Transitions

 Note, I am posting from a different device, format may be wonky!

What’s happening here? We had a longer warm period than usual, but alas, all good things come to an end.  We harvested our last herbs and greens, and the frost came.  All of us got used to life spent indoors, although we are still outside a lot.  Temperatures below freezing do not keep us home bound! Sadie the dog is here, on the steps, asking about her walk.

I continue to spin through deep stash.  This is some Polwarth that came originally from Australia, but I bought it in a fiber arts business retirement sale.  It is well aged!  That said, it is spinning up beautifully on my Quebec wheel.

Every fall, a kid or two gets a sweater.  This year, I made another one out of Icelandic plotulopi (unspun.). It is light and warm, if not the hardest wearing.  We were aiming for colour blocking here, but then my kid asked if I could knit the original early 20th century tile pattern from our bathroom into his sweater.  Of course!  I sent him into the bathroom with his iPad and then I knit it from the photo.  I did imagine doing those rows in the bathroom, just to see the tile in person, but thought better of it!

To keep cheerful clothing around, I also made myself another jumper using the 100 acts of sewing pattern and Rifle Paper Company print.  My biology professor husband (currently on strike at the U of Manitoba, but that is another story) suggests I am now dressing like a herbaceous border. I ignored him. I like it!

Last, but not least, our heroic boiler had finally died and we are in the process of getting a new one installed.  So, for now, no central heat, and a lot of toys to tidy in the basement so the new one can be put in.  I am excited about this, although it is an expensive home repair while my professor is on strike…because, well, in Canada, heat is life!  We are doing ok with running two gas fireplaces, a little radiator space heater, and of course, I am wearing a lot of wool…

Esme McStrippit and other news

We've been busy indoors this winter.  First off, kids have been growing so I knit a new kid sweater.  He then posed, with great joy, and I had to pass it along to everyone else to enjoy.  He's sporting a one-of-a-kind handknit by Mommy striped sweater made of plotulopi (Icelandic, unspun yarn) and seems delighted by it. This twin is particular about his sweaters so I'm relieved that this seems to have been a home run!

The kids have been learning at home, doing remote school since the end of October.  This involves a lot of reading time, and we seem to have also trained Sadie the dog into enjoying reading time as well.
While I'm helping kids learn through a pandemic, I've had a slow down in terms of articles coming out... but this piece ran in the Jewish Independent on January 15th: 

Kindness a blessing to share

During the first few days of January, I managed to make this wool tweed vest using a fabric remnant from Fabcycle in Vancouver.  I was thrilled to use up deadstock fabric and this has been a great additional winter layer so far.  (plus, it has a pocket, and I can never have enough of those!)

The kids added to their 'learn to sew' samplers with a 'here's how to do a running stitch' lesson.  I hadn't been pushing these lessons until one day, one of my boys started to cry because we weren't having enough sewing and art lessons.  Well, OK then!  Happy to oblige...!

Last, but certainly not least, I have finally (FINALLY!) released a new knitting pattern.  Hallelujah.  It took me long enough!

This is called Esme McStrippit and when I uploaded it onto Ravelry, I discovered it was my 80th pattern there.  In honour of this new pattern, I'm celebrating with a sale.  Get 20% off all my patterns!  This sale is happening on Ravelry  and on Payhip and ends on Tuesday, January 26th, at midnight, Central Time, US&Canada.

Use the coupon code:

Esme

For the 20% off discount!

Here are some of the shots of the sweater--the one shot with me in it was taken by a kid, too!
 

the February knitlove

 It's cold out in Winnipeg, folks.  Today it's bobbing around the -35 or -40 windchill mark, and I am wearing insulated pants and three layers on top: long sleeve shirt, cashmere turtleneck, and handknit wool sweater.  Wool socks, too.  My house does pretty well in the heat department, but it's 100 years old and lacks substantial insulation in the walls.  So, if I stand too close to a wall in this weather, the cold seeps out of it...and into me.

