It's been a busy week, so there's lots written here, and this is a bit picture heavy, too...you've been warned!
I'm back from the big Grade 7/8 camping trip! :-) We ended up with only 10 kids--5 were not allowed because of behaviour, 2 had left town already, and 2 decided at the last minute that they weren't coming, which was a shame, because they're good kids who we would have enjoyed having....but 10 was a nice manageable number (we had 3 teachers there full-time, and the school's bus driver came with us for some day outings, which was great!). There were some minor issues, as to be expected with teenagers ("there's absolutely no food in your tents, right? For sure? OK, good, let's go....*upon return an hour later*..."the raccoons got in your tent? But what were they after? The turkey sandwich/chocolate bar/orange/juice box? But we said not to leave anything in there! Oh, you forgot/didn't think the raccoon could smell it/didn't really check?!"). But overall they were well behaved, and we had a nice time. My photos (most taken by the kids) are on our flickr group here. I'm hoping the kids will add theirs to the group, but so far they haven't!
So that was 4 days out of the last week. I also spent last weekend in Brampton, where I hoped to present my finished Monica to the lovely Emma, but being an idiot, I left the body at home and couldn't put it together when I got there. So I finished it last night:
Pattern: Monica from Knitty
Yarn: body and ruffle worked in KnitPicks CotLin in Royal Plum, straps in Cotton Fleece in Columbine
Needles: US 6 circs (KP options and some Boyes, I think)
Modifications: Knit in the round, and straps grafted together. Also adjusted number of stitches to get gauge with the CotLin.
When I got home from camping, there was a parcel waiting for me....my new Ashford Turkish drop spindle and some lovely fibre to practice spinning. It did not go well at first, but I kept at it and sought advice on the AY forum, and was able to produce only slightly lumpy bumpy yarn in the end. Here's a picture of my first "single":
And the chunky yarn I created after plying it together:
I'm now working on creating a thinner yarn that's a bit more even...we'll see what happens. I have plans to play around with dyeing this some fun colours, and then I'm not sure what I'll knit with it--but it will definitely have some character!
And just an update on current WIPs: The Swallowtail is sitting idle for the time being. I was making great progress until last weekend, when I made a mistake. I was tired, so I set it down to go back and fix later....and that hasn't happened yet (it's not a good project for camping, etc. So I'll tackle it this week sometime when I'm rested!). I decided to start some Falling Leaves socks, because I was interested in trying my first toe-ups. But I packed up the yarn and the pattern to start them on the road....and forgot a crochet hook, so I couldn't work the provisional cast on! Instead I have started them at the cuff. I may make the 2nd sock toe-up and see if I can get them to match, though...should be an interesting project, I think. ;-) Here's the beginning:
Later today I'm heading to Guelph/Cambridge to see Stephen for the first time since Monday morning (he's doing obstetrics in Kitchener this month, so he's been gone a lot, and then I was gone camping....he works tomorrow, so he's not coming home, but we're going to try to meet up with his family for the afternoon/evening!). And then next week I have 3 days of meetings for work, and then I'm on vacation!! Woo-hoo! :-)
I'm back from the big Grade 7/8 camping trip! :-) We ended up with only 10 kids--5 were not allowed because of behaviour, 2 had left town already, and 2 decided at the last minute that they weren't coming, which was a shame, because they're good kids who we would have enjoyed having....but 10 was a nice manageable number (we had 3 teachers there full-time, and the school's bus driver came with us for some day outings, which was great!). There were some minor issues, as to be expected with teenagers ("there's absolutely no food in your tents, right? For sure? OK, good, let's go....*upon return an hour later*..."the raccoons got in your tent? But what were they after? The turkey sandwich/chocolate bar/orange/juice box? But we said not to leave anything in there! Oh, you forgot/didn't think the raccoon could smell it/didn't really check?!"). But overall they were well behaved, and we had a nice time. My photos (most taken by the kids) are on our flickr group here. I'm hoping the kids will add theirs to the group, but so far they haven't!
So that was 4 days out of the last week. I also spent last weekend in Brampton, where I hoped to present my finished Monica to the lovely Emma, but being an idiot, I left the body at home and couldn't put it together when I got there. So I finished it last night:
Pattern: Monica from Knitty
Yarn: body and ruffle worked in KnitPicks CotLin in Royal Plum, straps in Cotton Fleece in Columbine
Needles: US 6 circs (KP options and some Boyes, I think)
Modifications: Knit in the round, and straps grafted together. Also adjusted number of stitches to get gauge with the CotLin.
When I got home from camping, there was a parcel waiting for me....my new Ashford Turkish drop spindle and some lovely fibre to practice spinning. It did not go well at first, but I kept at it and sought advice on the AY forum, and was able to produce only slightly lumpy bumpy yarn in the end. Here's a picture of my first "single":
And the chunky yarn I created after plying it together:
I'm now working on creating a thinner yarn that's a bit more even...we'll see what happens. I have plans to play around with dyeing this some fun colours, and then I'm not sure what I'll knit with it--but it will definitely have some character!
And just an update on current WIPs: The Swallowtail is sitting idle for the time being. I was making great progress until last weekend, when I made a mistake. I was tired, so I set it down to go back and fix later....and that hasn't happened yet (it's not a good project for camping, etc. So I'll tackle it this week sometime when I'm rested!). I decided to start some Falling Leaves socks, because I was interested in trying my first toe-ups. But I packed up the yarn and the pattern to start them on the road....and forgot a crochet hook, so I couldn't work the provisional cast on! Instead I have started them at the cuff. I may make the 2nd sock toe-up and see if I can get them to match, though...should be an interesting project, I think. ;-) Here's the beginning:
Later today I'm heading to Guelph/Cambridge to see Stephen for the first time since Monday morning (he's doing obstetrics in Kitchener this month, so he's been gone a lot, and then I was gone camping....he works tomorrow, so he's not coming home, but we're going to try to meet up with his family for the afternoon/evening!). And then next week I have 3 days of meetings for work, and then I'm on vacation!! Woo-hoo! :-)
Comments
What did you think of the CotLin? I keep eyeing it on the KP site and wondering what it's like.