Knotty Stitcher

Monday, December 11, 2017

Yarn, yarn, yarn

COMPLETED PIECES

"Paris in Winter Hat" & "Paris in Winter Cowl" by Emily Ballentine Erb (yarn: Loops & Threads Chunky Boho in Singapore Sling)
Loved the colours in this yarn but unfortunately it turned out to be wayyyyyy to heavy for my liking. I also noticed it was already starting to fray just from knitting it. Luckily, I brought the set in to work one day and a coworker took to it, so the hat and cowl ended up going to a good home.

"Chunky Dean Street Hat" by Nina Machlin and "Cozy Ribbed Scarf" by Dawn Regan (yarn: Bernat Alpaca in Natural)

Love both of these pieces! The yarn is soooo squishy and soft!

"No. 2 Pencil Socks" by Yarn Enabler (yarn: Yarn Enabler No. 2 Pencil Socks Wool)
Knit these for Lily's Grade 2 teacher as a Christmas present. Fun knit and love the subtle variances in the yarn colours. Incorporated "Fish Lips Kiss Heel" pattern which I'm not overly in love with, but that may be because I didn't pull the yarn tight enough at the end of the short rows and was left with gaps. However, not having to pick up stitches for the heel is definitely a bonus with this pattern.

ON MY NEEDLES

"Basic Ribbed Socks" by Kate Atherly (yarn: Patons Kroy FX in Copper Colors)
Just finishing up the second sock. These will be given as a Christmas gift to Lily's daycare worker, whose favourite colour is orange.

"Westerly Pullover" by Moira Engel (yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed)
I immediately fell in love with this sweater when I received an email from Interweave showcasing it a few weeks back. I wanted to use the Brooklyn Tweed yarn the pattern called for, but unfortunately it was out of my budget. So instead I ordered Knit Picks Wool of the Andes yarn during a Black Friday sale. I actually swatched for the first time to obtain the correct gauge as this is my first adult-sized sweater and I want it to be perfect! Ended up having to go down 2 needle sizes to obtain gauge. I was going to wait until the new year to start, but I just couldn't resist the temptation, so I cast on this past weekend. I'm swapping out the blues for greens (of course) as I'm making this for John.

IN MY QUEUE

"Comfort Fade Cardigan" by Andrea Mowry
I'll be joining my first Knit-A-Long (KAL) on January 1, 2018! The KAL is being hosted by the Drea Renee Knits Group on Ravelry and I cannot wait to get started! Ordered the yarn I'll be using (Madeline Tosh DK Twist) at the end of November but it still has yet to be shipped, so I'm hoping it'll arrive in time for me to cast on January 1st. I'm soooo looking forward to knitting MYSELF a full-sized garment, and one I know I'm going to LOVE!

"Emelyn May Shawl" by Jennifer Lassonde (aka BostonJen)
Also on January 1st, 2018, I'll be joining my first Shawl KAL, hosted by the Canadian Knitter Group on Ravelry. I'll be using Knit Picks Hawthorne Fingering yarn for my shawl.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Knotty Knitter?

It's been an incredibly long time since the last time I posted so I figured I'm wayyyy overdue for some catch-up....

Unfortunately on the stitching front, I don't think I picked up any cross-stitching throughout the entire 2017 year! Crazy, I know! Instead I seem to have found myself literally OBSESSED with all things knitting. Here are a few of my more notable finishes from this past year (all of which can be found on Ravelry by searching "Bells4Her"):

Beckett Hat & Polarynn Bear Mittens (The Velvet Acorn)

Noro Striped Socks

Autumn Rainbow Nova

"Toslynn Top" (The Velvet Acorn)

Currently I'm knitting up a pair of "Vanilla with Sprinkles" socks using Canon Hand Dyes yarn in the colour way "Second on the Right and Straight on Till Morning", from the Peter Pan Polar Opposites Club (yarn pictured below)

Yesterday I cast on "I want that Wrap" in Estelle Yarns, Alpaca Merino Worsted in a heathered dark grey/brown. The yarn colour wasn't ideally what I envisioned, but that's what you get when you agree to let your local yarn store place an order for you, yarn unseen. The colour's slowly growing on me and I realized that it'll match nicely with a pair of Airwalk cozy boots I own.

Today, I stumbled upon the cutest socks I want to knit up for Lily's teacher for Christmas called "No. 2 Pencil Socks":

Other than knitting, I've recently become engrossed with listening to podcasts about knitting, which I didn't even know was a "thing" until about a month ago when I was invited to join the "She Can Make" Ravelry Group. The "She Can Make Podcast" is hosted by Kate and Lindsey and features various segments detailing what the ladies are working on, any issues they've had, ideas for crafting with kids, product/book reviews and much more. I really enjoy their amusing banter, and I find I've already learned quite a bit about knitting/yarns/spinning from their relatively new podcast (they're currently on their 12th episode). And of course it's nice to hear stories from fellow Canadians :)

The other 2 knitting podcasts I've recently started listening to have been around for several years now and so I'm currently playing catch-up. "The Knitmore Girls Podcast" features a mother (Gigi) and daughter (Jasmin) duo who seem to be quite experienced knitters. Again, I've learned quite a bit from the short time I've listened this podcast and they've already turned me on to several new-to-me patterns that I can't wait to add to my knitting queue (e.g. the Icarus Shawl).

Finally, "Down Cellar Studio Podcast" hosted by BostonJen has quickly become my favourite knitting podcast. I find I relate well to Jen's down-to-earth, easy-going nature, and her taste in knitting patterns tends to mirror mine.

I highly recommend you check out the 3 podcasts I mentioned above, and if you have any recommendations of your own, please feel free to leave me a comment.

Well, that's it for now and hopefully I'll be posting again sooner than later :)