Picking Blackberries

About a year ago I was at the store when a new order of Araucania Ranco Multy came in. The colourways were all stunning, but one in particular caught my attention. It reminded me immediately of blackberry picking, as it has all the dark and light purples in it that your fingers get stained with when picking.

I brought it home with me that day, and kept it in the back of my mind as I looked at various small shawls. Finally it told me it wanted to be a Multnomah shawl (a free pattern from Hello Knitty), and I accommodated it.

This is a really quick knit, and fun to work. It took just under one skein (about 20 yards left over) which was perfect. I think it will get a lot of wear in the fall.

Sun Hat

This week on the store website we are featuring Shelley's cotton sun hat pattern on the front page. While I was camping recently I decided to knit one. I could only find a 3.75 mm needle, instead of the recommended 3.5 mm, but as I am tight knitter I wasn't too concerned. My yarn of choice was opal Petticoat cotton.

I omitted the yarn over row after the picot hem, but otherwise followed directions as written. Love the pattern, and the hat is really cute. This was a quick, fun knit!

Warping in the warm summer breeze....

I went over to Shelley's a couple of days ago and there she was ~ barefoot and blissed-out, in her front yard, wrapping some strands of heather green yarn around her warping mill.  She looked calm and happy, doing what she does best -- anything with fibre!

And this is what she saw when she lifted her eyes from the wool. Hard to see it from this photo but the ocean was in her view, and it was lovely, as was the weather ~ sweet and summery. 

More wedding pictures

Bill a very proud Dad walked Megan the beautiful bride down the path.

Zachary and his party arrive by canoe

Meika and Shanti were very cute flower girls, they threw rose petal on the path. Shanti is wearing a small version of the silk woven shawl and Meika is wearing fairy wings.

They exchanged lovely vows they wrote themselves

The happy lovely married couple.

Zachary and Megan Zamisky

June 19,2010

May you both always be this happy

Perfect Wedding

The weather was perfect, the wedding was perfect and beautiful. Being the Mother of the bride I did shed a few tears. What a great day. Here are some early pictures. These are all sent to cell phones the better pictures will come later. Megan is wearing the silk shawl I wove her in some of the pictures.

Store is closing early on Saturday June 19

The store is closing early on Saturday June 19 for a very good reason. We will be closing at 1 pm on Sat as my daughter is getting married and we are all going to the wedding. I will show pictures after the wedding it should be great. Pray for good weather for us as it is an outdoor wedding.
I wove my Megan, Meika and theMaid of honor silk and rayon shawl for the wedding and will show pictures after the wedding.
Shelley

Cotton Stretch

We posted about the store's Cotton Stretch yarns on the website this week, and it got me to thinking about the last of a skein I have hanging around, left over from my socks.

To me, the stretch of this yarn lends itself perfectly to a headband. I'm just playing around with stitches and needle size, thinking I'll graft it at the ends.

I definitely love this yarn (Patons Stretch Sock in kelp colourway) for the slight stretch on it, and it should be perfect for a headband, so I'll keep you posted how this turns out.

Spinning Workshop

We are pleased to pass along some information for a great spinning workshop this spring. Here are the details:

Exotic Fibres Spinning Workshop

May 30 & June 6, 2010

Instructor: Vyvyan Dorsett

2 Day workshop - 5 hrs each day for 2 Sundays

10am to 4pm

Fee: $100 plus $25 for materials

Learn to spin Cultivated Silk tops, Silk bell, Silk Hankie, Soy

Silk, Bamboo, Cashmere and Cotton

Bring a Bag Lunch

Workshop location on Quadra

Materials List:

Materials fee $25.00

Spinning wheel and oil

Scarf for lap (silk if possible in a dark shade with no pattern)

3 empty bobbins

lazy kate

You can contact the store for more information, and can pay Vyvyan at the workshop.

Leftover Pi

I've wanted to knit a Pi shawl for a few years now. I've done a baby blanket based on the Pi formula (double your stitches every time you double your rows) but it wasn't lace.

The 10 shawls in 2010 challenge seemed like a good time to make my Pi. I've picked some stitch patterns from my stitch books that work in the round and fit into the stitch counts and row counts of each section. I'm loving working on it!

The yarn is left over from three other projects. I'm using Sweatermaker Lace, Luxury Baby Alpaca Lace and Fiddlesticks Lace. I thought the colours went together well, and together they give me about 1,000 metres. I may come up a little short and need to get some lace weight in a complementary colour for an edging, but at least I will have used up these three lone skeins in my cupboard!

HI - From the retreat

We are having fun and learning more than my brain can hold - Shelley

What a great teacher she made every minute count. It has been great group - Mary Tanti

A wonderful weekend - full of talented knitters, great food and spectacular scenery! - Marilyn Welsh

As a first time attendee to the retreat Margaret says - sure learned lots and have great swatches and notes to take home -  We had 3 Margarets at this retreat

What wonderful students!  I've never met a more pleasant bunch of knitters.  They were willing to be challenged and work outside their comfort zone, and to share their expertise with each other.  Shelley and Linda were welcoming supportive hosts.  The Tsa-Kwa-Luten Lodge is such a great place to stay--friendly staff, quiet rooms, and beautiful expansive views.  I only wish there'd been time to wander on the beach!  I can't wait to come back. - Margaret Radcliffe

It was a great weekend.  Learned so much this weekend - it was amazing.  Super instruction and hand outs and a fun fun group to spend time with.  It was the best so far - they only get better each time.
Linda

Everyone else is too busy having fun to write.  Pictures will be posted later.  You gotta check out the bears!

