Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Eula

eulaon backofeula

This past spring I knit up Eula, a pattern by Amy Christoffers. I fell in love with the top as soon as I saw it in Berroco #358, Berroco Modern Cotton™ Women. I used the yarn it called for, Berroco Modern Cotton™. It’s got a beautiful feather and fan lace section along the back neckline. Eula is truly a sophisticated summer t-shirt. I knit up the 38” bust size using US 7 - 4.5 mm needles. I did a single crochet around neck instead of picking up stitches & binding off. I liked the look of it, and to be honest, I hate picking stitches on a neckline. I also added 3” of length to the top as I like my tops longer. I am very happy with the results of this project. It was a quick knit that I finished just in time to wear out for my birthday in June.

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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Habs Hats

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Recently Mackenzie asked me to knit him up a Habs hat. The first one I knit up, didn’t fit Mackenzie, so I gave it to Quentin so then I had to knit another one for Mackenize as the hat was his request. I actually managed to get 2 hats out of the 3 balls of yarn that I used. I used a generic hat pattern from my memory to cast on the first hat, and adjusted for Mackenzie’s head for the second hat, adding stitches and rows. I used both US 10½ - 6.5 mm and US 11 - 8.0 mm needles for both hats. That hats were both very quick knits and I used colors 331, 301 and 351 in Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 40. You can view the details of Mack’s hat here, and the details of Quentin’s hat here.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Polar Bears

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Today I was in the West Island section (page 23) of the Montreal Gazette. I was called by the Gazette last Thursday and they tried to come out on Thursday evening to my knit-a-long that I hosted at the shop, but they couldn’t get a photographer. They were able to get one for the next day, during my 4th knit-a-long at the shop for this project. The whole idea was that we were going to get the community together to knit these bears, I would have them on display in my shop for a brief period of time, and then we will donate them to charity. The West Island Women’s Shelter will be taking a large portion of them, and then the rest, we will either try to find another charity to donate them to, or I’ve had requests to sell them, and then give the proceeds to charity. I will see how many are leftover after the shelter takes them. My goal is to have 100 bears. I have given out over 120+ kits with the pattern (which we adapted from another free pattern we found, but I made some changes to it to look more bear like) and gave enough yarn (in either white or off white, some of which one of my suppliers donated (to fill the first 70 kits), the rest (about 50 kits now), I donated from either my personal yarn stash and some from the shop too). From the over 120+ kits that I handed out, I have already received just over 50 bears back, completed. They are all so cute, and each have their own personality! Here are some that I have made:

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These two above, are little ones I made, to test out the pattern. The first one, on the left, was made using the original pattern that I found for free online. I wasn’t 100% happy with the face, so I made the one on the right, which was test number 2.

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Above, is teenage bear. I used some very thick yarn (Bravo Big by SMC) on 10mm needles to knit this guy up.

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And this is Mama bear. I used SMC Bravo Big with the yarn held doubled on 15 mm needles to knit her up. She is awesome. I just love her. You can see below, how much bigger she is from the teenage bear. You can also see in the image at the top of this post, that was in the newspaper today, her size compared to the little baby bears.

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I really hope this project brings smiles to children’s faces. That was the plan from the beginning, when I decided to launch this project. I cannot wait to see the entire project finished. I have 2 more bears that need to be completed, I have been playing around with different textures of white yarn to create the bears. I will definitely post a picture of the display once all the bears are up.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Easy Fingerless Mitts

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I needed a project to work on while I was in the Dominican Republic this past September. Something that was easy and that I could work on while on the beach sipping fruity beverages. I had been wanting to make myself a pair of fingerless mitts for work, so I thought this would be the best time to knit them up. The pattern is Easy Fingerless Mitts by Roxanne Richardson. I used some leftover Project B Worsted Superwash that I had in my stash from a previous project. It was a quick knit indeed, on 5mm needles. This project used just under 100 yards of yarn. And now, my hands will be warm this winter in my office, and I’ll think about my trip to Punta Cana while wearing them. (I’ll blog about my trip very soon).   

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Monday, November 16, 2015

Top This!

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This summer we got in a shipment of DMC Top This! hat kits and they flew off the shelves. We have re-ordered a few times and they keep flying out the doors! They’re so cute, it’s no wonder. I made a soccer ball kit as a store sample and when Quentin saw it he wanted one too. The store sample (left hand top image), I made in newborn size. Quentin’s hat was knit up in an adult small. Mackenzie asked me for one too, then changed his mind, after I started knitting it, but now wants me to finish it, so once I am finished a few other projects I have going on, I am going to get back to Mack’s soccer ball hat. I’ll have to add rows on the adult small pattern to fit Mackenzie’s 7 & and a half year old head. I also knit up a cat kit for a gift for a someone’s daughter. The ball band comes with the smallest (newborn) and the largest (adult small) on the ball band, however additional in-between sizes can be found online here. Also, a crochet version of the hat is now currently available here. These hats are a quick knit on 5.5mm needles are a lot of fun to make. You can view all the available hats kits here.

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Sunday, November 15, 2015

Mack’s 1st Lost Tooth

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Mackenzie finally lost his first tooth on Friday! 2 months into grade 2. He was so excited! He’s showing everyone that he lost his first tooth, it’s so cute.