Wanderful Knits

Pattern Release: The Beach

So it’s Fall now and while it is my 2nd favourite season, I’ll admit that it was really hard to say goodbye to Summer. Like sobbing uncontrollably while cry singing “you are my sunshine” on the floor, hard. Luckily, Summer decided to go out with a bang by giving us a gloriously warm day and I spent it basking in the sunlight and soaking up as many rays as I could.

As excited as I am for Fall to begin (completely ignoring that the shift means that Winter will soon follow) I’m also very excited to release my first ever published pattern to the blog (the first of many I hope).

So without further ado, I’d love to introduce you to The Beach. This cowl design was definitely a labour of love and allowed me the opportunity to become exposed to another avenue of the knitting world and continue my goal to learn and try as much as I can.

Inspired by my childhood memories of going to the beach while growing up in Trinidad, the Beach cowl evokes that memory all too clearly for me. Perfect for all seasons, it’s my take on a portable version of the beach I can take with me wherever I go. In fact, I specifically choose the stitch pattern because it adds a distinctive swirl to the colours of the yarn and mimics the continuous dance of the waves as they form and crash onto the sand. I’ve lived in Canada for 7 years and while I have enjoyed any time spent on the water here, nothing has refreshed or rejuvenated my soul like a dip in the warm salty waters of the Caribbean sea.

You can access your free copy fo the Beach Cowl below:

WanderfulKnits – The Beach Cowl Pattern Download

Special thanks to my test knitters Judith, Lila, Sally and Stephanie for all of their hard work, questions, feedback and for utilizing their lovely skeins of yarn to knit up samples of my pattern. I could not have gotten this far without their enthusiasm and help and for that, I am eternally grateful.

Quick Note: The pattern will also be available for free on Ravelry by tomorrow at the latest.

Taking It Slow

So after I wrote my previous piece on the blog, I made a promise to myself that I would engage in some self-reflection and work on learning to be more patient. Identifying the issue was a significant first step, but I knew I wasn’t going to accomplish any growth by just sticking with the status quo, so I decided to do the work.

Easy to say. Hard to do. But I did some research on ways to incorporate more patience into my life, and since I always have a project on the go anyway, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and mix in my knitting to help me along the way.

But first, I had to come up with a plan. It was all good and dandy to say that I was going to exercise more patience when it came to my knitting but a whole other ball game to figure out exactly what I needed to do to accomplish that goal. In the end, I had to ask myself the question “What kind of project has always humbled you?”. As quickly as I asked it, the answer came to me, “Shawls”.

Now this felt very kismet since I’d already been playing around with the idea of doing a summer series on various Shawl projects but didn’t think I’d have enough time to get it off the ground. It gave me the perfect opportunity to pivot on the idea while still giving myself a challenge. I’d work on the shawls I wanted to knit up on my list for this summer, but since my goal was to take my time and slow down the process, I no longer had to worry about the time aspect. And before anyone asks, I’ll say right now that I love knitting shawls. I’d even say it’s one of my favourite items to knit. However, I have a habit of liking shawls that are quite big and sometimes they have stitch patterns that are quite repetitive, so by the time I get halfway through my fingers get itchy, and I usually find myself just pushing towards completing it so I can move on to something else.

This time, however, would be different, and it was. I carefully combed through my Ravelry and found the Geology Shawl pattern sitting in my queue, selected my Log House Cottage Yarn from my stash, and away I went on my journey to add more mindfulness to my knitting. My little effort to think more about the process, the feel of the yarn, and the craft and put it above my need of having a completed project.

And I’d say so far; I’m doing well. It was a struggle at first, but with every loop, stitch and row it served to remind me why I fell in love with this craft in the first place. Sometimes the drive to posts steady content consumes me, but I have to remember that I am not a machine meant to pump out pretty things quickly. I’m a human being who is crafting a beautiful item with her hands. That is not something that should be hastened or rushed. Every moment of it should be appreciated and respected.

Patience

Patience. I will admit, I don’t have a lot of it, and I feel that the older I get, the more impatient I’m getting and being a knitter hasn’t helped me one bit in this realm.

Colour me typical but I live in a world of instant gratification, and I will be the first to admit that I find myself annoyed at how long a project is taking or I get bored by the continuous repetition of a pattern. As much as I try to adopt the practice of slow knitting, I usually end up racing to the end so I can revel in the finished project and bask in the feeling of fulfilment that it gives.

So of course, when I finally finished the Ishneich shawl that I’d been working on, with breaks, for about two years the radiation my happiness was giving off could rival that of any nuclear object.

This shawl is hands down one of the hardest and most challenging projects I’ve ever worked on or completed to date and would not have been possible without a lot of help from Trish, quiet days reading the pattern line by line, a row countdown (to keep hope alive and help maintain sanity) and lots and lots of swearing.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ll be taking a vacation from cables for a while. I think I deserve it.

Custom Made Happiness

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.

Another day, Another pair of socks

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.

Kingston

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!

The yarn for the dovetail shawl. A mixture of Louet Gems and Sweet Georgia yarns.

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).

Spring is the time for everything with colour!

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 🙂

Solace

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”.

Aren’t they cute? I just want to smush them.

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

I have chronic hands are always cold syndrome and these will fix that quite nicely.

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.

Connections

I’ve been travelling a lot lately for work, and my mind has fixated on the concept of connections. Now, I’m not talking about the connections one must take to get to their destination but instead those moments when you connect with another human being who was nothing but a complete stranger to you only a second before.

I will admit, out loud, that I am a bit of a nervous flyer and while I try to maintain a modicum of calm and friendliness around me before boarding the metal death trap, once I board I’m definitely not the type of person who likes to chat during the flight. In fact, I’m that person wearing noise-cancelling headphones, looking out the window, or focusing intently on my knitting. I try to do, whatever I can to politely not make conversation with the person next to me. I even managed to surpass myself this last trip and created my own portable sensory deprivation chamber (patent pending) by adding an eye mask to my flight toolkit (which already includes the aforementioned headphones and travel pillow), so I could sleep, and stay asleep until the plane safely touches land again.

However, my flight from Charlottetown to Toronto took an unexpected but pleasant twist. I sat down in my seat, surrounded myself with my comfort kit, smiled at my seatmate (fully intending to ignore her and dive deep into dreamland) and then spent the next 2 hours of the flight engaging in conversation. I’m not sure what happened, I was fully prepared to knock myself out for the next couple of hours, so I didn’t have to think about the fact that I was that high up in the sky but once we started conversing we just couldn’t stop. We talked about our lives, our partners, I told her about my dad and she told me about her adopted daughter. We spoke so in-depth that we were both shocked to hear the pilot announce that we were landing and it wasn’t until we were collecting our luggage that we realised we’d never actually exchanged names. We both laughed at that because we didn’t need to know each other’s names.

In the end, we were just two strangers, from opposite generations, sharing stories about their lives with each other, knowing we might not ever see each other again and it was wonderful.

Yearning

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.

“Nothing says love like a handmade sweater”

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.