Manitoba made

My Sheeples bulky handspun, Manitoba grown yarn has arrived.

Yum!

Hat Update!

Well folks, I have to say I like knitting hats. They're quick and satisfying. :)
I finished both hats this month and the verdict on warmth is two thumbs up! Yes I've succeeded in making a hat that beats the cold of Winterpeg.

First up:

Chris' hat

Featuring Lopi wool and polar fleece lining (instructions for lining a hat on this excellent blog). He tells me it's very warm and the best hat he's ever owned. I think I've finally knit something my hubby actually likes! He even got a compliment from one of his co-workers :)

Next:

My hat

Featuring Homestead by Plymouth Yarn, which is organic wool, yum! And for the fair isle bit I used Cascade 220 and sheeples yarn held together. The best part of this hat is the lining. It is a merino boucle. Amazing. I'm not much of a fan of boucle yarn generally but this yarn feels like a wooly lamb when it's knitted up.

I did some reading up on warm hats (ie I asked the Ravelers) and it seems the best way to keep warm in windy cold weather is to have a tightly knit outerlayer and a warm underlayer. Many people said I should use alpaca or quiviut or cashmere because they are superwarm, light fibers. The reason they are so warm is that they trap air in the fiber (caribou fur is warm for the same reason). When I saw and touched the boucle yarn I thought it would be perfect because it traps a lot of air, even though merino's not the warmest of the warm fibers. I was right.

We had some -30 something windchill weather this week and I tested my hat. Toasty warm. Awesome!

Next up... mittens... (but not for me... more later!)

A little off topic...

...but still connected!

I recently saw this really awesome video clip about North American materialism. It's called the Story of Stuff. It's quite eye-opening and you should all watch it! (It's not even preachy, just straight up facts.)

How is this linked to knitting? It's part of my world view. I'd rather make something from scratch than go to Evil-Mart and buy a cheapo sweater that will wear out quickly and was probably made in a sweat shop in the philipines. I also get a lot more joy from buying yarn that was grown and produced by a local farm/mill, or at least fairly traded, than when I buy imported stuff. (I love Sheeples and Wolseley Wardrobe!!)

The above video just affirms to me why doing those things is good! I'd love to hear what you think!

A new year of knitting

Yes I know I haven't really been blogging lately but several people have told me they check once in a while. It's not that I haven't thought of it but I just haven't been inspired and I don't want to bore you with mundane posts just for the sake of posting.

2008 has been an explosive year for my knitting hobby. I've really settled into the hobby. I met up with other knitters. I got on ravelry, about a year ago now, which has opened up a whole world of possibilities for projects, yarn and techniques.

I've also knit a whole bunch of gifts.

Thrummed booties (will possibly post how-to at some point) and soaker for Heather's baby, Meredith




A hat for Anna's baby, Eliza



Booties for Nathan and Carly's baby, John


Socks for my dad


A little bear named Bubby for my niece, Autumn Grace

and little mittens for charity

I feel like my knitting is at a place where I feel comfortable knitting for other people. I feel like my skill is good enough :)
I've had 3 sweater requests from three men in my life: my brother, my husband and my father-in-law. I'll keep you posted on progress but for now I have another short term goal.

I want to make a hat that will keep my ears warm in the bitter cold of Winnipeg winter. It's a lofty goal to be sure. Any of you who have experienced -35C with a northern windchill of -45C will know that a plain, single layered, ribbed hat does nothing to cut the cold. So I'm on a mission.

There are several things to keep in mind when knitting a hat.
- design
- material
- fabric thickness/windproofing

I posed the question of how to make a warm winter hat on Ravelry and got a huge response. Here is a summary of the advice people gave:

1. Use a warm fibre. Apparently quiviut (musk ox fibre) is the warmest there is, and following in second is cashmere. I'm not made of money so I'm going to rely on good old wool. Alpaca may be another choice. Those fibres are warm because they trap little pockets of warm air. Boucle or brushed yarn might do the trick.

2. Earflaps are the way to go. Yup stylish and warm. I agree and I'm going with the flaps.

3. Small gauge is better. There are fewer spaces for the wind to get through. This is especially good for an outer layer. Felting is even better.

4. Use layers. There are numerous ways to achieve this. Double knitting makes 2 layers at the same time. I might try this, we'll see. The other suggestion was lining with polar fleece. Fair isle or stranding patterns also create more layers.

So all these ideas have been swirling around and I think I've got the yarn I need for the two hats I want to make. I'm going to use a fair isle pattern, the norwegian star (classic!).

Hubby's hat will be Lopi bulky wool, knit on 3.75mm needles with a polar fleece lining. I'm casting on today!

You'll have to keep checking back to see what my hat will be!

For the love of lace...

I am addicted.



I started the Gnarled Oakwoods stole from the Twist Collective (AMAZING new online knitting magazine!!! I want to knit it all!!). At first the yarn (mmmmalabrigo lace) was not cooperating so I frogged the first couple rows but now it's rolling and I cannot stop knitting it! I had to restrain from knitting it at Woolly Bullies this week because I just know I'll make some huge error. So far so good though! I think this is a knitting-all-alone-on-my-couch kind of project.

I can't wait til my holiday by the lake this fall so I can really sink my needles into it!!! mmmmmm malabrigo.... soooo soft.... I wish you all could feel it through you computer screens...

I think the race between cables and lace just got a whole lot more interesting.

Odds and ends and too much sun!

Wow, it's been almost two months since I last posted! How time flies when it's summer!
I've been doing one of my favorite things lately: summer field work! I'm a botanist and this summer I'm surveying rare plants.


(I know this is a knitting blog but I think the seeds of 3 flowered avens look like something you could knit with don't you? :)

All this time outside has given me a tan. Normally I have a farmer style tan... back of the neck, arms tanned starting at the mid bicep, and maybe a sandal tan for good measure! But this year I've noticed a different sort of tan that I haven't seen before:



I'm coining a new term for it: Knitter's tan. Note the darker shade of my index finger and thumb. I must be from all the knitting I did while camping and at the Winnipeg folk festival.

Speaking of knitting, things are coming along.

Central Park Hoodie: DONE



Sheeples socks: One done, second almost to the heel.


Love love love Sheeples!!! (we went on a field trip to a sheep farm called Sheeples to pet lambs and see how they make yarn and learn how to spin... fun fun fun!!!! of course some yarn followed me home...)




Socks for Hubby: One almost done (but I may have to frog some of it or else I'll run out of yarn.... big feet...... :P)

Starting next: Rogue Hoodie in mmm Alpaca.... Photos to come!

I'll try not to wait so long to post again.

Cables vs. Lace

I think you all know that I love cables. (see my cabled sweater.) I especially like intricate cables of the celtic variety.


My version of Samus, my very first completed knitted sweater.

But recently lace has caught my attention. At first I didn't like the holey nature of lace (same reason I prefer knitting to crochet). But then I started seeing the organic nature of lace... lots of leafy plant inspired patterns. And I'm a leafy, plant inspired person so it seemed to be a good match!

Then the bamboo yarn I just bought was crying out to become these embossed leaves socks (from Favorite Socks)...



One other thing inspired me to try lace...


mmmmmMalabrigo Lace Baby Merino...

Need I say more??
(I think the baby merino wants to be this.)

PS which do you prefer? Cables or Lace? see Poll -->