Life LackaDaisiCal

  Visit my youtube episode  “December Already” Grab a tea (or coffee) and join me for a bit of knit chat! I’ve been very busy and have started a couple of new projects. I’m joining in on the Arne & Carlos Christmas Balls advent Knitalong. Can I keep this up and make 24 balls before Christmas? We shall see! You can still join in.....find the pattern on the Arne & Carlos web site http://www.arnecarlos.com and make sure you follow their youtube advent adventures! I’ve fallen for the new Kaffe Fasset shades in Rowan Felted Tweed, and have started the Paint Daub Blanket - but I’m knitting a shawl/scarf !!! See the blanket pattern here https://knitrowan.com/en/designs-patterns/paint-daubs-blanket Finished objects from my Rowan Magazine 68 queue....are.....the Marram Throw and the Fiction cardigan, both designed by Erica Knight and both using Rowan Brushed Fleece! Check out my review of Magazine 68 and my Mag 68 Queue! I’m looking for new things to do while we “stay ho...

 Sometimes you see a pattern and you know instantly - that’s my next project! Sometimes you don’t even wait until you’ve finished your current project - you immediately abandon your current project in favour of that fabulous new design that you just saw! But, if you are like me, and you are trying to be #stashappy2020 and be mindful of your rather enormous SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy) level of stash......that has to come into play also. So when a new Rowan magazine arrives this is how I approach what projects are added to my queue.....whether or not they are ever knit is a different matter.....but here is how I decide what is in the running for “next project” status! 1.  Review all of the projects in the magazine, looking for those special aspects that make it unique, unexpected, different, challenging...whatever floats your boat knitting wise! I did this in my previous video, my look at Rowan Magazine 68. 2.  Look at your stash....do you have any of t...

  It’s time to think about Felted Tweed, Classic Alpaca...and Creative Linen! Yes, Creative Linen! The three Autumn Winter “stories” in Magazine 68 are.... Seamless - a collection of designs that don’t require seaming! Top down, modular, in the round....it’s all here! City Tweed - 8 “new” classic shapes in Felted Tweed by Martin Storey! Homeware - a selection of items to make life at home just that much better! Throws, a scarf, slippers and super comfy sweaters! All designs by Erica Knight! It’s all here in my run through of the Autumn/Winter 2020-21 Rowan Yarns magazine - Magazine 68! What am I going to knit from Magazine 68?  Picking a design from a magazine....where the models are tall and slim and beautifully made up and photographed! Sometimes it isn’t easy to visualize yourself in any of the new designs. Next time I’ll share how I have choose a project, what the important measurements are for me - to ensure a flattering fit! Of course, this year is #stashappy2020 an...

 Hi there knitters! While in some aspects this has been a slow moving year what with all the pandemic restrictions; from a knitting aspect, it seems to me that it has flown by! It’s mid August and I’ve just finished another summer yarn project. It’s Neyah, from Kim Hargreaves’ latest collection Ravish. Featuring....CREATIVE LINEN by Rowan Yarns (Formerly Creative Focus Linen by Nashua Yarns) Creative Linen is a 50/50 Linen/Cotton plied DK weight yarn. Creative Linen is offered in 100 gram hanks, 210 metres (219 yards). It is odd that the Creative Focus Linen, with exactly the same yardage is listed as a worsted weight yarn.....hmmmm....... Recommended gauge is 21 stitches and 28 rows to 10 cm (recommended needle size is 4.5mm, US 7) I’ve been wanting to try Creative Linen for years! Seriously! About half way through finishing Rhianwen, I decided that this was the year to try Creative Linen (wth my new found appreciation for summer knits). Since Rhianwen was a #stashappy2020 project...

Rhianwen, Rowan Magazine 41 © Rowan Yarns Doesn’t this just make you want to pack your bags and jump on a plane to Morocco! Ah yes, maybe in the days before this global pandemic .... but we can dream of the day when we will be able to travel freely and safely. In the meantime....let me tell you about this spectacular Vintage Rowan design. Let me set the scene. February 2007, I’d just received my subscriber copy of Rowan Magazine 41. It always feel strange to receive a book of  “spring and summer” designs in what is usually our coldest month here in Southern Ontario....but that’s the way knitting seasons go...you are always planning ahead...right? © Rowan Yarns Rhianwen immediately caught my eye. I loved the look of the long duster coat...and the denim blue shade of Rowan Summer Tweed...gorgeous! Yet I didn’t buy the yarn for this design...why? I think at the time I wasn’t into summer knits! So 4 years later I’m in my LYS (now closed) and there is a yarn kit made up for Rhianwen....

I’ve wanted to try the Tanis Fiber Arts Purewash Wool for quite a while...so when I saw the City Limits design by Tanis Lavallee, well, I decided that the time was right! The fingering craze is starting to wear on me, I have to tell you. I love fine yarns, fine gauge knitting, but it takes forever to finish a garment, doesn’t it??? So this sweater, designed for Worsted weight yarn....but Tanis knit her sweater using two strands of her Purelife Fingering AND added a bonus strand of mohair.  When contemplating two strands of fingering...oh my, the possibilities! Strand two shades together for an all over marl. Use a fade of 5 skeins and alternate them in a striped marl! Use mohair, or don’t!  The TFA “Spicy Fade” with Metropolis Mohair Spicy Fade : Retro, Mimosa, Paisley, Roulette, Vamp Tanis previews her shop updates...and when I saw the Spicy Fade that was a billed as a representation of her Marled Metropolis   ..... a version of her M...

I had a great afternoon chatting with a knit friend who lives at a distance...we don’t see each other often, but we share a love of fine yarn and hand knits! While Darlene and I met and bonded over our shared passion for Rowan Yarns...recently Darlene has gone wild for speckles and pops, in particular HedgeHog Fibres Skinny Singles! Join us while Darlene talks about this new direction her knitting has taken, and shows off her fabulous collection of shawls! Darlene shows us her finished shawls..... Born Trippy by Beata Jezek Outline by Beata Jezek Feather Weather by Beata Jezek Find Your Fade by Andrea Mowry Free Your Fade by Andrea Mowry   Boardwalk by Stephen West Dotted Rays by Stephen West Darlene is wearing  Birds of a Feather by Andrea Mowry My first project in Hedgehog Fibres is the Breathe and Hope shawl by Casapinka! Darlene and I get our HedgeHog from our LYS,  The Needle Emporium  in Ancast...