Life LackaDaisiCal

Although there are a few who do both, it seems that you are either a blog reader, or you are a fan of Facebook..... Friends of mine cringe at the thought of Facebook..... Facebook friends LOVE the spontaneous nature of Facebook, and don't want to read a whole blog post.... As a Rowan Ambassador, I like both!  I like to blog about project details here....with a bit of Life LackaDaisiCal thrown in....while on Facebook I "share" the highlights of what I come across on the net with my Life LackaDaisiCal community, those who have "Like" ed my page..... (You can tell easily if you have "Like"d my page - look to the right - see that little Facebook box - if you have liked my page....there will be a little check mark there....if not....oh dear (laughing) you should!  If you are on Facebook, you will have seen my "shares" this week.... That I've started knitting with Rowan's Pure Linen - this is the shade "Avocado "

This post introduced you to Rowan's Silkystones .....and my finished "Age of Brass and Steam" kerchief..... My "Brassy Kerchief" on Ravelry With the leftovers from this small shawl, I knit a proper gauge swatch.... And decided to knit the Brook cardigan from the Silkystones Collection. I liked the idea of a neat little cardi to wear over a top in the evening....or when you have to pop into one of those cold air conditioned stores in the heat of summer!  It is hard to dress appropriately when it is blazing hot outside and freezing cold inside..... No chance for that just yet....it is still quite cold here in Southern Ontario....and with most of the Great Lakes frozen, the forecast is for a cooler than normal Spring..... Anyway, Brook was selected....but I didn't like the idea of those curved fronts....so I chose to go with straight fronts - as the button closure would naturally pull the fronts together and therefore a bit up.....

AND THE WINNER IS...... SARA HANSON! I've just sent a message to Sara. Thank you everyone who entered this draw, and all of you who visit LifeLackaDaisiCal... I really appreciate it! Anne **********************************   I AM ENJOYING READING ALL OF THE COMMENTS... KEEP THEM COMING...EVERY COMMENT WILL BE ENTERED!   PLEASE, PROVIDE A RAVELRY NAME OR E-MAIL....   The "Zen" Competition I loved working with +RowanYarns  Fine Art Aran....and I want you to have a chance to try it! Fandango (550) Want to WIN  a skein of  +RowanYarns  Fine Art Aran? All you have to do is.... tell me..... WHAT DO MY HUBBY  AND SHERLOCK (as portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch) SHARE IN COMMON? Need a reminder?  Have another look at my "The Zen in Fine Art" blog post... 5.asset.soup.io To enter, leave your answer in a comment  on this blog post.  For a bonus entry....be a new blog followe

I am a knitter...who loves wool....not cotton, no acrylics here, prefers her wool to NOT be super washed, and definitely I don't knit with Linen or Silk. Until now... Part of being a  Rowan Ambassador is that you receive sample balls of new yarns that are being introduced by Rowan...and Spring/Summer 2014...yup, you guessed it, lots of Linen and Silk... So, I've decided to be brave, and give it a go! First up......Rowan's new Silkystones, which is 52% Tussah Silk, and 48% Linen.   The shades are gorgeous and rich....there is so much depth....I wanted to knit with them right away, but I was frankly a bit intimidated - Silk and Linen! So, I decided that I needed to knit something small and easy....something relatively pain free...if it doesn't work, not a big deal....but if it does...Bonus! Ravelry is a great resource for free patterns...and I recalled a "Kerchief" that I had liked, but hadn't knit yet.... The Age of Brass and Steam Kerc

My Hubby - he studies the history of UK railroads, and he can usually be found in his hobby room..... Please note how the fine art pooling almost.... joins perfectly together at the shoulder seam - I can't take any credit for this - it just happened! He likes to play around with models of his favourite trains.... It's not playing he says....it's highly technical digital command control (DCC). Look how this design works beautifully with the pooling of the Fine Art Aran. T he bottom pieces are knit conventionally from cast on up. leaving the stitches live... while the top of each body piece is knit "sideways" from the armhole across.  T hey are then joined by picking up stitches from the bottom edge of the top piece  and doing a three-needle bind off...gives a neat right side seam! I know - sounds complicated!  But really it isn't! One of the Hubby's favourite engines - "Golden Fleece"   I asked him for a little bit o

This applies to knitting perfectly!  It all comes down to the details...like getting  GAUGE! Without exact gauge....you have NO CHANCE in adapting a design from one yarn to another.    First - Can I get gauge with the Fine Art Aran Yarn? The original Zen was knit with Rowan Handknit DK Cotton - and I want to substitute Aran?  Hmmmm....let's see.... Gauge called for is 20 sts and 28 rows to 10 cm! Recommended Gauge for Fine Art Aran is 19 sts and 25 rows to 10 cm!  (Because of my experience knitting my Fine Art Aran Swatch cowls, I knew that on 4.5 mm needles I was getting the recommended gauge for this yarn.  But, my "swatch cowl" was nice and drapey....I wanted to make this sweater at a firmer gauge so that it would hold it's shape! So for my "Zen" swatch, I went down to a 4 mm needle and got 20 sts and 26 rows to 10 cm! This was as close as I could get - I loved the fabric this created....and I didn't want it to be any firmer... OK