Winter sucks! I mean I will admit that it is a beautiful time of year when the snow falls slowly, and everything looks so fluffy and nice but then the cold and ice sets in and it becomes nothing but a vast wasteland of nothingness where no one smiles anymore, and we all feel confined to the indoors. I’ve been in Canada for 6 years, and I’ve heard every bit of excuse/advice on how to “make the most” of the Winter time. And while it’s comforting to think that so many out there actually have positive feelings about this time of year, I must state that I am not their target market for these conversations. I grew up with sunshine in my bones, and the inability to feel the warmth of it hit my face as I bask in its golden rays does nothing but add to my absolute disdain for this icy weather. Now I try to remain at least a bit positive, one must in these dire times, and so while I absolutely can not stand this time of year I am reminded that I can always find solace by dabbling in the fibre arts, and so I focus on knitting things that bring warmth and colour to my life. Mainly because it relaxes me but also because these items aid me in my constant focus to retain every bit of body warmth I can hold on to so, in the end, I shut my mouth and knit myself a sweater.

Now when it comes to this specific sweater, I have to admit that I did enjoy the pattern (It’s called Brick, and it’s free on Ravelry) but the thing that brought me and continues to bring me nothing but absolute joy… is the yarn. And this particular yarn makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside because it was explicitly dyed for me and it exceeded way beyond my expectations.

To tell you about the yarn, I have to also tell you about the dyer because I fully believe that Nicole Frost, of frostyarn, imbues every bit of her lovely soul into the yarn that she creates and she managed to create an experience for me that I sometimes find hard to put into words. This was my first time engaging in a custom dyed yarn experience (I found her while drunk scrolling through Instagram), and from start to finish, I felt like she wouldn’t be happy until I was pleased with what I was purchasing. Not only was she engaged in the conversation and open to answering all of my many questions but she also completely understood where I was coming from when I mentioned that I was concerned about neon or bright rainbow colours because they tend to look comical on my dark complexion. With all of the information in hand, she recommended we look at something more jewel toned and shared pictures with me of the work she’s done in the past and how they were knitted up by some of her other customers. If there is one thing I like about shopping, it’s about making as informed a choice as I can and being able to see examples and have her walk me through different ideas was so helpful and made me feel even more confident about my purchase.

When the yarn finally arrived, I couldn’t help myself. The colours were so amazing that I actually took it outside and had a mini photo shoot on my deck to try to capture its jewel-toned rainbow goodness. But alas everything has its time, and it’s place, and the yarn sat in the cupboard for awhile while other projects garnered my attention (I mean to be fair, my brain doesn’t think about knitting sweaters in the summer) and I would take it out periodically just to stare and gently caress.

This winter though, I needed it. No scratch that, my soul needed it and I cast away all other projects and started the sweater with no hesitation. Honestly, it took me a month to complete, and that’s the fastest I’ve ever knit a freaking sweater because I knew how much joy it would bring me to knit up these amazing colours against the stark, dreary and snowy white environment I’d been enveloped in since October.

Whoever says you can’t custom make your own happiness, apparently doesn’t have a sweater made from their own custom made yarn.

Hello faithful readers. I am back on the East Coast, and if I’m honest with myself it feels terrific! Okay, so I’ve been back for a while now, but I was suffering from the worst case of writer’s’ block. I had some ideas ready for posting that I thought was blog gold but then I got back, and I was hit by the worst summer cold, so the ideas started feeling outdated, and I decided not to post them. So without the creative juices flowing and the inability to put thoughts to digital paper I instead focused my fingers on knitting. I was slightly hoping that I would manage to get some projects done and knit away the block. And guess what? It worked!

The past couple of days I’ve been knitting and knitting, and after I post this and put my laptop down, I’m going to start knitting again. Weirdly enough, the fatigue has not settled in at all this summer, and my fingers have been working the needles over time.

Mostly, I’ve been making socks which blows my mind to think about because I have a whole blog post dedicated to why I didn’t enjoy knitting them, but I’ve apparently gotten over that little issue. Because….

I knit the pair above for my partner using Ancient Arts Yarns in the colourway “West Coast Waterfall.”

And then I knit this pair for a friend in Diamond DyeWorks (I lost the tag so I can’t remember the colourway).

Also, I went to my favourite LYS in Perth and picked up the Uneek sock kit, which has been a unique experience (did you see what I did there?) and cast on for another pair.

I never actually thought I would fall victim to the sock addiction crave but I guess I’m on my way there. I should be fine. Don’t send help.

Just like this bunny, my new job has me hopping from place to place.

So it finally happened. I packed up my bags and moved to Kingston for a month. I always find it amazing how you can know something is coming up in your life but still feel emotional when the day finally arrives.

Well, the day came and went, and while my emotions are still all over the place, I was really proud of myself for managing to get on that plane and not take my entire yarn stash with me.

Now for some this may not seem like an actual issue but for me, I had a hard time merely wrapping my mind around what skeins would make the trip with me. You might be laughing right now, but it was tough guys!

Yet, I managed to put my big girl pants on and not to bring my entire collection with me by sticking to projects I knew I could potentially get done in time. I put the Celtic shawl back on needles because it needs to get done and packed a sock project I started before I left. I also packed the yarn for the dovetail shawl and some spare (what I like to call emergency) yarn because it’s pretty, speckled, locally dyed in NB and all of that criteria reminds me of home.

(Also, I just knit the cutest pair of socks with yarn I got from the same NB dyer, Diamond DyeWorks, and it is now one of my favourite pairs. I’ve worn it every day since blocking it so of course, I had to pack another).

Luckily, Kingston is right on the water of Lake Ontario (it’s also a university town), so it eerily reminds me of Fredericton and helps me feel a little more settled. I’m not much of a big city gal, so it’s nice to be staying in a small, quiet community for the next four weeks. I’m here for work so posting might be limited but be sure to follow me on Instagram for quicker updates to my little adventure.

