Have a knitalicous birthday, Amy!!
Psst... pass it on.
(Thanks for the tip, Jillian.)
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
new. yarn. store.
alterknit is the new knitting store in town and you. should. go. 1024 St. Claire Avenue West. They have a cappuccino and a slice of Turtle cake waiting for you. Plus a lovely wall of yarn that is only going to get bigger.
What I did over the Rhinebeck weekend...
Well, for starters I didn't go to Rhinebeck.
But I did go to the creativfestival with Sophie. We had a fun time , but it was just as I expected it to be from other people's experience. Basically, it's not the best place to go if you are only a knitter. But if you like to scrapbook, needlepoint, sew, quilt or any other needle art than this is the place for you. I only knit, so my overwhelmed/excited factor was kept to a minimum. However there were a few treasures that we stumbled upon like Jacqueline who created Soak, Anne & Jane (sisters!) who own Dye-Versions and The Black Sheep Company.
Jacqueline was such a delight and her products are amazing! She even has a limited time holiday sent called "a scent for celebration," which is devine. Plus she's a knitter. Check out her Jacqs-Hats. Anne & Jane are nice and full of energy. I believe they started their company dying cloth but have now expanded into yarn. They spent all summer dying yarn in their basement nd the colors are scrumptious. I have my eye on the peacock colorway. The Black Sheep Company only does trade shows and will be launching an online presense soon. They import yarns from Italy and have some very interesting yarns. I bought a 90% acrylic yarn called Gypsy because I couldn't believe how soft it is, plus it was in the most fantastic sunset colorway. 3 balls came with a quick garter stitch shawl that will be perfect for a pregnant friend who lives in Southern California. She doesn't need wool! Plus I want to make sure she can throw it in the wash (on gentle, of course!).
Jane Ellison, designer of delicious Noro patterns, was at the festival for a book signing. My rubber arm was twisted to purchase two books. She was so sweet, even after being wisked in, plopped down and immediately rushed by knitters. I have plans to knit at least two sweaters right away (which means they will be done by Summer 2008) and three more later down the line. Noro is going to get lots of my money. Sigh!
Oh, and my wine red leather chairs were delivered on Saturday. They are absolutely delicious. Paul sat in one all day on Sunday. I was sure he was going to take it to work with him today.
But I did go to the creativfestival with Sophie. We had a fun time , but it was just as I expected it to be from other people's experience. Basically, it's not the best place to go if you are only a knitter. But if you like to scrapbook, needlepoint, sew, quilt or any other needle art than this is the place for you. I only knit, so my overwhelmed/excited factor was kept to a minimum. However there were a few treasures that we stumbled upon like Jacqueline who created Soak, Anne & Jane (sisters!) who own Dye-Versions and The Black Sheep Company.
Jacqueline was such a delight and her products are amazing! She even has a limited time holiday sent called "a scent for celebration," which is devine. Plus she's a knitter. Check out her Jacqs-Hats. Anne & Jane are nice and full of energy. I believe they started their company dying cloth but have now expanded into yarn. They spent all summer dying yarn in their basement nd the colors are scrumptious. I have my eye on the peacock colorway. The Black Sheep Company only does trade shows and will be launching an online presense soon. They import yarns from Italy and have some very interesting yarns. I bought a 90% acrylic yarn called Gypsy because I couldn't believe how soft it is, plus it was in the most fantastic sunset colorway. 3 balls came with a quick garter stitch shawl that will be perfect for a pregnant friend who lives in Southern California. She doesn't need wool! Plus I want to make sure she can throw it in the wash (on gentle, of course!).
Jane Ellison, designer of delicious Noro patterns, was at the festival for a book signing. My rubber arm was twisted to purchase two books. She was so sweet, even after being wisked in, plopped down and immediately rushed by knitters. I have plans to knit at least two sweaters right away (which means they will be done by Summer 2008) and three more later down the line. Noro is going to get lots of my money. Sigh!
Oh, and my wine red leather chairs were delivered on Saturday. They are absolutely delicious. Paul sat in one all day on Sunday. I was sure he was going to take it to work with him today.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Good News Yesterday
A very dear friend of mine, whom I've known for a very long time but haven't spoken with in quite a few months, is going to have a baby. She's due in February and she'll be having a boy. It was so nice to talk to her and catch up. I do miss her and I'd like to knit her and the baby something special. Suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Saturday, October 07, 2006
So little time, so much to do...
I didn't realize October was going to come in like a lion. I spent three days helping the dynamic duo, Amy and Jillian, on the photo shoot for their sequel to Big Girl Knits. It was a great day and Amy's post pretty much sums up the day. Paul and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary of living in Toronto. I'm working on getting donations from yarn companies and stores for the TTC Knit-A-Long. AND I'm working on the second meeting of the season for the Downtown Knit Collective. Oh, and I have a slew of non-knitting related things going on too! The most pressing was getting a furnace for my house. I didn't even know what a furnace was until four weeks ago. Now I'm an expert. If you need a recommendation, just contact me.
