Fall Happens

Wovember has arrived and for those of you not in the know of Wovember it is a month of woolliness for us woolly folks who love fiber and creating with 100% real wool.  They used to have a blog but are no longer running this event through the blog.  However, there is a hashtag for #wovember2018 on social media have fun looking through the wonderful photos and projects of all these creative folks!

This post will be about knitting and then I will have another post on my fall ski travel.  For now, let me focus (a rare thing on just one topic) on 100% WOOL!

This is a recent pattern discovery I found on Ravelry  Mine is a wonderful slipper pattern designed by Faye Kennington AKA Ukeeknits on Ravelry.  Faye has many other wonderfully written and tested patterns. I would certainly recommend checking out her designs.  I knitted these slippers using yarn from Schoolhouse Press known as sheepsdown.  It is a very bulky yarn.  My goal was to use up some of my stash, thus the reason they do not match!  I knitted a (9-10) size and my gauge was about 2.5 sts to an inch.  I knitted these to be felted.  I am happy with the feel and fit----these are really comfy cozy slippers!

         

A longtime favorite of mine is this baby bootie always a fun relaxing knit and all owners seem to love them.  Parents say these are the only booties that stay on their kids' feet.

The Coming Home hat is a fast engaging knit.  Just enough in each section to keep the knitter interested and feeling like you are making progress.  I knit this hat up in a few nights.  This one was knitted in Berroco Ultra Alpaca yarn.

This is my Lopi sweater for a fall KAL which is crawling along rather slowly!  I am at the point which I need to get all three pieces together and have a little meet and greet!  I am suffering from procrastination!!!!!!!  Not useless procrastination as I have been knitting a ton of items that I have been selling at the Saturday Market.

Every September I place an order for my Shetland Wool Week Annual.  This year I ordered mine from a wonderful online wool shop called The Woolly Thistle.  Talk about a wonderful assortment of 100% woolly yarn from Europe and the US!  Really if you haven't looked at the online shop please do it is a treat for us 100% woolly yarn folks. Look at this wonderful Norwegian yarn that I ordered with my Shetland Week Annual. COLORS TO DIE FOR!

The two skeins on the bottom of the photo will be knit up into Kate Davies SnawHeid hat.  I will not be using the giant pom-pom.  That will be replaced with a traditional Nordic tassel.  First, I am not a pom-pom person and second, the top has a wonderful colorwork design feature that should be seen!  Today the Woolly Thistle posted a gorgeous mitten pattern in the shop's newsletter.  I will be ordering more yarn once I get my Lopi sweater off the needles.

Signing off from the tundra!  Miss Sadie is 10 years old and still loves to be out and about with us on the tundra.  Snow has arrived and we are busy ski touring, setting up snow fences and doing some trail work for the upcoming ski season with our WolfPack Skiers!

Vest: Carraig Fhada

At long last, I have found a color work vest that I want to knit!  I joined Kate Davies club: Inspired By Islay for the winter.  Last week this amazing vest pattern arrived in my inbox. I became instantly smitten with one of the variations of the Carraig Fhada vest!

I went right to my leftover skeins from the Seven Skein club. This was a previous Kate Davies club.  In this club, Kate introduced her own line of yarn called Buachaille.  I thought for once I will knit a proper swatch for this vest with the colors I do have to get my gauge sorted out.

I am missing two colors for this swatch (new Moonlicht Nicht & Furze) but I was able to put together a reasonable swatch for gauge and colors.  I am using 3.75mm circular needles.  I like to knit a swatch on the same type of needles I plan on using.  The swatch has 3 pattern repeats for a 16-inch circular needle.  The top colorway is using Ptarmigan which is the white, the bottom is using Haar the gray. I do like both but will go with the white.  However, in the back of my mind, I keep thinking about muck/dirt factor of the Ptarmigan.  The Furze is a yellowy gold color that I have not yet met in person.  I used Macallum a raspberry color. 

I am drawn to both colorways, but I do appreciate the brightness of this combination.

More notes can be found on my Ravelry project page as well for my new vest!

Let's just talk about the weather a bit here: We have had a good solid week of freezing your arse off temperatures!  

Things starting to warm up no wind chill!

September 27, 2014 First Frost! & No Bad Weather (NBW) Fall Knit Along (KAL)

The first sign that winter is truly on its way!

There is nothing like waking up early, to some late for me 6:30, on a Saturday morning to sky full of stars, and crisp fall air.   What?  Is that ice on the puddle?  I tentatively stick the toe of my Bean boot into the puddle hoping, wishing to hear the wonderful sound of ice cracking and what do I hear? Yes, ice cracking under the toe of my boot!  Northern Lights dancing in the sky, plus the lights of a barge in Norton Sound heading south before things really start to freeze up for winter.

One of the many joys of living in rural Alaska are the body parts your dogs get to either find and hope to bring into the house or the parts they love to roll on/in.  Tally was so thrilled with this wonderful find the other morning!  Nope---we are not keeping it!  It will be heading back to the beach where I am sure it came from today. 

The tundra is actually fading now to just browns and muted green lichen.  Fall has come and now we move into the rather dullness of browns and grays until winter arrives to blanket my world in white.  This tundra plant I love!  It is such a rich red and it really does look this red!

Tally enjoying an after school romp on the tundra in earlier September. 

 

My girl Sadie!

 

 

 

A recent batch of smoked salmon. Smoked with cherry and spicy seasoning added.

