Heads up ~ this is a picture heavy post.
(In store news ~ we've been working diligently all week remodeling, reconfiguring, reinvigorating and renewing the look of the shop and its treasure of colour and texture. Change is so cool. We'll be open on Tuesday morning.)
Back to the fashion show~
Jennifer was knitting Memories of the Ukraine, a beautiful design by Barbara Albright. Lots of ease and elasticity.
At our Philosopher's Wool retreat last October Evelyn bought a sweater kit and she actually completed the sweater within a month!!!!
Joanne knitted up some gorgeous Wedding Gloves and Norwegian mittens....
...as well as this wimple or cowl which she claimed was not her colour but looks lovely on her for sure.
...as well as this wimple or cowl which she claimed was not her colour but looks lovely on her for sure.
Carol is one of our Tuesday spinners. I'm mesmerized by her spinning ~ her fingers barely touch the fibre, rather they hypnotize the thin fine strands into place, and, she has the coolest scarlet nail polish ever! Carol is holding up the sweater she knitted for her husband ("the short bald guy") which was made from her handspun Northern Lights marmalade. Number 2 is a "sock sweater" made from the equivalent yarn used for 17 pairs of socks.
Mary Tanti crocheted a sweet hat (Linda taught the workshop - if you click on Linda, she is in the third photo holding a philosopher's yarn kit). Mary models one of Lucy Neatby's designs (Venus Rising) knit with Kauni - she Navajo plied three strands of Kauni yarn, and made the buttons from coloured fimo (sorry I didn't get a pic of them).
Betty shows her first-ever moebius scarf that she learned how to make from Mary on the ferry to Quadra Island.
The blanket below is Freda's absolutely beautiful family reunion gift to her Dad's siblings. There are 13 siblings, each represented by a cabin knitted with Rowan wool, and the borders are knit with Noro Kureyon. Freda's cabled sweater is gorgeous with its tonne of texture - apologies for not writing down the yarn type and pattern.
Leslie brought several adorable baby garments. Fabulous colour combinations!
Dragana knits her first cardigan ("Trench") with Rowan Big Wool and size 12mm needles. She won the door prize - photo and description to follow.
Sonia is working on a stunning rose coloured Cable Jacket by Debbie Bliss, and a red Debbie Bliss baby blanket both knitted with cashmerino.
Sara displays two lovely shawls ("Snowdrop Shawl" by the Yarn Harlot) - she presents her knitted shawls as wedding gifts. Sarah is a teacher and gives many of her knitted items to her school community.
Forgive me, Sarah, if I'm spreading inaccurate information but I think this pretty curling piece of angora pastels is a wrap that you are knitting for yourself.
Judy said she brought only a sock to show but later we discovered a beautiful intricately knit hat, and a vest. The sock is the Baby Cable sock and the yarn is Opal.
This photo definitely does not show the exquisite beauty of this piece knitted by Vyvyan (spinner, knitter, weaver extraordinaire). The cowl is made from a luscious blend of handspun mohair plied with silk, and crystal beads.
Vyvyan's handspun Orenburg lace shawl knitted on 2.25mm needles.
Vyvyan's handspun, hand-dyed shawl knit with a 20/80 blend of cashmere and silk - can you imagine the feel.
Below are 2 photos, stunning, yes?!!! And to my complete dismay, I have no info to give you. Let me share a little aside - it's after midnight and this is the third time I've written this post. The first time was last night ~ after I had finished uploading the pics and writing 3/4 of the post I went to watch "Milk" with my dearheart and 3/4 of the way through the film the power went out. No wind, no warning, it just went dark and quiet. I lost the post. Today I'd uploaded the pics and written 1/4 of the post when my dearheart sat down at the computer and simply closed the thing down. All the why's in the world didn't change it. For some reason I just don't have all the information about all these gorgeous items knit up by all these amazing women, so please enjoy the show without the specific details.
Vyvyan's flowing lace!
Marilyn, foundress of Community Knitters, models the Harbour Lights Shawl which is beaded and beautiful.
She is also working on a gorgeous "Falling Water" scarf. Marilyn works at Knotty By Nature in Victoria and does a tremendous amount of charity knitting. She's a wonder with a deeply committed heart, and lives with her hubby on a boat. Check out her blog. The sock is hers too.
Dina came all the way from Minnesota to join us ~ she met Marilyn through her blog and decided to come see what retreat knitting was all about. She knitted these sweet slippers from Noro and then felted them.
Marilyn, foundress of Community Knitters, models the Harbour Lights Shawl which is beaded and beautiful.
She is also working on a gorgeous "Falling Water" scarf. Marilyn works at Knotty By Nature in Victoria and does a tremendous amount of charity knitting. She's a wonder with a deeply committed heart, and lives with her hubby on a boat. Check out her blog. The sock is hers too.
Dina came all the way from Minnesota to join us ~ she met Marilyn through her blog and decided to come see what retreat knitting was all about. She knitted these sweet slippers from Noro and then felted them.
Dina also knitted up this shawl which was very soft and had a beautiful flowing drape.
Socks - to whom do you belong?
Irene is awesome -- she knits the tiniest, weeniest little articles and surprises us with them every time she comes to a retreat. They are totally adorable and I'm speechless when I see them.
Irene also knits two socks on one circular needle - she taught this technique at our last retreat.
And, this beautiful twist is Irene's very first handspun!
Penny shows us the beginning of a teddy bear she's knitting for Teddies for Tragedies.
She is another woman who does an immense amount of charity knitting, and she also gifted us with a door prize (you'll see).
Penny's one skien felted purse.
Hat by....?
Eagle Flight sock by Linda who is doing the Fun Knits KAL organized by Kate and Shelley. Linda taught the crocheted hat workshop at the retreat. She has been working non-stop at Fun Knits this past week and has fantastic organizational ideas!
And here is our visionary Shelley who learned the moebius only to discover a few days later that she'd twisted it twice instead of once -- maybe that makes her two times as brilliant as those who can actually figure out how to twist it once.
Evelyn won the door prize that Penny created and gave to the retreat. Evelyn models this whimsical felted hat made with FibreTrends buffalo and mohair wool on size 8 mm needles. She loved it!
Dragana won the Fun Knits door prize which included a glorious combination of colourful yarn (burnt orange Malabrigo, turquoise Cherry Tree Hill, and Noro sock yarn), rosewood needles size 2.5mm, and a copy of Sensational Knitted Socks.
Remember Judy, who showed only a sock? She knits great hats too.
This is what we looked at when we looked out the window.
'Night all.