I might even be able to sneak in a quick visit to Knit Traders in downtown Kingston. Ha! You thought I wasn’t going to buy yarn after bringing so much with me, didn’t you? It makes me happy that I can still keep you on your toes 🙂

 

Aha! I refused to let April fly by without putting out a blog post, and I’m glad I’ve finally managed to put thought to digital paper.

The last couple of weeks have been quite hectic and with my upcoming move to Kingston, ON (just for a month) I’ve been focused on soaking up as much of home as possible.

The great news though is that after every work day, I’ve been finding solace, and reflection time, in my knitting. And it’s been heaven just to unwind, pick up my needles and get to work. And boy have I been productive.

I finally finished the love socks (that I’ve been waiting to make for forever) and gifted them to a friend of mine as her “something blue”.

And knitted up a pair of fingerless gloves just for fun.

Getting all these projects off my needles means I’m close and closer to working through my list of patterns to try. I had to put some away on waste yarn until further notice, but I’m hoping to get them all completed and blocked before the end of the year.

That seems like a reasonable and attainable goal. Now I just have to reach it.

I am yearning guys! Yearning! And as I sit here writing this post looking out at the what seems like the endless whipping of snow in the air, I can’t help but yearn some more.

Now it’s not a usual occurrence for me to take my frustrations out on my knitting (I mean I’m a nice person that way) but I will admit that I’m not harbouring a lot of happy feelings towards my White Pine sweater right now.

Not because the pattern is too complicated, or I’m not enjoying the process of knitting it but because I’m just over everything it represents. I’d even say that I’m in a “down with sweater weather” kind of mood right now. Yeah, I said it, but it’s a long time coming so don’t judge me too harshly. (Everything in moderation, right?)

So you could say that my spirits were in dire need of perking up, so I didn’t even fight it when my hands decided to cast on another project.

I went through my Ravelry library of projects I’d been eyeing for a while and landed on the With the Tide shawl pattern by Anna Mathis. It helped that I had Ploome Fibre Arts hand-dyed 3-ply sock yarn (The colourway is called Well Tickle me Coral) in my stash to pair with it.

And you know what? It worked.

Now instead of eyeing my sweater with an eensy teensy bit of disdain I just put it away, pull out the shawl and wish for the upcoming season to come just a little bit soon.

I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m ready for Spring. In fact, you can say I’m yearning for it.

My friend Jody said this to me today and, as a knitter, it most definitely rings true.

Now I will admit that I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day (what can I say! I’m a “love you all year long” kind of gal) but every year my partner brings me flowers and I present him with a token of my affection. And while he’s used to getting knitted items from me, this was the first time he’s ever gotten a whole hand knitted sweater.

Working on the sweater was such a great experience, but it made me long for seamless sweater knitting patterns. It was my first time knitting a sweater in parts, and honestly, if it wasn’t for Trish (knitting Jedi master that she is) I don’t think I could have gotten through the experience. I mean it seems simple enough. Knit the back, the front and the sleeves separately and then stitch them all together. (How hard could it be?)

Well, it’s harder than it sounds and if it weren’t for her helpful tips and tricks, the sweater would not have come out looking the way I wanted it to, and he probably wouldn’t have received it until March.

It also helped that I love knitting for other people. In fact, I think I knit more for others than I do for myself. There’s just something about knitting a functional and beautiful item for someone you love that makes my heart go all warm and fuzzy. And without sounding like a total cheesecake, I like to believe that my love for him is imbued into every stitch and seam that makes up the whole sweater. (Plus I like knowing that it’s keeping him warm while he walks in the frigid winter cold.)

Okay, that’s enough cheese. At least for now.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

It’s my birthday! Every year, on January 3rd, I celebrate turning one year older, and every year I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a little more wiser. (Well, wiser than I already think I am.) For me, having my birthday so early in the year makes me feel as if I get the rest of the 362 days to really settle into my new age and all the experiences, moments and memories it will bring.

When it comes to the agenda of my birthday celebrations, I tend to keep it very relaxed and this year was no different. It also doesn’t help that I’m fighting off the flu. On. My. Birthday. 🙁

Nevertheless, I started my day off with a hearty breakfast from my favourite diner, took a much-needed trip to my LYS (local yarn store), ate a delicious dinner made by my partner and rounded off the evening with a homemade Ghirardelli chocolate cake. (His mom makes me one every year and I hoard it like Gollum hordes the ring.) All in all, I had a great birthday and I’m enjoying every last second as it winds down to a close.

Starting off a new year, at a new age, I always find myself wondering what the rest of the upcoming 362 days are going to look. As a principle, I only set one resolution for myself, and it’s simply to “try one new thing”. This, for me, is such an attainable goal since I’m always looking to try new things anyway and it’s a goal I’ve managed to never fail at achieving. And on the plus side, when I end up trying more than one thing (which I usually do) I feel super accomplished throughout the year. (I believe that’s called a win-win situation.)

I mean in 2017, alone, I tackled:

1. Knitting my first ever sweater. (I can’t stop wearing it!)
2. Making socks out of sock weight yarn.
3. Dabbling in the art of knitting shawls with fingering weight yarn.
4. Visiting a new campground in the province of NB.
5. Being open to new friendships while tending to the ones I’ve already established.
6. Knitting gauge swatches for my projects.
7. Blocking my knitted items at I cast them off.
8. And last but not at all least, gaining the confidence to start and launch this blog.

 

Got to say, I’m quite proud of myself!

Thank you so much for being on this journey with me. I can’t wait to share the new projects and adventures 2018 will bring. Hope you’re ringing in the New Year on a high note!