Retreat surprise

While the retreat was taking place I was completely unaware that all of the women were making a gift for me. It started with a conversation Janet and I had about colours. I told her my favourite colours were blues, reds and burgundy. At the store on Friday night I was selling yarn and Janet bought some beautiful yarn in my colours so we laughed and I said wow those are my colours.

The weekend carried on and I never got a sense of something going on I didn't know about. So on Sunday night when I was presented with this beautiful shawl I was overwhelmed. What a wonderful surprise and a treasured gift for me. I will enjoy this shawl and think of everyone who made it while I wear it. It has a new home on my comfy knitting chair and when I get cold it will be handy. I love it.

The shawl was knit by 2 people at a time. It was cast on in the middle and they each knit on an end. It has lots of handspun yarn in it to accent the yarn and as a great keepsake and memory of this wonderful retreat.

I feel so honoured with this shawl

Thanks to everyone who participated - What a great surprise.

Shelley

Retreat Part 3 - Fashion Show

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here is a slide show I made of our fashion show at the retreat. We had the fashion show on Saturday night and on Sunday night we had show and tell. This is when our skeleton's and spider webs were shown. We also talked about what rules we broke and new things we learned at this retreat.

This is the first slideshow I made so I think I hope it turned out.

Tomorrow I will blog about the big surprise I got at this retreat.

Retreat part 2

On Saturday we got to work learning our new spinning and knitting techniques. These pictures show Lexi with her demo skein of yarn. Isn't it amazing. It was very soft.

Margie with her first batt.

The knitting class really enjoying playing with all that yarn

Catherine - who by the way had her 83 rd birthday at the retreat modeling a woven jacket made with recycle silk material. It is quite a work of art.

I will write about the fashion show this weekend and then I will share with you a wonderful surprise that I was given last weekend.

What a great retreat - Part 1

This was the most fun weekend. We had fabulous weather 2 great teachers and more great food than should be legal to consume and a great group of women all with a passion for fibre arts. What a creative group. I have many pictures to share so I will do this in a few posts over the next few days.

Janet came over the night before the retreat started for pizza and to pick out yarn for her workshop. We spread it all out all over the living room to decide and took most of it. Too hard to decide so there was lots of colour choice for her workshops.

The next day everyone arrived and the retreat was on. I took the spinning workshops with Lexi and it was amazing. The pictures I show here is what Lexi calls a fibre sandwich - the next picture is what it looks like once thru the drum carder. Wow - well I was hooked right there. I spent the rest of the weekend learning new spinning techniques and making fibre batts. Then Lexi spun the batt and let the fibre dictate the spinning. She showed us how to make fabulous creative yarn.

Look at this batt - isn't it amazing.

More tomorrow

Beautiful Bariloche

The new Aslantrends Bariloche is so nice! It is a very lofty yarn, almost a thick and thin but subtle enough not to change your gauge. It shows stitch definition well, is soft and comes in amazing colours.

I made an earwarmer in Sky Blue from my free pattern (on the website) and some wristers to match. The set is for a silent auction for a friend's son's class going to Quebec.

Setting the Vibe

The sun was shining, colliding with the water and creating a million shards of light. While standing on the ferry, I noticed a little commotion off the bow. Too small to be whales, but certainly something playing in the water. Going out for a closer look, I saw two porpoises dart through the water to the left backside of the boat. No one else seemed to notice.

I walked to the back and looked out into the glittering water. There they were. Seven porpoises, jumping and diving and surfing in the wake of the ferry. No one else was there to see it so it felt like my own private show.

Such a sense of joy and being in the moment I felt watching them! Only one photo was in focus, I was too busy watching the porpoises to pay attention to what I was doing with the camera.

That's what I love about coming to Fun Knits, the journey itself is part of the adventure.

Kauni KAL

As the fall weather is just around the corner we turn our thoughts to knitting for the holidays. What could be a better way to start than with a cuter than ever stocking?!