Energy seeps right out of me when I need to be outside in this weather, so I bundle up and aim to stay in whenever I can.  Yesterday was a big day here--a day off kindergarten for both twins to go with me on a tour of our new school for next year AND go to the dentist.  It was a lot of excitment, outdoor time and work for me, the Mommy!

Today, we are back to the regular routine.  During a phone call, I rolled two beautiful balls of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter that I purchased over a year ago.  Yesterday, in the middle of the errands, I saw my handspun, handknit pair of Hole Inside Mitts was shredding in the thumbs, where they are under pressure as I take the mitts on and off to seatbelt car seats.  I can mend them, sure, but maybe it's time for a new pair of mitts.  I need some distraction and cheer, so I got out this gorgeous new yarn for a February pick me up.

I've also begun a version of a Barn Sweater  by Carrie Bostick Hoge, and, I admit, it's going slowly.  I am not on automatic pilot when it comes to top-down sweaters.  I like to knit patterns by others so I can learn, but right now, my time is so limited that it is hard.  I have to actually read instructions, and the directions sort of blur in front of me between 9-10 at night, when I have time to knit!  I hope soon to get my groove on that one. I find this designer's work really beautiful and I really enjoyed knitting her Portland Pullover, which I am wearing today.

In my own work, I've had a bit of a stall out.  Lots of things came up, all at once, in our lives, and I fell behind.  Usually, I write and design behind the scenes and then announce, "TA-DA!" when something has gone live or been published.  I'm trying something new...showing you what's going on behind the curtain.  Here's the thing.  When I announced that my book, From the Outside In, was live, I had quite a few sales all at once.  That was great, and now that my mom, my dad, my in-laws, and a couple of friends have copies (no kidding!), things are slow...  I wrote a press release, and I'm working on some other promotion techniques, but honestly, I am no marketing wiz yet!

  So, if you like my blog/writing and would consider checking out my book, I'd be grateful...but I'd be especially grateful if you told someone else about the book, or gave it as a gift, or wanted to review it on Amazon.  There, I've done my plug!

 Please help me out, because I've gotten behind, what with the Lyme disease, the kid viruses, and -25 temps!  Do you have ideas about where to promote the book?  Do tell. :)

I'm also in the midst of writing up a new design.  I was really impressed by the knit speed and success of the Stopover pullover, as I am a fan of all things Icelandic wool.  However, I also thought it would be super to have something a bit more versatile in my wardrobe.  Something solid, maybe.  I also wanted to play with a handkerchief hem, and a few other details.  Here are a couple of the outtakes from our very quick photo session outside.  (Note cold looking model -me-and snow!)

This is knit up on size 10(6mm) needles, and goes fast.  It's cozy and goes well with either skirt or pants...and my working title for it is "ZOOP!"  (as in, the sound your zipper makes when you pull it up fast...!)

 Interested in this design?  Please sign up on mailing list (it's in the right hand sidebar here) or on my Rav group so you can hear when the pattern is ready.  I'm offering this preview in hopes that you'll find it tempting...

My size, which is firmly in the middle of the pack, only used about 6 skeins of Istex Lett Lopi, though I will recommend 7 to be on the safe side.  That's not a lot of yarn or expense for a brand new winter sweater!  I cannot wait until I have the pattern totally written up so that I can start wearing this sample regularly.  It's cozy, and I could use some more of that 'hygge' these days.

Wishing you all the best,
Joanne

It's almost OVER.

The UNsale is almost over... October flew by so quickly!  Remember-- purchase any of my patterns by the end of October, and I will donate 20% to the Canadian Red Cross in its efforts to help refugees.

As part of the sale, I promised a new design--a pattern release...and here it is!  Over is now live!

I could say more, but you know what they say about pictures, so here they are...almost all from my photo shoot with a friend who modeled.  Enjoy!  Please check out Over before October's over.  Why's it called Over?  Oversized, over-the-head, summer's over, this fast project's over? That kind of thing.  :)

Last but not least, here are a couple of shots of us:  (and this is why I can't do the modelling, I seem to have a lot of help....)