We should be in for a good weekend

We are all set for the retreat. Margaret is on her way. She is spending a few days visiting in Vancouver before the retreat. Look at the weather forecast. I can't wait to sit on the deck at Tsa Kwa Luten in the sun knitting.
See you there

Adventure to Quadra

This week a trip to Quadra will be different. The ferry is not operating for a week. They are building us a new ferry dock and ramp. In order to do this they aren't operating the ferry this week. So if any off shore knitters want to come to Quadra this week they can come by Water Taxi. It is a short walk to the store from the dock but it is uphill so if anyone wants a ride from the dock just call the store 250-285-2751 and we will put up the back in 5 min sign and pick you up.

Campbell River - Quadra Island (Quathiaski Cove)
Water Taxi - crossing time approximately 5 minutes
Service to operate in 6:00 am to 10:00 pm window, leaving Campbell River approximately every 20 minutes
No unaccompanied children under 12 years of age permitted.

This is the notice from the BC Ferry page. We plan to just stay on Quadra all week and knit - weave - spin.

Fibres West

I spent all evening setting up the booth at Fibres West in Abbotsford. Here is a sneak peak' I actually remembered to take pictures this time. Should be a fun show. Lots of great booth here.

Citron

Couldn't resist picking up some Zauberball Crazy the last time I was over at the shop, and knew what I wanted to make with it. Citron, a pattern from the Winter 2009 Knitty, is a great pattern (albeit with a lot of stockinette). It creates a wearable half circle shawl, perfect for spring.

The zauberball wasn't quite enough yarn, so I finished the ruffle with an orange Kroy sock yarn in my stash that my son helped me pick out.

Partners.....

Aren't they totally adorable!!!!!

Shelley and Linda, the dynamic co-owners of the infamous Fun Knits Yarn Shop, snuggled cozily together in the gorgeous tartan blanket Shelley designed and wove (she's a blanket-making maniac of late) and gave to Linda "because the colours are so Linda".

t-towels continued.....

I decided to add the red, and trade the robin's egg for a lime.  The 5.5 yard warp for t-towels is now on my Saori loom.  I'll try to do some weaving tonight after work and post some pics.

The colours are more vibrant than this which will show better when the weft is in.
Happy sunny Saturday to all.

Where inspiration dwells......

I was walking along the beach at Rebecca Spit a couple of mornings ago and chanced upon some garbage strewn here and there by the edge of the shore.  I picked up several pieces and then suddenly noticed that the colours in the collection of trash I held in my right hand would make a gorgeous t-towel.  At home I pulled the colours off the shelves stocked with cotton cones and here is what I have:

Question: I'm wondering about the addition of red and white - any thoughts?

I'll try to get it warped and wound onto the loom in the next couple of days.  And, in case you're wondering - the orange came from a can of orange crush, the pink and green from a kid's toy, the blue was inspired by plastic shreds of fishing equipment, and the robin's egg came from the cellophane wrapping off a cigarette package.  Not a nice sight but there appears to be an upside to everything.

Glorious cotton/boucle and a little recycled sari silk...

I'm crazy in love with our new 2/8 cotton and 2/8 cotton boucle - the colours are enchanting and although there are a variety of uses for cotton (handknit lacy summer shawls, crochet, dish/wash cloths, etc.) as a weaver, I'm over the moon about stocking this particular weaving staple. I purchased just about every colour we brought in and here's what they look like in my studio.

First I wove a t-towel, sett at 12 epi with 276 ends, using 2/8 cotton in ivory, black, rust, and brown for the warp, and brown cotton boucle for the weft.

And then I wove a sample scarf as I'm making a tunic and wanted to see how the fabric would turn out.  The sett was 12 epi with 72 ends using 2/8 cotton and cotton boucle in an emerald green and purple -- the green stood out too much for my liking (perhaps an olive would have worked better) so I chose another set of colours for my tunic warp.  The weft is Mango Moon recycled sari silk (one of my first purchases at Fun Knits when Shelley was in the little cottage) and pash-mohair combined into one strand.

And here is the new warp for the tunic fabric.  It's a combination of a reddish burgandy and a reddish purple (Sorry Shell, can't remember the names - I'll look for them at work on Thursday).

The weft is the Mango Moon recycled sari silk twined with purple pash-mohair.

And here it is directly off the loom unwashed.....

I'll machine wash and dry it a little, and let you know how it feels.

Happy knitting/weaving/spinning and whatever else gives you joy and meaning.

Watching and Celebrating

I'm having great fun watching the Olympics right now. I love the winter sports!

I'm also enjoying wearing my Celebration 2010 scarf, designed by Shelley and knit from our exclusive Lorna's Laces colourway, Olympic.

This scarf is so warm, and can be worn in many different styles. It was tricky to get started, but once I found a rhythm it was completed quickly.

Thanks for a great pattern, Shelley!

Even the customers want to work.......

Here is Lisa visiting (and weighing/bagging raw fleece at Fun Knits) from Moosejaw, Saskatchewan.  Shelley and I grabbed her up for duty when we realized how much she LOVES anything related to fibre.  Her fingers were magnetically drawn to holding and pulling the sheared sheep fleece from New Zealand.  She was wonderful!!!!

Thanks Lisa :)