Knit Kauni With Us!

Here at Fun Knits we love Kauni. So much so that we want to do another Kauni knit along! We have chosen a pattern designed by Shelley (Fun Knits owner). The Christmas stocking is a fun knit, and only takes a small amount of two Kauni colours.

The pattern is available for purchase here; and for the month of September we are offering the pattern free with a purchase of Kauni yarn. As Shelley explains in the pattern notes, this stocking was done with EM and EK, but would also look great done in other colours (what are your Christmas decorating colours?), or even one colour such as EQ started at two different colour sections.

Happy Anniversary Spinners

We just celebrated the second anniversary of our Tuesday Fun Knits Spinning group. Vyvyan, our original spinner/weaver/knitter/teacher extraordinaire, baked a scrumptious chocolate bundt cake, and Shelley and Linda took everyone out for pizza at the Lovin' Oven next door.

Below is a photo of the lovely Vyvyan wearing her handspun, handwoven (completed with handknit ribbing at the bottom), silk-lined vest. She's posing in front of several colourful rows of gorgeous sock yarn, including koigu, malabrigo and diamond footloose.

First, let me apologize for not hearing or retaining many of the details of everyone's first experience with handspun - it was a lively group with lots of laughter and talk.

Below are a few photos of the spinners....

Maria, myself and Carol with Roz and Linda talking in the background (Linda is a godsend - Shelley calls her ZP, short for zesty partner....go ahead and ask, the story's a good one).

Carol and Diane (If you can see her, Shelley is sitting quietly at the till.)

A vibrant Shelley proudly holding her first skein of handspun yarn. Thanks to Shelley for her inviting, creative spirit - she dreamed the spinner's group into a reality.

Maria holding her first handspun (the small white skein) which was so finely spun - almost threadlike. I think her hat is a brioche (sp?) pattern for which she used her handspun, hand-dyed yarn.

My first handspun using a fine shetland fibre - it was a wonderful experience.

Carol holds up the fisherman's sweater she knit for her husband with her first handspun - she's the one whose fingers seem to hypnotize the fibre into perfectly spun strands. Carol, you're wearing a hat, no doubt one that you handspun and knit but I didn't hear the details - looks great on you.

Our lovely Roz, holding her first handspun/handknitted items - she used Northern Lights for the gorgeous sweater in front. Roz has been knitting for over 50 years and produces so many perfectly beautiful knitted garments.

Here is Diane who lives on a boat with her husband (a beautiful boat - all dark wood and cozy spaces) that faces a forested shoreline and families of soaring eagles. She holds her first handspun which she wove into a beautiful pillow casing. Diane is a master weaver as well and creates exquisite tapestries, blankets and scarves.

Joy is our newest member - she was given an Indian Head Spinning Wheel for a wedding gift. Sharron seemed very interested in the workings of this wheel and attentively taught Joy about her new wheel and how to use it. Joy poses with her first handspun which she actually spun before she even knew how to use the wheel - amazing!

And here, Sharron and Diane talk about spinning alpaca fibre (I think) with her drop spindle. Sharron has been spinning for years and continuously offers invaluable fibre information and teaching tips to all of us. Check out her website to see her gorgeous weavings and quilts.

At noon we walked next door to the Lovin' Oven and sat down for more laughter and talk, delicious pizza, and Vyvyan's superbly delicious chocolate bundt cake. Happily, Marg joined us as well (on Shelley's left in the first photo) - she has been spinning, weaving and knitting for decades. Sorry Marg, I didn't see what you were working on but I'm sure it was beautiful.

I marvel at how inspiring it is to share time with so many wise, wonderful women -- all of us walking our own individual fibre paths and building community along the way.

Happy Anniversary Spinners.....

Lace Calls to Me

I love to knit lace. It appeals to me, all those yarn overs and decreases leading up to this article of beauty. The final moment when you take the piece of the blocking mats ... magic!