Distal: A Shawl for Winter

dis·tal

ˈdistl/

adjective

Anatomy

adjective: distal

1. situated away from the center of the body or from the point of attachment.

   "the distal end of the tibia"

A while back, my professor was doing some research concerning the distal-less gene in butterflies and moths.  I must have proofread a paper draft or attended a lecture...but in any event, I learned a new word. (definition above)

About a week and a half ago, I picked up some lovely Létt-Lopi yarn that I bought last winter at a yarn fire sale. ($1 a ball!)  I had three skeins in the same color and dyelot.  I also had an idea in mind.  My mom wove me a wonderful shawl out of my handspun brown wool yarn several years ago.  She wove it on a triangle loom from Hillcreek fiber studio.  I've worn it to death and it is beginning to pill and show its age.

I wanted a handknit version--and I started knitting. Maybe 10 hours later, I had a shawl.  It was stunningly fast for me, given the twin lifestyle around here.

Here's the result.  I cast on Monday and I bound off on Friday.  It was blocked and ready to go by the middle of the weekend, and the pattern practically wrote itself.  My lovely tech editor, Donna, reviewed it at the speed of light.

 

I present: Distal -- a shawl for wintertime...#10(6mm) needles, about 327 yards of Aran weight yarn, and only a few hours of knitting...a perfect combination for this time of year.  Published on Ravelry yesterday; wore it on my dog walk at 7pm this morning.  Knit fast!  Stay warm!

 

crush

The Professor is lucky.  I'd have to say that I encounter few people that actually turn my head these days.  (Yup, nearly 16 years of marriage and counting...)

I cannot say the same about yarn.  I occasionally get a crush.  Sometimes, the crush is totally fulfilled and runs its course.  Icelandic yarn, while I will always love you, while I will return back to you, I'll have to say that my crush is over for now.  I spent this entire winter knitting SOMETHING out of Lopi.  I made a bathmat, two women's sweaters and two little boy sweaters.  Most, if not all of that knitting happened while the boys watched their 20-40 minutes of Sesame Street, Caillou, Thomas, Busytown, or Curious George in the evenings while drinking their bedtime milk.  (We have recently started watching Clifford, it is a thrilling alternative.)  I sit nearby and knit as fast as I can.  Any more complicated knitting happens around nap or night time, and I am usually denying myself sleep to do it.

Recently, I bumped into this pattern on Ravelry.  Then I looked over the whole ebook: Kestrel and I swooned.  A whole lot of Pam Allen designs, and I am a great fan of her work.  Then....only then, I allowed myself to wander over to her yarn company's website--Quince & Co. and looked around.  Another SWOON.  That yarn, Kestrel, is made out of Belgian organic linen.  (Quick, stop yourself before you cruise around to the other yarns.  You could go bankrupt.)

I am on a strict yarn diet.  First off, my stash just about insulates our house.  Second, I knit much less than I used to, before twins....I just don't have time.  Third...shipping anything to Canada is a drag, the postage is expensive, it takes forever, and we are erratically charged duty on weird stuff.  (The latest weirdness?  Secondhand cloth diapers from the UK.  Yes, they were spotlessly clean...but USED NAPPIES?  Really?  We owe money on that baby/kid necessity?!)

Anyway, all that has kept me from buying out Brooklyn Tweed or Harrisville's new yarn, Watershed.  I've even looked at the Irish, UK and Icelandic sites, as we seem to have less problem shipping from there than from the US...

You'll note that there is not a single photo in this post.  This way, if you do not feel the urge to fall in love, to look at yarn p*rn, to covet, you don't have to.  Now you know what I do when I am faced with hours of mindless child-related clean up, or when I am up AGAIN in the middle of the night.  I dream of yarn, of course.

(I'm knitting with this Canadian yarn right now, and it's just about taking the edge off.  The strong woolly odor of spinning oil and fleece does it.  Ahhh.  For now.)

