Life LackaDaisiCal

Ha ha ha, yes, ANOTHER KAL! I had heard about Ysolda Teague's "Follow the Arrow"  mystery knit along, but didn't participate. The gallery of finished shawls is impressive! The Follow the Arrow mystery is unique. Each weekly clue gives two options...you choose! You get to make a choice every week! Let's see, with 6 weekly clues and two options...there is the potential for ....gosh, LOTS of different shawls ha ha ha! When the Follow the Arrow 2 mystery KAL started popping up in my Ravelry feed....I decided that I had to join! A few of the members in my new knitting group, the Silvercreek Knit 'n Sip knitters, are doing the KAL too! What a great way to get to know people when joining a new group! There is nothing like figuring out the clues together!  My first choice was clue 1a.  It looks good in the Rowan Fine Art yarn that I chose. This fingering weight yarn is hand dyed in South Africa, and is a spectacular combination of merin...

Yes, that's right!  A hashtag! Isn't this the cutest garland! My knitting buddy Claire and I discovered that we both wanted to knit the Nordic Garland from Martin Storey's new book "easy fairisle knits"! We have decided to have a Rowan Nordic Garland knit-a-long! Claire is going to knit the garland as designed, 15 trees! (She is a busy Mom and at this extra-busy time of year, this will be a challenge for her!) You can follow Claire on her blog  Knit and Purl Garden ,  on Facebook and Instagram ! I have challenged myself to knit A TREE A DAY!  Yes, one tree (at least) each day, December 1 - 25, so that on December 25 I will have a whole lotta Nordic Tree Garland! :) CONFESSION!  Before I even contemplated this, I started knitting the icord , because I was worried that the icord would be my downfall!  I have to tell you! The icord is easy and super quick.  If you follow me on instagram, you will have seen me knitting icord at ...

OMG!   +RowanYarns  is doing it again!  This time with KAFFE!!!!  Rowan has just announced a new Afghan KAL - this time it is designed by Kaffe Fasset!  Go to Rowan's Facebook page  to read all about it! You know I am a HUGE fan of KAFFE..... Kaffe is celebrating 50 years in the world of Fibre Arts....and how fitting that he has designed the next Rowan Yarns Knit-A-Long Afghan! The Martin Storey afghan was so much fun and Hubby and I regularly tussle over who is going to wrap up with it while watching our nightly episode of Masterpiece Mystery, Inspector Morse, Lewis or some other such British TV! Then there is the added complication of two adorable Westies who want, no DEMAND, their personal afghan time with us....so yes, I tried to resist....but RESISTANCE IS FUTILE! There is a colour way for all!!!! There are 4 colour ways, an afghan and two pillow options for the KAL!  Here is a link to take you to the materials list on t...

My last blog post about the Rowan Ambassador visit to the Mill is delayed, due to my need to CELEBRATE the completion of my  +RowanYarns   Pure Wool Worsted Mystery Afghan! Pictures are worth a thousand words right? even in Summer, mornings are cool on the deck and a lovely afghan comes in handy Lackie loves mornings on the deck it didn't take him long to join me! breakfast, and a bit of reading! after breakfast, "The Afghan" decided to check out the yarn...er YARD! I love the way this all went together - look at that beautiful seam! and the cable trim - gorgeous! I was away for two weeks...and since I have been home, I haven't spent any time weeding...  I've been too busy knitting....no, hubby was ill while I was away (he missed me) and needed a bit of TLC when I got home! He is much better now thanks! so please excuse the "au naturel" state of my yard! We had these railings installed last year.... I told t...

It's coming up to Week 7 of the +RowanYarns  Pure Wool Worsted Mystery Afghan KAL.  Whew, that is a long title!  So far we have had six patterns, knit each one six times....that's 36 blocks so far! How are you doing?  There are only two more weekly pattern releases to go, that's 12 more knitted blocks before you will be able to get on with the finishing! You've probably heard the term....Hitting the Wall.  It is when runners feel like they have no energy left and can't take another step. Do you ever feel like that with your knitting? That gorgeous pattern, the perfect yarn....but you hit the wall, you lose interest, you feel like you just can't knit another stitch. By week 7 of the KAL you might feel like you have hit the wall, but the finish line is in sight! Just two more weeks of block knitting, then it will be time for sewing it up and then comes the edging!  (This may prove to be another "wall" for some of us, grinning here! ) Runners ha...

Progress on the Rowan Yarns Mystery Afghan has stalled a bit.....but with the addition of a new shade..... And a slightly modified layout plan..... But I should be back on track in time for the week 5 clue! Anyone else out there participating? How are you doing? You have to come as close to the stated gauge as possible. If you are close, usually judicious blocking does the final tweaking. But, if you are wildly off size, an adjustment in needle size will be required. Is your square way too wide....go down a needle size.....think of a block as a swatch. Are your squares a little too wide and not tall enough? Blocking can fix that! Wash your block, give it a little tug up...pin it down to a 20 cm square....pat down gently to tame any unruliness, let it dry...you will be amazed! Until next time, Happy Knitting! Anne Daisy says....This one is mine! (Yes, it is the new shade - 117 Raspberry that has been added to the mix!)

How do you finish your Rowan Mystery Afghan squares? I wash them first....in a good fibre wash, like Eucalan or Soak Rowan Pure Wool Worsted is Superwash - it will grow a lot and lose body when it is wet.... but never fear...get rid of the excess moisture (use a towel or spin them in your washing machine) let them air dry, don't stretch them out....just leave them to dry!   Then put those squares in the dryer (on low, for 5-10 minutes)! (Yes, I know the label says not to use a dryer.....so this is my opinion only.... please no complains if your dryer is too hot...you know your dryer right?) So my way is not the Official way, but it works for me! My squares didn't bleed much dye, but there have been reports from knitters using really dark shades that their squares bled.  If you are using high contrast shades, I would recommend washing and drying the shades separately, to avoid dye transfer. When they come out of the dryer, they will be nic...

Let the knitting commence! The hardest part about any colourful project...is deciding on what shades to use. With the choice of 50 shades in the Rowan Pure Wool Worsted line, there are enough shades to make it interesting, but not difficult.... because they all are lovely... I love the shades of Autumn, so it wasn't hard for me to choose 5.... I loved the idea of the original 16 shades + border shade  (thinking it was obviously going to be a multi-hued extravaganza....) but my inner reserved self came out at the last moment to pick shades that were strictly my style... laughing....one of these days I really must just let go!!! I am actually using all 5 shades in the body of the afghan.... and will decide on the border once I see how that all works... see...I just can't leave anything alone! Inspired by my favourite Scottish woollen blanket, I decided to mimic tartan in the layout of my afghan squares.... A little bit of p...

RowanYarns  has uploaded  Intro - Pure Wool Worsted Mystery Afghan Knit-a-long with Martin Storey Intro - Pure Wool Worsted Mystery Afghan Knit-a-long with Martin St... RowanYarns We're excited to launch the first video from Martin Storey for the Pure Wool Worsted Mystery Afghan Knit-a-long. Here Martin explains the concept behind the first ever, global Rowan knit-a-long. He discussed the techniques used, and support you'll get during this 10 week extravaganza. Get your needles ready, and Pure Wool Worsted purchased and come and join the fun. For more information, shopping list and to join: Knitrowan -  http://www.knitrowan.com/ Ravelry -  www.ravelry.com/discuss/rowan-yarns/2893168 Facebook -  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rowan-Yarns/114826272423?ref=hl I've got my yarn!  Have you?   +RowanYarns  #RowanYarns #RowanPWWKAL #RowanAmbassador #PureWoolWorsted