Back tracking on a few pictures......


We were in Vancouver for four days in July to visit my DD and her DB (Dear Boyfriend) and in the above picture I've amateurishly photoshopped the picture to illustrate where they now live. As always click to embiggen to see more detail.

The following are just a few pictures of the Saturday when we were there and it was one of the busiest. We headed out in the morning on the Seabus which leaves from downtown Vancouver heading to North Vancouver. When you dock on the northside you enter immediately into Lonsdale Market.

On the Seabus coming back with a view of downtown Vancouver. The tent like building is Canada Place where the cruise ships will stop to either load or unload passengers.

After getting off the seabus we hopped on another bus to head to Granville Island.
Yummmmm
More yummmm
Of course my yarn sniffing nose was on high alert. This was a interesting shop. The owner had live silk worms doing their thing. Unfortunately she wasn't too keen on my husband taking pictures of the inside of her store. Too bad because it was a really nice shop with lots of silk yarn.
Some of the handpainted silk I bought.Later that same day I convinced my DD to come with me to another fibre shop Birkeland Bros. Wool. I was surprised that my Mom and DH still were wanting to come along, but this was a really interesting store. The building and the business are over 70 years old, and still run by the third generation of the same family. The lady helping me was very friendly, laid back, and helpful with all my questions.

The carding machine is now over 100 years old.

Birkeland is Western Canada's #1 Ashford products dealer. My spinning wheel is an Ashford Traveller so I picked up four more bobbins, and fibre. I'll definitely head back to this store it was well worth the visit.
Haven't spun Corriedale, but once I do I'm wanting to try my hand at dying this fibre. As per usual I can't seem to get enough of any type of green fibre.

The final fibre/material/notions store that my DD said I HAVE to see was Dressew. They had really good prices on some yarn there, but not anything I wanted. They're mainly a fabric/notions store. It's two floors that are packed to the hilt. I got sidetracked by the buttons. My DH was so patient as I perused from top to bottom, side to side.

Spinning, Chocolate Cake, and a runny nose.....It started yesterday... a craving for comfort food.

It turned into this....sort of looks like a volcano, but it's just warm icing.

My heads pounding and my teeth ache. I've got a head cold, and it's beautiful outside. Instead all my brain can handle right now is the soothing comfort of a motrin, a cuppa, and a spin at the wheel with this...80% Merino 20% Silk from Aurelia Wool & Weaving from Merritt B.C. Canada

In the mail today......

I have plans.....well intentioned plans to start and finish something. Famous words I know.

Knit Picks had a sale on some lace weight yarn....

I have a penchant for green.This is Alpaca Cloud colourway Dill. 100% Alpaca. Heathered lace weight. I can't stop feeling this stuff it's unbelievably soft.

In the same order was some Knit Picks Shadow. Bordeaux Kettle-Dyed. 100% Merino. Not as soft as the Alpaca Cloud, but still fantastic value for a wonderful lace weight yarn.

I know I'd mentioned in the previous post about the flood in our basement. I thought I'd post some pictures of what it is now, and how we'll be trudging through the process of rebuilding.

This was the actual day it happened. We were scrambling to try to get everything on to the dry side of the room.
DH was working to try to limit any moisture sitting over night. We knew there was no way we could clean this up by ourselves. The poor little shopvac blew up after DH started going over the carpet for the third time.The insurance co. hired a clean up company to come and assess the situation. Without a word the dude started cutting up carpet right away. It's kind of shocking when you see someone cutting up your house like that, but he had it done in under an hour. For the next five days we had a humidifier going and four huge fans.

But as per usual we weren't happy with the fact that the clean up company didn't recommend taking down the drywall. I couldn't rest knowing that it was fish by products that had been sitting in behind the wall. So DH and I made the decision to take down the drywall and we'll be replacing it ourselves.

That's where the basement is standing right now. I'm hoping we can complete this by Christmas, and yes that's our poor kitty Anna sitting on the bottom part of the sofa. Downstairs was her domain and we've tried coaxing her upstairs while this reno is going on, but she won't have any of it. Thank god it's been wonderful weather here so she's been staying outside for hours to enjoy lounging on the patio furniture.

Oh Lord Where Do I Begin........

You think I was on a sabbatical or something, but it was just life in general. I've missed posting and any spare time I had was spent reading all the wonderful blogs I've been referred to and inspired by. It's like getting addicted to a soap opera or something these blogs. Sheesh.

