Life LackaDaisiCal

Resistance was futile!  Tawny has been wound into this luscious ball! Now I'm just waiting for the pattern book to arrive - Launch Date is May 1 In the meantime....go on over to my Life Lackadaisical facebook page and check out the photo album I've put together.....decisions decisions, what to make first! While you are there, I hope you'll take a moment to "Like" my page! Happy Sock Knitting, or Shawl Knitting, or LONG SOCK Knitting!

And the winner is..... Spinning Beauty! Congratulations!  Please get in touch so that I can send you your copy of the "All Seasons Chunky Collection"

What do you think?  Over the knee socks - I'd better start knitting now to be ready for next winter.... Rowan Fine Art premium hand painted yarn - coming soon! I am SO excited, that I'm taking a class with Kate Atherley at the DKC Frolic this weekend on how to make two socks at the same time!  I think it might cure my one sock syndrome. Do you have trouble knitting that second sock? (While we are waiting, don't forget to enter the contest to win a copy of the "All Seasons Chunky Collection" - how to enter is on the post below.)

Would you like your own brand new copy  of the All Seasons Chunky Collection? Just leave a comment on this post telling me what design  you think you'd like to make! Get  extra  entries by... following Life LackaDaisiCal on Bloglovin'    or "Like" my FB Page,  Life LackaDaisiCal Closing date next Sunday, April 27 at midnight EDST What looks like suede, feels like velvet, and comes in 14 gorgeous soft shades? It's Rowan's All Seasons Chunky! All Seasons Chunky is a new yarn for Spring/Summer 2013, and I was happy to see a ball of it along  with the "All Seasons Chunky Collection" in my Rowan Ambassador sample box.   (For details and available shades of this yarn, click here .) I decided that the only way to seriously test this out was to  SWATCH (yes, the S word!) for one of the lovely designs in the book...but which one? The designs were photographed on the Greek i...

Life LDC - that's my new acronym for "Life LackaDaisiCal" - like it?  (It's easier and quicker to type too!) Spring has sprung.  Last week it was freezing rain and snow....this week the temperature is rising and when the heat meets the cold, well that means thunderstorms.  It's only April and gardening doesn't seriously start around here until May 24 - just in case of frost.  Clean up however does start as soon as you can get out there.  With the storm last week and the neighbour's trees coming down over and near our fences.....the DH has been out with his chain saw.  Part of the one tree has fallen over our fence and onto some old cedars that are there to block the view of the road.  Men like chain saws......that's all I have to say.... This was a huge tree - and it has been rotting at this point for years ....the neighbours chose to ignore it and it finally came down.  Luckily most of it stayed on their property....but qui...

Rowan Yarns has just posted details of their soon to be released Rowan Fine Art Sock Yarn! If you are a Row@n member, you'll have read in the April eNewsletter, about this new yarn that is produced in South Africa. What? You aren't a Row@n member ?  Why not?  You get access to all sorts of free patterns on the web site and the Newsletter.....all for free....so what's not to like? Click on the cover to go directly to the April 2013 Newsletter at Knitrowan.com Happy Knitting!

Brenda! Who "liked" and commented on my Facebook page, " Life Lackadaisical " I'll be in touch! Happy Knitting!

I've used a few blog reader service type pages and they keep disappearing - rather annoying isn't it? Right now my favourite is b loglovin Once you've registered and you can search by blog name, and when you find it, just click the Follow button and bloglovin' adds it to your blog list. You can organize your blogs into groups if you have multiple interests.... and you can go through your blogs from one screen - clicking through to the next blog to read, comment and keep on going!  It makes catching up on your favourite blogs so easy, and I have to say a lot quicker! (After all, we need more time for knitting - right?)  Thank you Gail for suggesting bloglovin' - I'm really enjoying, er... Loving it so far!

When you have THE YARN, but no suitable pattern? You decorate with it of course! ROWAN FINE ART premium hand painted sock yarn made with merino wool, kid mohair, polyamide & mulberry silk 100g each skein is approximately 400m (437 yards) and it's gorgeous! Thank you to Julie, owner of my LYS The Needle Emporium for this lovely gift!   I came rushing home to look up patterns worthy of this gorgeous skein of yarn.  Look at those colours, look at the sheen, and you should feel how soft it is!   (Close your eyes, think of it brushing your cheek....can't you just feel it!)  Imagine what gorgeous socks, scarves, shawls and yes, sweaters this will make! So although I am just itching to cast on, I've decided to wait for the corresponding patterns...patterns designed specially to show off this gorgeous yarn.... "The Fine Art Collection" pattern book is scheduled to be available April 22, the yarn, sorry you have to wait until May ...

KNIT FLAT? KNIT IN THE ROUND? What's your preference - knitting flat pieces and sewing them together OR knitting in the round, seamlessly..... Inquiring minds want to know! (Actually, this was inspired by a lovely sweater on Ravelry....that the knitter had converted to be knit in the round (from a conventional knit this sweater in pieces pattern). If you have anything you'd like to add to your vote(s), leave a comment here! Happy Knitting!

My Pets (Lackie, Daisy and Caelee) + my knitting  = Life Lackadaisical (Turns out there were way too many blogs with the other name already!  I should have realized this when I was trying to find a blogger title that was available.) LAST CHANGE - PROMISE! Well maybe not last....I have to figure out how to change my Facebook page.... When I started this little adventure I didn't realize how complicated it would be....my head hurts! Happy Knitting

The first day of spring was March 20th ....it is now April 10 the freezing rain started about 10 am and it's forming icicles....

