Upcycle, fiction and design

It's been a big few days here.  We had a scare in our household--our boiler decided it needed some attention.  That's not scary in a more temperate climate, but it was solidly in the "extreme cold warning" range in Manitoba.  That meant real temperatures of -30 and windchills of -40.  (That's darn cold in both Celsius and Fahrenheit.)  I spent much of last week taking care of that, but thank goodness, we are all warm and safe.  A home with no heat is not a good option with those kinds of wind chills.

In the meanwhile...I was so pleased to have one of my designs featured on Upcycle's Creative Reuse Center's Facebook page.   It's this one:
Freestyle Super

And, this sweater has been in constant use during this cold snap!  We love it here.  It uses a lovely soft yarn, Quince & Co. Puffin, which I would normally deem a bit too precious for use in a kid's school sweater.  However, someone else donated it to Upcycle, in Alexandria, Virginia.  We visited Upcycle to do a play group with friends while on a trip to see family.  And I lucked out with enough of this brown yarn to make most of a kid's sweater....and design one, too.

Finally, in 2007, I won a fiction contest for a short story I wrote.  (Wow, that was 12 years ago!)  The magazine, Jerry Jazz Musician, has been doing an amazing retrospective on their fiction contest, and they featured me!

To read the feature, check out this group of profiles, and scroll down.  I won contest #15.

Here's a direct link to the short story itself:
The Prayer for Swift & University

Happy reading!  Winter: It's a good time to stay in, read, knit, and be grateful for a house with working heat.  (I know I sure am.)

Freestyle Super--a new design!

 Hey, can you believe it?  We actually had a snowfall yesterday in Winnipeg.  One that stuck to grass and cars and decks and made a big icy mess!  Our leaves aren't even off the trees yet...but, this mom worked ahead.

Today, I launched a new knitting pattern called Freestyle Super! It comes in a bunch of kid sizes:
2-4, 4-6, 6-8, and 10-12, and it's an oversized pattern.

It even comes with a sample, all knit up, that fits both twins.

Hurray!

I used all North American yarns to knit this, and it was unbelievably quick knit on size #10.75(7mm) needles.  You could buy all Canadian yarns, like Custom Woolen Mills or Briggs & Little. 
Or, you could buy all U.S. yarns and consider the lovely Quince & Co. Puffin... or, you can combine them, as I did!

The pattern is now for sale online at both Ravelry.com and Loveknitting.com.  If you go to buy the pattern on Loveknitting, you will find I've paired up other yarns that they sell--but the colors mostly match this sample.  There are lots of yarn choices at this quick-knitting gauge.

Hope you enjoy these fun shots of our twins while they modelled and horsed around in the backyard.  (before it snowed.)  We're looking forward to wearing this sweater for a long while to come!

If you're even a little interested in knitting one of these for yourself, hustle over and download a pattern soon.  You can have many hours of knitting pleasure for the price of a fancy coffee.

Happy October!

stash additions

I promised a look at the lucky finds I brought home from our trip.  It took a stellar day with gorgeous sunshine and an hour to shoot all the photos I wanted, but it was worth it.  Sometimes just touching fine yarns, imagining the potential in things--it can be inspiring and hopeful.  Here are more images from the photo shoot.

Here are the odd balls of Brooklyn Tweed and Kidsilk Haze I picked up--all yarns someone did not use, donated, and I got for $5US a ball.  Can you imagine colorwork or fuzzy mitts?  I can!

It will be so hard to decide if the blue balls, knit together, will be gorgeous on their own, or if I should use that rose colored tweed to offset the blue and save the mohair for some other purpose.  (mohair is warm but does kind of go up your nose when it is cold, nose drippy weather and wearing mitts...)

A friend was at a yarn shop that was going out of business.  She specializes in art quilting but said she could not stop touching this Alpaca/silk yarn and had to buy me what was left.  I got it in a package sent to my parents' house.  Wow! Just touching it is a tonic for what ails you.  No idea what this will be, something delicate, obviously.  I will need to put into my stash to "marinate" until the right project comes to me.

Last but not least, I got these skeins of Quince & Co. Puffin.  I was delighted by this.  My twins mostly like sweaters knit from DK-to Aran weight yarns, but I could see this becoming a bulky weight version of Stripe Freestyle.  It would be a fast knit and I need to get going, because my guys are growing and need sweaters for next fall.  (It's Winnipeg.  Winter is always coming.)

In the meanwhile, here's an "outtake" of what things looked like as I moved yarn around on my porch.  Sadie was taking a rest (note the squeaky ball) in the shade while I took photos. Even more photos to come soon in another post!  Stay tuned.

PS: Please join me in wishing the Professor a very happy 45th birthday today!  Here's to many more!

Where is that woman?

It's been a whirlwind here...we took a trip east to visit family in Virginia, went to see long time grad school friends and colleagues in North Carolina and more.  We visited a friend's farm and went to the NC Museum of Life & Science.  Our twins particularly enjoyed checking out the bug exhibits, and it turns out that the Professor's grad school advisor and his longtime technician actually raise some of the tobacco horn worms for that exhibit.

The dead silence from the blog has been largely because I am the person who packs the suitcases for three of us, remembers the bathing suits and the sun hats and the very important loveys, toys and school homework.  The dogs came home from the kennel alive and well...and while I was glad to see so many friends and family, I am also glad to be home.