If you're reading this and you'll be in Toronto on Oct 18th (Wednesday) then you should come to the DKC and welcome Beryl Tsang, the amazing creator of the Tit-Bit. With October being breast cancer awareness month we thought we should do our part to help raise the awareness. At this meeting we will be taking donations of Tit-Bits (pattern here or go to the DKC website for a downloadable PDF file), scarves and/or hats. Please come to the meeting with a knitted item in hand and make a breast cancer survivor feel better with a beautiful gift. Plus Beryl is an amazing woman. I meet her for the first time at the last TTC KAL and I was blown away by her humor, energy and sassiness. The meeting, I'm sure, will be a blast. I'm working on a Tit-Bit and it's coming nicely (although there are a few small mistakes) out of Bouton D'Or Ksar. It is so luxurious against the skin so I'm hoping the mistakes will be forgotten once it's touched. I hope to maybe have two to donate, but I'm a really slow knitter.
I'm also working on a pair of socks (that I think I'll rip out). And I've started Lace Wings. I think I might get Lace Wings done around 2010. Seriously. It's hard. I've tried to make it look a lot more impressive than it really is but making the photo look all "arty." Are you impressed? I didn't think so.
I've also done a little stash enhancement. I was at Lettuce Knit on Wednesday to wrap up the photo shoot and do a little knitting. Very little, as I was exhausted. I mostly just dropped my pattern on the floor over and over again. But I couldn't keep my hands out of the 30% off basket and I came away with three skeins of Blue Sky Worsted Hand Dyes (50% alpaca/50% merino) in Ecru. Although one label says purple and one says light pink. The third didn't have a label. But everyone agreed that the three skeins matched and ecru just seemed like the right color, so I bought them. Also I received approximately two balls of Patons SWS in Natural Plum. I hope to make a hat/scarf or hat/mittens combo out of the Blue Sky and an earflap hat out of the SWS.
With the TTC KAL right around the corner, I'm feeling like I might just turn into one of those knitters with a giganto stash. Right now, my stash is manageable. It's in a cute basket that sits on the floor. When my friend Keri saw my stash she just shook her head and I think uttered the word "newbie" but I could have misheard her. I have a few projects that are in the "wait" queue, but it's not like I have years of knitting waiting around. Well, that might be debatable at the speed I actually knit things. I think this is a "Danger, Will Robinson!" moment in my life. Eep!
If you're reading this and you'll be in Toronto on Oct 18th (Wednesday) then you should come to the DKC and welcome Beryl Tsang, the amazing creator of the Tit-Bit. With October being breast cancer awareness month we thought we should do our part to help raise the awareness. At this meeting we will be taking donations of Tit-Bits (pattern here or go to the DKC website for a downloadable PDF file), scarves and/or hats. Please come to the meeting with a knitted item in hand and make a breast cancer survivor feel better with a beautiful gift. Plus Beryl is an amazing woman. I meet her for the first time at the last TTC KAL and I was blown away by her humor, energy and sassiness. The meeting, I'm sure, will be a blast. I'm working on a Tit-Bit and it's coming nicely (although there are a few small mistakes) out of Bouton D'Or Ksar. It is so luxurious against the skin so I'm hoping the mistakes will be forgotten once it's touched. I hope to maybe have two to donate, but I'm a really slow knitter.
I'm also working on a pair of socks (that I think I'll rip out). And I've started Lace Wings. I think I might get Lace Wings done around 2010. Seriously. It's hard. I've tried to make it look a lot more impressive than it really is but making the photo look all "arty." Are you impressed? I didn't think so.
I've also done a little stash enhancement. I was at Lettuce Knit on Wednesday to wrap up the photo shoot and do a little knitting. Very little, as I was exhausted. I mostly just dropped my pattern on the floor over and over again. But I couldn't keep my hands out of the 30% off basket and I came away with three skeins of Blue Sky Worsted Hand Dyes (50% alpaca/50% merino) in Ecru. Although one label says purple and one says light pink. The third didn't have a label. But everyone agreed that the three skeins matched and ecru just seemed like the right color, so I bought them. Also I received approximately two balls of Patons SWS in Natural Plum. I hope to make a hat/scarf or hat/mittens combo out of the Blue Sky and an earflap hat out of the SWS.
With the TTC KAL right around the corner, I'm feeling like I might just turn into one of those knitters with a giganto stash. Right now, my stash is manageable. It's in a cute basket that sits on the floor. When my friend Keri saw my stash she just shook her head and I think uttered the word "newbie" but I could have misheard her. I have a few projects that are in the "wait" queue, but it's not like I have years of knitting waiting around. Well, that might be debatable at the speed I actually knit things. I think this is a "Danger, Will Robinson!" moment in my life. Eep!
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