February FO

February 23, 2016February 23, 2016 | Sonia Knits

After a flurry of many finished objects in January, I fear February is going to be a much quieter affair. At the beginning of the month I cast on and finished knitting my second Kate Davies Kokkeluri mitten. It flew off the needles within a couple of days.

And then I cast on many other things…

I have been dreaming about this project ever since Nicole from Stash & Burn made her Aislinn cardigan a number of years ago in the colour yellow. She no longer wears hers, but I still desperately want one. The yarn was a Christmas purchase from 14 months ago, so relatively ‘fresh’ stash. It is Cleckheaton Superfine Merino in the mustard colour way.

And then I joined a couple of Knit-alongs…

The ‘it’ pattern of the moment is a shawl called Waiting for Rain by Sylvia Bo Bilvia (yes that’s really her name). It caught the imagination of a few of the Richmond Knitters, so some of us cast-on! I was really enjoying knitting this shawl, it’s clever and fun and heck it’s going to be a great shawl to wear. But then… the yarn failed me. This beautiful yarn did not have it’s dye fixed properly and was coming off on my hands REALLY, REALLY, BADLY. Both skeins have been caked up prior to starting, so there’s no turning back, just sulking and knitting and purple hands, which gives the appearance of burnt hands, boy have they been burned.

The second knit-along I began, involves Deb and just myself; last weekend was our one year anniversary of attending Stitches West in California together. To celebrate, reminisce, feel sad about not being there this year… we decided to cast-on the same project in the same yarn together (we did shop together you know, and there were several double-ups).

We’re both knitting the Stitch Block Cowl by Purl Soho. These are my colours inspired by being in the same state as Stephen West!

Gosh we had fun!

My cold sheep February update:
• No yarn purchased (woo hoo)
• My Kokkeluri mitts used 175 metres (baby steps), so I’m 175 metres down!

March is looking more promising for stashing down with so many WIPs on the needles, it does sound great in theory.

Stitches West – The Stitch Markers

March 11, 2015March 9, 2015 | Sonia Knits

Sunday was the final day of the Stitches West market, and there was not much room left in my ‘yarn case’. But there was room for stitch markers! My SF friend who we met up with again at the show on Saturday had found these super cute vegetable stitch markers. So I needed a set too.

The potatoes with dimples were particularly adorable.

Jennie the potter had made these clay ones. I now wish I had gotten a mug too.

These handmade glass bead ones broke the budget a little, but pretty huh?

These stitch markers came from Yoth Yarns, there was a lot of love for Yoth and I kind of liked the weight on these.

These Crystal type ones came from the Hiya Hiya stand… as did the balls of yarn

And finally, polymer clay candy canes, just because.

Stitches West – Anna Zilboorg class

March 8, 2015 | Sonia Knits

Upon booking for Stitches, I decided that if I was going to take a class (and take 3 hours out of my market shopping budget time), it was going to be with someone memorable.

Enter Anna Zilboorg! I’d read a few things about Anna and I thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend 3 hours with her in her class: Surprisingly Special Techniques. She did not disappoint.

Her thoughts and ideas on knitting were about simplicity. How simple things can make all the difference to the finished look of your knitting. She’s a bit of a perfectionist, and for once I really liked that (says the knitter who hates ripping back). Why continue to knit sloppy garments when you can change small things to your repertoire and look clever?

I’ve been knitting (k1 p1) rib for years, and the only time I’d ever knit a twisted rib was on Cookie A socks (in the round). A simple thing like twisting this one stitch on both sides of knitting when knitting a garment, makes for a much nicer rib, right? Why wouldn’t you always do this on cardigans and sweaters, instead of saggy rib?

She taught us her method for setting up and cutting a steek. My first ever!

The perfect way to make a cluster easily and effectively.

And of course her proudest invention, the Perfect Buttonhole! Boy oh boy is it ever perfect! It’s seamless from the front to the back and it’s a thing of beauty.

She’s also a pretty cool woman. When I asked for a photo, she didn’t even flinch at the term ‘selfie’.

She is the author of Knitting Anarchist (now on Kindle) and several other knitting pattern books, including Knitting Free-Sole socks. I have a bit of homework to do.

Stitches West – The Loot

March 1, 2015 | Sonia Knits

I’ve had a few days to recover from my jet-lag and my disastrous trip home (long story short, it took 2 days to get home) so I think you’ve waited long enough, without further ado here’s the yarn I came home with!

You can read more about our experience at the show here on the Richmond Knitters blog. I’ll also be covering other aspects of the trip here, over the next week or so.

At this point, I think that I should say that I am very happy with everything I got and clearly I didn’t leave anything I wanted, behind. That was my mistake 8 years ago, I think there’s a lesson in that…

My shopping experience was made better by having a partner, Deb did an awesome job of inspiring my purchases; I was lost without her when she was in her class on Friday morning. I did not/could not buy a single thing then, go figure.

Yoth Yarns (Yarn On The House) was hot at the show

Western Sky Knits (WSK) a personal fave. Came home with 9 skeins…

Jill Draper Makes Stuff; love this colour!

Koigu (yes more koigu), Canon Hand Dyes, Invictus Yarns (gradient), WSK

A Verb for Keeping Warm / Romi Hill Mystery Knit Along

From left: Miss Babs, Anzula, Lisa Souza

I’ll be popping all this up on Rav now in case you want the finer details and more eye-candy. On the blog this week I’ll cover off my trip to San Francisco, my class with Anna Zilboorg, and anything else I can think of. ‘Till then, enjoy!

Wednesday WIP – Gone Knitting

February 12, 2015 | Sonia Knits

Just a quick one. I’m about to embark on a very yarny adventure of a lifetime (I will tell you all about it when I get back) and hubby is not coming, weeeeeeee!

The Bloom Dress is finished and it is stunning, I’m so happy with it. It hasn’t been given to my niece M yet, but it will be on my return and then there will be adorable photos, hopefully.

I’m about to cast-on for my trip knitting and after some sound inspiration and advice, I’m casting on for a Clincher scarf by Ash Kearns. I’m using deep-stash again for no other reason than, I think I have the perfect yarn. Colinette Jitterbug in colour way Toscana. In my opinion, this yarn is no good for socks (I’ve had 2 pairs die on me), as it has no nylon content in it. So… after buying up heaps before this discovery… it is now accessory yarn.

I also gave it the Citric Acid treatment that Jasmine from the Knitmore girls prescribed for suspect yarns. It was probably safe from colour loss for this particular colour way, but I didn’t want to chance it again (my experience with Jitterbug). After all that, it’s still a beautiful yarn, if you treat it right.

See you soon!