PS:  Trust me, no one is paying me a dime to promote or link to their yarns.  Not even a skein.  I'm just, well, crushing too much to hold it in.

The catwalk: age two and a half

Here's the new Lett-Lopi cardigan, my own design, finished on our trip to Virginia.  It's a size 2 body and size 4 length--and it's swimming on the bigger twin.  (We're still small guys here.)

Here's Mommy, coaching behind the scene.  ("Bring this car to Daddy, please!")

\

Photos courtesy of the Professor.  Zipper installation courtesy of Didi, my mom, who had her sewing machine at the ready!

..but does she knit?

Oh yes.  I have to knit, in some small way, even if I am not designing.  I find a moment or two at a time and I never get an hour at a stretch like I did pre-twins.  I need the knitting.  It is necessary just to keep sane! Lately, I have been on an Icelandic wool kick.  This first photo is a size 4 sweater made of lett-lopi.  The boys will sit next to me on the couch, drinking their milk before bedtime.  We watch Caillou or Curious George (Thomas, Busytown Mysteries and Sesame Street, too) and I am working on a sweater for them.  They still share everything so both are excited about this one.  It's called Kapp and is from a Lopi Pattern book.  #31, I think.

When the boys turn three, each of them will start wearing a kipah (yamulka) at their Jewish preschool. I am making those now, and perhaps will come up with a kid kipah pattern, too...These are designed to fit more like a beanie so that they don't fly off when busy boys are playing. I am planning to make four so we have a back up for each kid in case one gets wet or dirty or gets lost.

It has taken me a long time to even shoot photos of some of this stuff as I have been busy with sick kids and plumbing, and it has been fairly overcast this winter, so I hope to do other photos another time and do another post.  In the meanwhile, below is a bath mat.  This is also made out of Lopi Icelandic yarns and from a Lopi pattern book.  I made the first bath mat more than a year ago and it worked out very well.  Wool does cope well with the constant water in the bathroom!  Eventually I needed a backup mat so I could shake out and wash one and rotate in the other.  (this was photographed in another room as the bathroom light was dim to show the yarn colors.)

Other projects lately have included more mitts for me.  I wear through mitts at an alarming rate, as car seat belts and snow shovels are not easy on my mitts!  I also designed a Lett Lopi sweater for myself which I like very much, but am not able to wear too often.  Loose bell shaped sleeves and potty training just don't work out!  (I'll leave that one to your imagination.)

On the plumbing front, today the basement floor was covered again in concrete, so we do not have any gaping holes or dirt piles left inside.  Outside, we'll have a huge pile of dirt to move, some landscaping, and fence to repair, come spring when the ground warms up enough to put a fence post in.  However, we have a new sewer line now, and flushing is a really really good thing.

-40 and counting

We're going through a cold snap here.  I'd try to show you a photo (look back at other winters, you can see what it looks like, or just imagine: cold, black elm trees with no leaves, lots of snow, white)

Anyway, we've cranked out the heavy snow pants for hte boys and the new, size 3T, neon, down coats.  The windchill every day is about -40, and that is the same in both C and F.  Darn cold, but everyone still goes to school, work, the grocery store, etc.  We'd starve to death if we stayed inside waiting for spring to come.  In May.

This is very cold, but it isn't something that kept me from moving to Winnipeg.  In fact, it isn't even on the list of things that well, don't make me happy to be alive.  I see this weather as a colossal challenge and an opportunity to find inner resources.  To be brave.

