Glynis

Last year I went on a knitting retreat in Tofino organized by Knits by the Sea and hosted by Cookie A, the most fabulous knitter-come-designer.  She really is an inspiration and if you ever get chance to take a class with her, it is something that I am sure you will treasure.

Here she is, in person, teaching us about 'suckage'.  Yep, really - but you know, she is quite right.  When you use cables, the fabric 'sucks in' and becomes tighter.  All very clever!

 And yes, she is holding my knitting !!

 And as glorious as Tofino is . . . .

 Boy, it rains!!

Anyhow, reminiscing aside, I have decided that I want to have a go at knitting the socks from her books, starting with Sock Innovation.  The first pair of socks is called Glynis (I mentioned them on this posting), and here they are:

 

The pattern was an easy one, but don’t forget to check out the errata as there is an error in the chart for the top of the foot, row 8.

 

These socks will be gifts, not sure who for yet, but I would like to build a stock pile of a few pairs for those special people in my life . . . and it helps to keep the yarn band for those all important washing instructions and yarn composition . . . . ! 

Getting my Read Back

Last year hubby and I bought iPads.  My-oh-my, they are fabulous.  They are small, portable, easy to use . . . . I could go on and on, but until I am on the Apple payroll, that is probably enough for now!

I read the newspaper on my iPad, as well as blogs, the weather, sewing sites etc., etc., etc.,  One of the downsides though, has been that I have lost my 'read'.  I am so used to reading small 'read-bites' (a bit like 'sound-bites', but written!) that I have had problems concentrating on anything longer.  Now this is a real shame as I love reading.  I have a voracious reading appetite, and in the past have always had a book (or two) in my hand, bag, by the bed, next to the sofa, etc.  I particularly enjoy mysteries (I was a Police Office for many years int he UK, some habits are hard to break!) as well as travel journals, historical novels, gardening books - pretty much any written word.

The solution to this problem - was the trip to Tofino.  A room that does not have a TV and barely has WiFi soon got me back on track :o)

I am happy to report that I finished this book whilst I was away . . .

source

And am now happily ensconced in this!

source



Happy Days!

Yarn Candy

Whilst in Tofino I bought some gorgeous yarn from Knits by the Sea - well, it would have been rude not too!  As I love knitting with thinner gauge yarn, and as I have enough fingering weight to sink a battleship (yep, really), I bought two skeins of Sweatermaker 'Fiona' in a merino/silk mix.

Golden

 Pink/Grey

The yarn is very soft and smooshy and will be transformed into shawls/wraps or scarves in the future.  Maybe not the near future . . . but you never know!  The yardage is good - 700m per skein, so each one will make a substantial garment.

The yarn is local to BC and I try and purchase yarn that I would not dye - usually due to the weight or color/pattern.

I am really loving the soft, pastels hues, and actually loaded up some skeins that I had dyed to my Etsy shop.  I love dyeing yarn, but as I mix many colors - I run out of names for them all.  Previously I used names inspired by witches and their spells such as Marygold and Verbena - and I will use those names again when I dye up the same mix, but I wanted to dye a batch of yellows for the SolidSocks group on Ravelry, and I rather ran our of naming inspiration (fortunately not dyeing inspiration), so I cheated!  I would like to introduce you to:

Yellow #2

 

 Yellow #3

 and Yellow #5!

Hey, it works!  Simple but effective . . . . and I used my new skills from the photography class to take clear, naturally lit pictures!

Tofino - the Retreat

Wow!  We have just returned home from a lovely week spent in Tofino and Victoria B.C.  The reason for the visit was a retreat organized by Knits by the Sea.  The 'teacher' was Amy Swenson who taught us all about different shapes for shawl knitting, basic triangle, wedge and crescent.  She also gave us a great tutorial on photography - as it relates to the knitting/yarn that we use.  She was very inspirational and I am buzzing with ideas!

We stayed in the lovely Middle Beach Lodge and Ellie from Knits by the Sea booked the great-room/lounge for our classes.  Due to the number of attending knitters (about two dozen), we took over the whole lodge.  Great fun!

This was the view from our room:

Absolutely stunning.  Going to sleep and then waking up to the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach was amazing.  It makes you think about what you would like to do in the future - you know, when retirement comes knocking on the door.  I have a few years to go yet, but living by the sea is certainly top of my list.

During the photography session, the lovely Ellie from Knits by the Sea kindly modeled my Grains of Salt shawl that I test knit for Maja - the pattern is available on Ravelry, is is a great, fun knit.

 

Interestingly, this was the only picture that I took with the light shining through the shawl as the small 'view' on the back of my camera did not look too good - but in the end, this was my favorite photo - I love the way the beach and sky open up the lace. - Thanks Ellie, your cheque is in the post!!

This is the second retreat that Ellie has organized - Cookie A came last year and I am looking forward to seeing who we will have next year!

Here are a few more gratuitous holiday pics!

And last but not least - check out the lovely, plump starfish.  Totally adorable!