The shawl I am currently working on is A Curved Shawl, from Victorian Lace Today. It is the first lace I have knit on all rows (as opposed to a purl back row). It is rewarding and fun to knit, although the rows are getting longer and longer!

The yarn is Fiddlesticks Zephyr laceweight, in the charcoal colourway. It is soft and shiny and perfect for this shawl.

What lace projects are on your needles?

Shawl Delights

Sivia Harding's Harbour Lights shawl is such a delight to knit. The pattern is clear and easy to follow. Placing the beads with the crochet hook is simple, especially for a left-hander. And the finished product is gorgeous!

Luckily I'm a process knitter, so didn't mind too much giving this away to a good friend for her 40th birthday (of course, I had to try it out first).

Oh, and the Malabrigo sock yarn? To die for!

Dyeing Plant-Based Yarn

Part 3 of the dyeing series is on the front page of the website this week. In it you will find information and pictures on dyeing plant-based yarns. A lot of fun!

The series will stay on the website on this page, so it can be referred to when needed.

Weaving!

A quick post with a few pics.... and an apology for not blogging in so long.  Kate has been tremendously loyal with posting updates, providing instruction and offering enjoyable, thoughtful commentary - thanks Kate.

I've been weaving more than knitting this past couple of months, and loving every second of it.  Shelley has some gorgeous yarns for weaving.  Below are two turquoise scarves made from a cotton/viscose warp, and a weft of Noro Silk Garden and Sweatermaker 100% wool.

Another Noro Silk Garden in rust tones.

As you know, Fun Knits carries some stunning Araucania yarns - I have bought several beautiful skeins of sock yarn that I am thrilled about, and for this particular weaving project I chose Araucania's varigated Patagonia Nature Cotton in greens, teals and navy.  The scarf of wonderful - strong, crisp and sure of itself. 

Last Thursday at Fun Knits I was dreaming of being wrapped in the softness of Araucania Quellon, a cotton/viscose combo that feels like velvet.  I made a sample scarf that is so lovely I've decided to weave a vest with it too.

Below is a photo of Sharron, myself and Carol - weaving and spinning - at the Saturday Farmer's Market on Quadra Island. We are having a wonderful time together!  Linda (If you've clicked on her name she's in the third photo down - Linda is an absolute treasure and a bookkeeping wizard.) came by this past Saturday and bought one of Carol's infamous baby surprise sweaters knitted up in a sweet assortment of pink cottons.

Wishing you all a lovely evening of happy knitting, weaving, dying, spinning and/or whatever else you fashion with your fibre.

Knitting in the Wild

As a Knitter, I am never without a project (or two, or three, or, well, at least five). My family does a lot of camping, but I don't let that stop me. I pack my knitting according to where I think I will work on it.

Lace scarf with silk/cashmere yarn? That is for in the vehicle. Lace scarf with sock yarn? At the campsite during the daytime. Sock? In the backpack for the beach or some other place we might go. 

Some people are concerned about the dirt of a campsite, and I am cautious. I pack all my projects into their own plastic zipper baggies, with the pattern, needles and anything else I might need.

The campfire ... really that is perfect knitting time. But there is the issue of the smell of smoke and the potential for sparks. This is not the place for knitting a precious sweater or shawl.

The perfect campfire knitting is that most humble of projects - the dishcloth. I love knitting them at the fire, as I don't need too much light and I don't mind if they smell of smoke, after all they are made to get washed!

Another tip for campfire knitting: I use a headlamp around my neck if I'm doing a project that I might need to look at. I don't keep it on my head, as it can be rather blinding to the person I turn towards when talking.

Proof that I know whereof I speak:

Knitting at the fire at San Josef Campground (North Vancouver Island).

Not Just For Drinking ....

Oh I have been having fun!! Don't know if you saw it, but Shelley has Undyed Yarn on the website now. Over the next few weeks I'll be writing about dying yarn on the website -- so today I played around a little.

Here's a sneak peak.

My house smells wonderfully like kool-aid!