First up is to think of things that make me happy in this weather.  I have only a couple of minutes before preschool pick up, so this is not an exhaustive list:
1) Good old fashioned radiators with even hot water heat.  Really trying hard and mostly keeping up.
2) Gas fireplaces belting out more heat.
3) Slow cookers, long cooked meals in the oven, basically, anything hot to eat at all.
4) New Canadian made union suits from LL Bean (no time to give a link, but they are good.)  These things are the best jammies ever, particularly after a really hot shower or bath in the claw footed tub.
5) Wool socks and shearling boots.
6) Very thick, handknit wool or cashmere sweaters.  I am particularly in love with my Icelandic sweaters made from Lopi about now, but I can't wear them every day.  I don't have that many--yet.
7) An appreciation of the beauty of a black and white landscape.
8) A determination to triumph over weather-related adversity
9) This cold tires the boys out fast.  That is actually good--they sometimes sleep more.  Sometimes...
10) The belief that it will get warmer.  About now, 20F sounds downright tropical.  Bring it on, warming trend.  I believe you will come.

And that's it for today, got to go unplug the car's block heater and head out to school. :)

What makes you happy in life's adverse conditions?

Carding Class Coming Up!

The professor and I got home after midnight last night...I am exhausted from the trip! I've got more Florida photos to show you (of sunshine, palm trees, ocean, and more) but my next workshop is coming up and I wanted to post a reminder. Please sign up right away if you're interested. I'd love to see you on Sunday!


In Winnipeg:
– Learn to Card
Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library Workshop
If you’re a hand spinner, felter, or fibre artist who works with wool, alpaca, cotton, or other fibres, this is an opportunity to “brush up" on your carding! Hand carding and drum carding produce light, fluffy batts and rolls of wool, called rolags, for brushing and blending fibres. This hands-on class will give you the skills you need to process clean wool for woollen spinning, felting and other crafts. Please bring your hand cards or a drum carder, if you have one.
Instructor: Joanne Seiff.
Joanne has been carding, spinning, and knitting for 25 years. Joanne teaches spinning and other fibre arts classes throughout North America and is the author of two books, Knit Green and Fiber Gathering. http://www.joanneseiff.com.
Fee: $40, Members $35, plus $10 kit fee
When:
Sunday, January 30th, 2011
2pm – 4pm

Where:
Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library
1B-183 Kennedy St. (between St. Mary & York)
Winnipeg, MB R3C 1S6

away in wool and sunshine

I've been away from the computer lately, enjoying a visit with my father. The happy confluence of sunshine, warm fall weather, and time to be outside took precedence over all else! We had friends over to our sukkah for wine tasting and dinners and desserts. We had fancy cheeses and 2 kinds of fish and homemade potato/leek soup. We've had make your own pizza night and fudge brown pie and apple pie and...lots of ice cream on top. We also ate out at lots of restaurants with my dad. It's been a great few days together.

While my dad was here, we took a boat ride on the river. We happened to pass the Manitoba Legislature Building, and you can see from this shot that it was a) a beautiful day and b)we've had more than our share of rain this season. (Look at the steps...underwater.) You might remember this view from 2008, when I took the boat tour for the first time and spotted a spinner right here...where the water is now. Here's a link to another sunny day in drier times! When our boat ride went under one of Winnipeg's bridges, we saw the knitting installation that crossed the bridge 2.5 times! It was a weekend full of arts and activity here.

Also, because it was Culture Days, there were events all over the city. We stopped to watch First Nations' drumming and hoop dancers. We saw big hoop dancers...and little ones.

My father left on Monday morning and began his long drive home. He complained while he was here that he hadn't gotten to see any moose. I mentioned that wasn't surprising--they don't just hang out on city street corners waiting for tourists to spot them. Imagine my surprise when he just happened upon not one but several moose on his drive east through rural Ontario. He even got a photo!

My recent photos are of more domesticated things...In my basement, I've got, oh, about 10 fleeces or so. I spent today packing up 7 of them to be sent off for processing. In order to do this, you have to stuff the wool tightly into bags. It's a bit like putting your sleeping bag in a stuff sack if you're more familiar with camping terms. Imagine doing that for a couple of hours or so. Right. It's been sort of a long day in the basement.

The good news is that I've got them almost ready for their trip to the post office. We're taking a drive on Friday to mail off some things south of the border in the U.S. This isn't worthwhile, say, for one small package, but if you've got multiple things to ship and need a little drive out of town, it seems like a nice day out. I'm excited because the Sock Knit Along starts on Friday, October 1st. I seem to have organized several hours of knitting in the car to coincide with the start of the KAL, and I can't wait!