Marilyn - Rowan 53 a design by Galina Carroll using Rowan Purelife Revive with accents of Rowan Summerspun This Revive had been in my stash for a couple of years.  I bought it for a pattern, but changed my mind.   (How often has that happened to you?)  So it was there, waiting patiently for the perfect design.  When I first saw Marilyn, I loved the neckline and the striped detail...but it was a little too stripey for me, if you know what I mean.   By changing the colourway to something with subtle contrast, I kept the integrity of the design, but made it my own. (Sometimes we can't see past the shades used in the original....tweaking the shades used in a design like this is easy to do.) The only deviation from the pattern was this bust shaping that I incorporated - you can hardly see it but it makes a huge difference to how the sweater fits and hangs. This added two inches to the front piece and gave me the fullness I required, where I req...

Along with my 7th year Blog anniversary, I decided to move My Lackadaisical Life back to blogger...so here it is....please update your bookmarks. I've been tweaking and freshening up my blog....you'll see I've added my Twitter feed....quick photos of my knitting, Lackie and Daisy antics, things I love the look of, whatever catches my eye and perhaps my camera - there it is top right - this is an automatic update - instantly - I take a photo and Twitter feeds it right here to my blog page - HOW COOL IS THAT!  So even when I'm not doing an official blog post, I might tweet about what I'm doing right this minute.....like yesterday, when L&D were getting all excited at the sound of the Tweet!  Too Funny! The Ravelry button so that you can go to my Ravelry page and check out my project s ....friend me there if Ravelry is your primary social network. WARNING:  Ravelry can be addictive! In addition to featuring my Rowan Love and Rowan Projects boards (on t...

Seven years ago....yes SEVEN YEARS AGO TODAY!....I started this blog with a tentative posting to see what would happen. Then I posted this...      It was a Wednesday.....  Lots of things have changed since this first blog....and lots of things are the same. I don't sell yarn any more - I knit for fun - change We live in the same house - same Daisy is older - change I'm still retired (I took early retirement - VERY EARLY LOL!) - same Caelee is gone - change Lackie came into the family - change Hubby is retired - big change I love to knit - same I love to read - same I love to watch movies - same I love to travel - same Social Media has changed...and my blog reflects this....my Facebook page, my Ravelry name, Blogs I Follow (the list is actually a lot longer than what is shown here) and today I've added my Twitter Feed - because yes, I intend to tweet - knowing me it will either be about the dogs or about knitting - so if you are interested....follow my Tweets! This ...

My "other" corner of the couch...... Lackie knows how to make himself comfortable....... twitter.com/fairislefanati… — Anne Featonby (@fairislefanatic) April 4, 2013

Knitters like to read too..... I love murder mysteries.....don't ask me why.....I'd rather read a good murder mystery or a young adult book like Harry Potter (you knew I was going to say that didn't you.....) or the Rick Rhiordin series. So in my corner of the couch....you'll find my current read..... "A question of Identity" by Susan Hill Yes, the Susan Hill who wrote "Woman in Black"....made into a movie starring Daniel Radcliffe. And that's the front of my Marilyn....only a few rows to go on this piece. You'll usually find a Westie or two snuggling in this space too...but right now they are both outside, catching some early Spring rays.....and barking at squirrels. What are your favourite Authors, books, genre? Happy Knitting! Don't forget to enter to win a copy of Rowan Magazine 53!

Vintage is everywhere! My ramblings in the world of Pinterest lead me to places I'd never find any other way.  Through a new "follower" on Pinterest that is obviously interested in knitting (she just started following My Rowan Projects, Knit inspiration, Rowan Love and my Kaffe Fassett boards)  I clicked through to her Boards,  found her Knitting Fabulous board and this image of a spectacular Kaffe Fassett coat! This picture was Pinned by Claire from the "They Roar Vintage" web site.  So of course I had to follow the Pin and visit.  Check out their etsy shop here . (I searched and NO, they do not have this sweater in their Etsy shop....I wonder if they ever did....and IF they did, did they know what they had?) Everything is cyclical....what went around comes back around....well, Vintage is IN! Want to create your own vintage look? This one is just out - by  Jane Crowfoot (I met her at Stitchtopia  and was so happy I took crochet classes with her!) Yo...

Photograph by Joey Toller  - you'll recognize that name from a lot of Rowan related publications! See how sad these people look?  Well, it's because Rowan Denim has been discontinued.... Well, at the time, it was because the photographer obviously wanted a serious look to this photograph - a serious collection of sweaters all knit in the original Rowan Den-m-nit yarn! This photo is from an original brochure produced by Rowan Yarns back in 1992.  This is when the Denim yarn label had a cowboy on it!  Yes, it did! Rowan Denim has changed over the years, but it was one of those unique to Rowan yarns. So if you've had a design done in Rowan Denim on your to do list...well, make sure you get the yarn now..... I'm putting some favourite Denim patterns on my "Rowan Denim" Pinterest board - just to remind me why I was/am intrigued by this yarn. I do have two lots of Rowan Denim in my stash - some BLACK, yes BLACK from way back for a sweater for the Hubby, and some Na...

Just a little modification to the front of Marilyn... Short row wraps to create a bust dart... Pick up the wraps on the last row and it gives you a nice slope. Thanks to Ysolda Teague's "Your Perfect Sweater" Class that I just took via Squam Arts.....I was able to add short row shaping to the front of Marilyn to create bust darts for a more flattering fit. Fingers crossed that this works! Don't forget to enter for the Rowan Magazine 53 draw !

I like to plan ahead....... You know I LOVE Kidsilk Haze.... I haven't tried Rowan's fine lace yarn....yet... Don't these shades match the fabric just perfectly? I must finish Marilyn before I cast on... My Marilyn is getting so close to completion.......but the cupboard is bare, I need to restock.....see you later! Happy knitting!