birthday today!

[Photos courtesy of Chris]

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