In the meanwhile, it's off to prepare Cotswold and Cotswold cross wool, Jacob/Icelandic cross, Icelandic, and Romney wool for mailing. Hope you're having a warm, sunny fall day!

the cold case of the fireplace

Once upon a time, some newcomers to Winipeg had a lovely old house, built in 1914. Said house needed a lot of tender loving care. It had some things that worked splendidly. It had some things that done broke a darn long time ago.

We have a chimney. It is your average chimney for our neighborhood. It has corbelling but not too much corbelling. (Yes, this was a word I've learned since moving here. It's in the dictionary...) It was built in a sturdy way, back in 1914. However, we now have a chimney where the bricks just rest gently on each other, touching intimately. No mortar between the bricks. At all.

This is complicated by the fact that we have these lovely original cast-iron coal burning inserts in the fireplaces. Two small fireplaces. Gorgeous. Limestone in the living room, and brick in the professor's study. Totally impractical for today's world. No, we do not burn coal. We do not burn anything, because if we did, we'd burn down the house...cause remember, no safe chimney, shallow fireplace, etc.

We've been doing research on how to fix all this. The options are ridiculously varied. Take down chimney. Rebuild chimney. Get a woodburning insert/woodstove/gas fireplace insert/gas logs/gas stove/etc. Put decorative flowers in there, put a note on the mantel that says NO FIRES and call it a day... All suggestions people have offered us.

Some things will not work. For instance, new gas fireplace inserts will not fit in our fireplaces, so we've had more than one person suggest they just cut up the masonry surrounds (from 1914) to make those new things fit. Does. Not. Sound. Safe....or historically respectful.

We've got lots of advice, including some from an architect (professor's father) and an engineer with experience in natural gas (my father) and several tradesmen in the area. However, neither father has ever been here, so I've put up these photos for them to see the fireplaces. Please, join in the fun! In my best case scenario, by next year this time, I'd still be admiring these cast iron coal inserts. I'd be sitting next to a gas fire. It would feel warming, and I could shut it off before going to bed. (a woman can dream, right?!)

Have I mentioned that all of the above options will cost something between $9,000 and 15,000 to come up with a solution? Oh, and that if we don't fix that dang chimney this spring, it's likely to just fall off the roof and kill a passerby in a stiff wind?!

Now, if the above scenario causes you hyperventilation problems like it bothers me (and believe me, this is just one of the interesting problems we've encountered this year, between new/old house, immigration, work, etc.), you might need to calm yourself. Quick. Look at this spindle. Breathe. Think peaceful thoughts.

The professor bought me this as a treat and it arrived yesterday. It's made of Walnut, 33grams, and it comes from this kind man:
Ray's Spindles
It doesn't replace the one I loved that snapped in my bags while travelling to write Fiber Gathering. However, it's a nice spindle, and if you look at that webpage? I have pretty much every variety of spindle he makes. I especially like the Turkish and Bedouin spindles. The kind that broke, a "hi-lo" spindle, is one I think he might no longer make. I do miss it.

I also have been weaving to "beat" the band. Or at least, beating the heck out of these roving rugs I've been learning to do. Here are a couple of pictures of my efforts. I've done 2 twill rugs, one plain and one striped. I've done 2 plain weave rugs, one plain and one striped. All the rugs are roughly 2 by 3 feet, with the striped plain weave one maybe a few inches longer. The wools used are Icelandic, Romney and Cotswold. The warp is cotton.

I haven't quite finished off these rugs yet, but well, warp #2 is off the loom and I'm fixing to start warp #3 with the start of the new month. As soon as I figure out how to use a warping board. See? I'm definitely learning something new at least every day. Good to keep the brain active. It sure does seem like a lot of work some days. Especially the hyperventilating while trying to make expensive house decisions part...