Changes

It's been months since I last posted, and so much has happened. Fall ended in a blur and whirlwind, with a job interview, a job offer and a major life change/move.

I was offered a job at the other end of Canada - near Victoria, British Columbia. My husband and I have been living in Gatineau/Ottawa for nearly 6 years and it meant giving up the friends I made and also my husband's job. We decided it was time, as Ottawa wasn't really the city for us. 

So at the end of October I had my last day at work, and spent the next month with my family, seeing all my friends in Ottawa and then making my way to BC. I decided to drive the trip, as it would probably be one of the few times in my life I would have the chance to do so. My sister-in-law took the train from Winnipeg to join me in Ottawa and we set out. My husband would finish up his work and the packing and join me in BC just in time for Christmas.

I didn't find any yarn along the way, but there was just so much to see I wasn't really looking for any. Probably the first time in years that's happened! My favourite places along the way were Chicago and California.

As for crafting projects, I brought along a few knitting projects to tide me over until February when we would move out of a temporary place and into an apartment.

Victoria has an amazing yarn shop, Beehive Wool Shop, and my old coworkers were kind enough to get me a gift certificate to the shop, so I also bought a few skeins for projects. 

Framed Slouch in Tanis Fiber Arts Orange Label colourway Mosaic

Armour Road Socks in Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in colourway Thrills

Westknits Mystery KAL in Tanis Fiber Arts Blue and Purple Labels in colourways Truffle, Spice and Autumn Sun (sorry for the blurry)


Rye in Tanis Fiber Arts Yellow Label colourway Saffron

Ysolde Teague mystery KAL in madelinetosh colourway nebula (I've since frogged this one)

Imagine When in Swans Island colourway Beetroot

Celestarium (still a work in progress) in Cottage Craft Angora Qiviut Queen Yarn colourway McKinley

Glitz at the Ritz in Tanis Fiber Arts Cosmic Label colourway Tartan

Fibrefest 2013

Two fibre festivals in two weeks! What a great thing.

Two weeks ago I attended the Twist Festival (along with taking the dyeing course), and thought it was great! So many different booths, with yarn I had heard of, but never seen before!

From Twist I took home:

3 skeins of Cottage Craft Qiviut Queen, 2 skeins of Riverside Studio Superwash Merino Lace Singles and my sister was nice enough to give me her sample of Yvieknits Sparkly Sock.

Today, I visited the Mississippi Mills Annual Fibrefest, and it blew me away! Everyone was so nice, and we stopped to chat with almost everyone! The festival had everything you could ever want from fibre - art, yarn, roving, fabric, beads, embroidery, buttons and knitted, woven and felted goods! I took home:

1 skein of Turtlpurl Moon Beam, 2 half yards of Rashida Coleman-Hale's Koi Collection in Don't Be Koi and Ebb and Flow, a celluloid button in blue and white which I think looks like coral, 2 packs of 6/0 beads in blue, and 3 vintage brooches.

Natural yarn dyeing

Yesterday I took a natural yarn dyeing workshop, hosted by the Twist Festival and given by Swans Island dyer Jackie Ottino-Graf. It was an all day workshop in Saint-Andre-Avellin, QC. And it was amazing!

As a beginner dyer I learned so much about using natural products. I also learned that if you want to replicate your work, then you have to be good at math, take notes and measure! Kind of like baking.

We worked on 6 dye baths to get a rainbow sample - red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

There was also a little bit of free experimentation with the green and tried out cochineal.

The class was quite large (about 15 people), so Jackie was the one doing most of the dyeing, while we all looked on. We learnt how to get an extract from wood chips, and how adding modifiers can change the results of your colours.

Jackie was a great teacher, and I'm hoping to be able to take more classes with her in the future. 

Stash

Ever take the time to sort through your stash? I did this past weekend. I have 4 bins of yarn and since one of my goals is to knit what's in my stash I figured I should sort it. Everything was in the bins randomly so I emptied them out, gasped at the amount of yarn was sitting on my floor, and began sorting. Now I have 4 bins sorted as such: 1 bin for sweater, dress, skirt yarn; 1 bin for all my sock yarn; 1 bin for fingering and lace yarn; and 1 bin for the rest (dk, worsted, etc.). My priorities for the year are clearer: knit sweaters and socks!

2012 goals recap and 2013 goals

2012's goals were not extremely successful so I'm having a hard time knowing what to set for this year.

Goals from 2012:
1) not buy any yarn. I definitely ended up buying yarn, but I thought about what to get before purchasing, which was better than just getting random skeins at whim. I thought, what can I make with this yarn? And if I could think of a good project, I bought it.

2) knit up as much as I can/want from my stash. I knit 21 projects in 2012, and 11 of them were from stashed yarn purchased before 2012. The rest were from yarn I bought for the project or received through the Tanis Fiber Arts Year In Colour Club.

3) knit up a number of last year's Tanis Fiber Arts' club patterns. I wasn't very successful with this one. I didn't knit any projects from last year's club, and only 1 from this year's. The yarn and patterns were great, but I was always knitting something else.

I've thought about my 2013 goals and I'm going to keep them specific but simple:
1) finish animal cross stitch I have been neglecting for 5 years!
2) continue to knit up yarn from stash
3) knit at least 1 sweater

I think these are feasible goals.

For 2012, I managed to knit 8 scarves/shawls/cowls, 2 pairs of legwarmers, 1 ipod cozy, 3 pairs of mittens, 2 sweaters, 1 baby sweater, 1 pair of socks, and 3 hats. Here's a collage of some of those finished projects.

Fiddleheads Mittens Finished

I finished my Fiddleheads Mittens just in time for the end of the Tanis Fiber Arts Knit-A-Long.

These were knit with a kit from Tanis Fiber Arts,  made with Yellow Label DK weight yarn in Pinks and Purples.

They are lined, and fantastic! I've worn them for 2 days now in the cold, cold weather we've been having and they are extremely warm. I may never go back to un-lined mittens again!

Buttons!

I bought these fantastic buttons for a sweater I knit, photos to be posted soon!

They were purchase off Etsy from the shop Bumbershoot Supplies. They are vintage Czech buttons made from black glass with a dotted swirling pattern in a gold colour. They measure 18mm or just under 3/4 inch in diameter.