 

 

 

   

    

No Bad Weather (NBW) Fall Knit Along (KAL)

I have been working on my NBW KAL with the ladies from the Knit 'N Needle in Whitefish, Montana online through Ravelry.  This is a wonderful design and the yarn from the shoppe is great!  PDS worsted yarn is just full of life, with rich robust colors which is becoming a favorite of many knitters!

Like all projects I seem to always have to start the body about 3 times until I seem to work out some issues.  I have pretty much resigned myself to this knitting fact.  I casted-on a sleeve and knitted that up just fine.  The color is rich and deep which I really like in my yarn.  I casted-on for the body using a long tail cast-on and with two colors.  I decided instead of a ribbing I would do a knitted hem.  This is why I like to cast-on with 2 colors as I can pick up sts. easily having a contrasting color. 

That green purl like bump is where I will be picking up sts. to knit the hem which will be knit in a PDS sport weight yarn.  The lighter yarn will add less bulk and pull in the bottom just a bit.  This will be done later.

I thought, I would do a bit of added color work in the lower section.  I picked a design that I thought would be perfect.  It would have what I thought would be snow and hearts.  This would have made the statement that I love bad weather.  Well . . . it make the statement that this is way to much color work and your hem will be HUGE!  I decided to frog this section . . . oops forgot to mention: I had already frogged once before as I had twisted my yarn when joining the first round!

The reason for the color work is to have a nice line to sew the knitted hem to when I cast-off the hem on the inside.

Back to the drawing board.  I picked a much smaller simpler design of color work which would represent hills, drifts, and snow.  I knitted this color work only to realize that . . . Do you see those 2 ^%^%$%^*^* sts  there . . . yes 2 red sts side by side!!!!!!  Yes in the first round close to the beginning!  &*)(*&%$#$%%^

I was able to get this frogged again, and knitted yet again.  Now on a positive note look at how great that PDS worsted weight yarn is holding up to 3 froggings.  I will admit  I wanted to toss the whole thing into the trash!  However, I nicely reminded myself this is not the first time nor the last time knitting will humble me!  I took a few deep breathes, swore a bit and like E.Z. would say "Knit On!"

I have been knitting for over 20 years and yes even those who have been knitting for years (decades) still makes mistakes and still find new ways of making mistakes.  To new knitters out there just try and relax it is fine to make mistakes, learn how to frog, laugh a bit at yourself and then KNIT ON!

Fingerless Gloves

I was sent a wonderful pair of hand knit fingerless gloves as a birthday present.  Since these gloves have arrived they have been on every dog walk as I was told to use them!  As a knitter it is a great treat when you receive a hand knitted item!  As one knitter to the next gets it!  The work involved, the thought that went into the item, the yarn that was picked and used, the design, and of course the love that goes into a hand knitted item.

These were knitted with TOSK DK  100% superwash Merino, Antique Lace and Amber Tricket (don't you love that name) and the pattern is Gina's Wrister from Joseph's Coat in Missoula Montana.  This pattern is free and on Ravelry.  Thank you iusecreativejuices!

One of the things I like about these fingerless gloves is the design with two colors which gives a great feel to the glove.  The fit is spot on!

The first dog walk with winds clipping about 25 mph but no snow--ugh!

Winter and the lack of it is beginning to get to me a bit.  I have to admit I am tried of the rain and mud!  There I said it!  The temperatures need to drop and the ground needs to freeze up.  There have been years that I was skiing on my birthday.  The last few years no luck with that goal.   I really wish mother nature would do her job and push out this current weather pattern and get busy making winter!

My Local Yarn Shop the Knit 'n Needle

Don't you just love your local yarn shop!  I know, I love my favorite local shop and for me it is truly a local shop.  I just have to walk out my front door and walk 3.5 blocks right to the front of door of Knit 'n Needle.  Not only is there a great sales staff but this warm cozy shoppe is full of great yarns and accessories.  If you are a fan of Ravelry they have a wonderful online group.  If you are saying to yourself "What the heck is Ravelry?" Don't worry just click on the link and check it out.  As many of us describe Ravelry to the non-knitting population (is there such a thing) we often say it is the facebook for knitters only so much more!

I wanted to include some of the great items I purchase this year at the Knit 'n Needle's annual sale.  One of my favorite purchases which I am just loving are my Addi Click needles.  I have had other interchangeable needles but of course typical of Addi these needles out shine the rest.

Addi Click needles--oh how I love knitting with these needles!

Another great item that I purchased although it was not on sale is this book.  I just love 100% wool and learning about fiber.  I have been wanting this book for some time.  I figure it will be great reading when I am up north for the school year.

My yarn purchases are below.  The GINA is for the KAL that I have yet to start.  The shoppe is hosting a Knit Along (KAL) that I really need to jump in on!  Crown Jewel Knit Along  is in progress but don't ever feel afraid to join in late to this group!  The other yarns to below are purchases for the stash.  Next is some Schoeller + Stahl Limbo superwash to add to the "hat stash department."  That beautiful rusty color is of course Malabrigo Twist in sunset.  Who in their right mind can pass up Malibrigo on sale? Last but not least is a wonderful organic cotton by Blue Sky Organic.

The yarn below is for another pair of Northman Mittens which was a winter KAL from earlier this year.  I will be using the idea of the Northman Mitten for the mittens I am planning.  However, the color motif  will be altered from the Norwegian Rose/snowflake to a skier.  Below, I have Ultra Alpaca from Berroco for the outer part of my Northman Mittens (blue and white).  The lining for these mittens will be out of the middle yarn which is actually a nice bold magenta from Blue Sky called Brushed Suri.