On the knitting front, I have a quick bit of news:

If you'd like to buy one of my Ravelry Patterns ON SALE!...quick, act now!  Time is limited!

I am supporting the Canada KAL, which supports Canadian design and designers.
 Save 20% off all my Ravelry patterns through June 1st. (Ends midnight, CT, US& Canada)  Use this coupon code to save 20%:
Cankal2018  

The other bit of knitting news...while I visited Virginia, some lovely linen yarn arrived in the mail for me, as well as a gift from a friend.  We visited A great Arts Centre in Alexandria, Virginia.  It has lots of programs that allow kids and adults to donate, reuse and recycle their art supplies.  Our friends and their kid took us for a kids' program, and our boys made lots of art to take home.  I visited their store rooms, and scored this:
3 skeins of Quince & Co Puffin (dark brown)
1 skein of Rowan Kidsilk Haze (dark blue)
3 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter (dark blue, rose, and dark brown)
AND two pairs of ebony and rosewood knitting needles.
(No photos yet, it's in the freezer, ensuring no moths got brought home from Virginia.
--I paid $5 US per skein of yarn, and $3 for each pair of knitting needles.  What a great find!

Last, but not least....this week has continued to be crazy.  It's been time to make cupcakes for all of grade 1, clean up the house, and make party plans for two boys who are about to turn SEVEN.
If you don't remember back too far on the blog, read about June 2011 here.

Here's the short version in words.

or, there's this:

Happy Birthday, boys!
Here's to a whole weekend of partying ahead...and hoping for many more years of perfectly ordinary, nice days, with health and well-being every day, for many years to come.

Pew-moan-yah

Well, at least now I know why I was feeling so crummy.  I got a phone call yesterday--Monday--saying someone had looked at my x-ray and saw I had pneumonia. (I got my chest x-ray done at about 7;45 Thursday morning) Yup, I was sicker than just flu for all that time.  (Good thing I didn't keel over in the meanwhile, huh?)  So, now I am taking some lovely antibiotics.  Things still do feel like I am swimming, quietly, underwater a lot of the time.

Good things are coming. (I love lists right now for some reason,)
 #1. It is supposed to really warm up here, right up to freezing, and that is a huge deal for us in winter.  Can't wait for a little warm break.
#2. I made this cheerful, bright salad as part of our "leftovers" dinner--like a rainbow on a cold sunny white winter day.
#3. I saw a very beautiful promotional video for Quince & Co.  This is a Maine yarn company that is run in a really eco-friendly way, with thoughtful designers and knitters behind it.  I have long admired the yarn, even if I am too far away to touch it all myself.  I thought you might enjoy this 3 minute video, too. (I get nothing out of passing this along other than the enjoyment of watching it again.)

Experience Quince from Quince &Co. on Vimeo.

Cold Snap-a sale!

It's been genuinely chilly here the last few days.  (-40 windchills) Plus, we've been fighting a cold virus in the family; it's slowly making the rounds. One or two of us are sick at a time, which means that I've had several quality days at home with somebody sitting on the couch, watching kids' programming on PBS and CBC... but that's not all bad.

First, both twins suddenly made this huge connection... their Daddy (aka the Professor on this blog) is a scientist, and on an episode of Sid the Science Kid, they learned about how scientists use computers to do science and send emails reporting on their findings.  Whew, that suddenly explained why Daddy uses his computer all the time!  Pretty cool stuff to ponder when you are four and sick on the couch with a cold.  We experimented with an iPad later; we sent an email and watched it arrive, imagining it flying invisibly through the air.  Wow. Magic.

Second, I got to do a lot of productive knitting.  When I might normally have gone out to buy a birthday present for a friend of theirs or rummaged among our special home gift box, instead I stayed home and made a hat.  I used this pattern, but revised it to suit a girl who likes purple and flowers.  The crocheted flower rosettes were actually not made by me, either!  Long ago, I got them in a stash exchange, a half finished project was included.  This was some creative re-use!  Here's the project page on Ravelry.

NOTE: no preschooler noticed the photo shoot, was harmed in any way,  or even asked to move from his comfy spot while modelling any of this. :)

The skein of Quince & Co. Puffin yarn was really lovely stuff to work with, and I thoroughly enjoyed knitting up a second hat to be donated to a newcomer to Canada who might need woollies this winter. Information on creating a liner for the hat are included in these Ravelry project notes , these big stitches will not keep out prairie winds on their own!

Playing with this yarn made me realize that it would also work really well for Over, my new sweater pattern.  (Alas, with the current Canadian dollar exchange rate, I'm probably not going to be able to swing that, but another good Lopi yarn substitute might be  Briggs and Little Super here in Canada.

I also sent out a newsletter this week to my mailing list...(want to sign up?  Check out the sidebar to the right of this text on the blog)
and I included a little sale information.

I'm having a January sale.  Use this coupon code:
Cold Snap

and get 20% off of any of my Rav patterns or my eBook until the end of January.  Happy knitting!  Happy winter!  Now you can enjoy the sale too!

Oh...and don't forget!  Please remember to register if you'd like to learn to spin on Sunday, January 24th, here in Winnipeg.  I can't wait to meet you and spin with you!

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.