So here's a list of what's happened since my last post in March. Keeping it short and sweet.
-The estate my DH is executing was probated in February '09, and it continues to this day. Don't let anyone tell you this is a swift thing to do. We've already passed the one year anniversary and we're still dealing with it on a daily basis.
-March '09 my DD moved to Vancouver B.C. to be with the one she loves. She's the last of my children to leave home.
-April was just lost.
-In May we went to Florida for two weeks. That was nice. Would like to go again. Experienced rain like I never have in my life. I can now appreciate what they go through in a hurricane.
-June we were devastated to hear from our daughter that her true love Nathan at the age of 28 has testicular cancer stage 4. It spread up to his lungs. The same cancer that Lance Armstrong had.
-In July we went to Vancouver to visit DD and Nathan, and it was wonderful seeing them. Our hugs have a certain desperation to them since this hit us. After getting back from the trip I was home watching the Michael Jackson Memorial on tv, and went downstairs looking for something to start for dinner. To my shreaking panic discovered our 200 US gallon fishtank had drained onto our basement floor. All but four inches which was enough for me to scoop out and save our Koi and Goldfish.
-August basically has been a month of running back and forth from Home Depot buying stuff to fix our basement. In between fixing our house we bought another home which my DS and his friend are renting from us. It needs some upgrading which also demands more trips to Rona/Home Depot.

So that's that list.......The saving grace for me has been, which I'm sure you can all understand, is The Lord above, my DH, family, my spinning, knitting, and not to be forgotten the new blogs that I lost myself in inspiration, and keeping up with the lives of the dear blogs that I've gotten to know over the years.
-Smoking Hot Needles
-Gypsy Spinner
-Susan in Stitches
-NovaMade
-Spin, Knit, and Life

The new Blogs which blow me away by their photography and inspiration:
-Alicia Paulson
-Posy
-Apron Thrift Girl
-Allsorts
-Anna Maria Horner

On to fibre news....here's some of the projects that I've tried to finish, some that are finished, and new ones that keep getting in the way.


Market Bag for Nicole. Having fun coordinating fabric for these bags. Probably having more fun shopping for fabric. Another dangerous stashing hobby started.








This was my first try at making this Market Bag. McCalls Pattern #5822. It's been used more for carrying around my knitting and not groceries. I still have a ways to go in combining fabric.








A sweater pattern (Berroco Pakuna) I found in Vancouver at Birkeland Bros.Wool Ltd.







I'm finally using my natural colour Alpaca handspun for this project and I couldn't be happier how it's turning out so far. Progress has been slow, but almost finished the back. These pictures are of the front and side.




A bit of embroidery from the Babylock Esante. I'm making some bookmarks for my Niece and Nephew. Actually the sewing machine is making them I'm just programming and changing thread.





Some 2 ply handspun from Aurelia in Merrit B.C. We stopped in on our way to Vancouver. It was my first time at spinning something with so many colour changes, but I had read somewhere to separate the colours and have one spun up with all the colours combined which you can see in the one bobbin. Whereas the other single was spun up with the colours flowing one into the other. Which I then plied together. This yarn is going to be knitted up into Fiddlehead mittens with a black yarn anchoring it. Pattern by Adrian Bizilia which I purchased off of Ravelry.





More handspun by Louet. Dark Blue Faced Leicester. This reminded me very much of spinning Alpaca. I had to have more twist when spinning singles. My goal with this was to try Navajo Plying which really frustrated me just watching people do it. Until I found this....Sarah Anderson Navajo Plying. I love how I can take a spool of single spun and spin right to the end of the bobbin with no leftover and the result is a three ply. Wonderful!

The weather....

What greeted me this morning....



A water main break..... Two car pile-up happened just before taking this picture. What a miserable day for that poor lady.











-30 Celsius produces a lot of steam.












Flooding now is up on the sidewalk.

I'm not sure if I want to venture outside. Neither does Noodles.....Noodles doppleganger Mr. Sweetness.

What joy there is when a movie has some great knitting in it......

I'll have to put Tess of the D'Urbervilles down as another movie with a few glimpses of some interesting knitting. I've never traveled England's countryside but I can imagine that it looks very much like it did in this four-part drama series. Beautiful cinematography.

The thing that caught my eye was a wrap around shawl that Tess Derbeyfield was wearing. I made my husband stop the movie and got him to freeze frame, and from what I could see it was a straight garter stitch with a picot edge shawl. I've attached a link showing a clip from youtube, but it's not the greatest of quality.

After looking through all my reference material I came up with a similar pattern that I'm going to follow to hopefully make something similar to the shawl like Tess's. Folk Shawls 25 Knitting patterns and tales from around the world by Cheryl Oberle It's the Simple Garter Stitch Prairie Shawl. With some of my own modifications I think I'm close to the same design on the movie. I've stretched it out width wise to allow for the wrap around which buttons in the back, and I've added a picot edging all the way around for a finished edge.



Yarn: Berroco, Peruvia, 100% Peruvian Highland Wool, colour: 7105 Prairie Dog, Needles: Knitpicks Interchangeable Needles 5.00mm.












Not quite done yet, but I'll post pictures of the shawl when it's finished.

Some treasures passed down with much appreciation.......



A pretty tin which holds some curiosities.










Still curious that Noodles.








Vintage buttons, thimbles, cloth tapes.







Some old spools of thread. I'll never use any of this as I find it too sentimental.







Old flour/seed sacks.





My goal is to make some aprons out of this material. It's original use was a duvet cover that our Great Grandmother had made. It's now thin in some spots, but overall the material is still very useable.




I have always been on the lookout for retro fabric, and this fits the bill very well. I recently found a contest at Tie One On. I don't know if I'll have time to enter, but it's such a cool idea for anyone interested in entering an apron sewing contest.

Picking up where I last left you.......

Unfortunately the hazard of not blogging consistently means this post is going to be a long one....

Before I start with my present day knitting projects I just wanted to post an update on our bathroom renovations downstairs which is the main reason I haven't been around.

Just to back track...the start of demolition going back to January 2008. Yup this has been going on for long time.











Fast forward to the summer and Dale's jackhammering a hole to start re-routeing the plumbing for shower, toilet, and vanity. My contribution was/is as official photographer, digging and hauling of concrete and dirt, and general grunt work/passer of tools to DH who was/is the lead in this excursion.






Again fast forward...pipes are now moved and refilling of the hole.

As time passed over the summer and I neglected to take pictures of the concrete being mixed and poured. We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Drywall is up, and now we're laying infloor heating....................................................>


Over this past week we were laying tiles, and grouting, and sealing.

Still a fair ways to go yet, but now comes the fun stuff with painting and decorating. I'll post as progress is made.


So in the evenings I got on a sock kick.

Favorite Socks 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave. Can't say enough about the really nice sock patterns in this book.

I'm knitting these for a ladies size 10 so I've made increases to the pattern for foot length. What caught my eye when searching patterns was the lace design carried down the back for the heel.

Yarn: Trekking Pro Natura, 75% superwash wool, 25% bamboo. Knitted with 2.5mm dpn's.



After finishing the purple sock I was smitten with another design out of the same above mentioned book.

Undulating Rib Socks, knitted with 2.5mm dpn's. Yarn: Lorna's Laces Hand-dyed yarns. 80% Superwash Wool, 20% Nylon. Color: 403 Tuscany.

I love this pattern, and I'm totally in love with hand-dyed sock yarn. Knitting this went by so fast. The repetitive pattern was interesting enough not to be borrowing. (I just came back to re-read this entry and discovered my spelling error, lol, I meant boring! Not borrowing. What was I thinking? It must've been the caffeine, yeah that's right I'll blame it on the caffeine ;) )

So I was on a roll throwing caution to the wind, and I started on a toes up knitted sock pattern. It's always intriqued me this toe first idea because people were saying it's easier to get the length of the foot right and not run out of wool. I really enjoyed this technique, and I'll be on the look out for more patterns toe first.

I had to do some major increasing on this sock to fit my size 10's. I fell in love making these bobbles, and loved the yarn I used which was a gift from last Christmas.

Pattern: Bacchus Socks, by Alice Bell. From Interweave Knits Fall 2008. Yarn: Knit Picks Essential, Colour: Inca Gold Tweed 65% Superwash wool, 25% Nylon, 10% Donegal. Knitted with 2.00mm dpn's.

Hope everyone is doing well!
Happy knitting!!

A quick post.....

We had a good Christmas, but I have to say I'm glad to see 2008 done with. I've heard several people say the samething. What's up with that? Good Charma or kizmit just wasn't flowing last year.

Anyway over the holidays I kept busy with a couple projects which are now finished.

Cross-Country Chullo, free pattern from knitty.com

Yarn: Patons Decor (Purchased at Michael's)
75% Acrylic
25 Wool
Colours: Pale Sage Green, Rich Grey Heather




It's been so cold I've been thankful I managed to finish this in time to actually use it this winter.

Next project came along while we were in Jasper, Alberta over the holidays. I stopped in at a little yarn store called A Stychen Time, and picked up some Sari-Rainbow Silk from Nepal. 100% silk, 200 gr., 200 yards. I always liked the pattern Morning Surf Scarf, and I thought the silk would work for this pattern.


Morning Surf Scarf
Pattern from Spin-Off Magazine, Summer 2008









Blocking....silk doesn't stretch as much as wool, and this pattern gulped up the 200 yards I had. The finished measurement is 20cm x 158 cm. Or 8in. x 62 1/2in.


Dry cleaning is recommended, but it says on the label you can wash in luke warm water which is what I did with vinegar to set the colour. Whew! What a smell that came off this silk. I used some essential oils to combat the odour, but what seemed to really work is laying Bounce fabric softner sheets underneath the scarf while blocking. All is well now.


Hope all is well with you, and stay warm!

Noodles knows how to stay warm....I can't get her out of the lightbox I use for photography. She feels the heat from the lamps and loves it.

You caught me snoozing.

(Haha Mae :) I'm heading to Michael's this morning. They have a bunch of yarn 70% off sale. DH is still working on our bathroom reno downstairs. I'll post pictures asap of progress there. I'm missing my blogging, and I'll get back at it, but unfortunately I'm being rather lazy. Could it be because of the weather? hmmmm