No more bandwidth?

You may wonder where I've been.  The answer would be, umm, completely overwhelmed with moving and all it entails!  Also, the “new” house needs quite a bit more work, so we are living in a construction zone.  Not a noisy "disrupt the neighbours" or 24 hour highway construction zone, but the kind that slowly and steadily has now lasted a year and now, in this phase, involves a lot of demolition.  Here is a shot of our kitchen, halfway through being gutted, a couple days ago.  Note the ugly ancient carpet that was found under the island, (why?!) and our dog in the shot, she sticks close by all the time right now.  This stuff is nerve-wracking at times.

Also anxiety producing?  Having freezing pipes, a half demolished kitchen, and a wall without a proper support beam in place.  So, yeah, we're getting a new kitchen that we hadn't bargained for...one without an enormous island.  (Yes, I want a kitchen table in the kitchen.  I'm so retro.)  In the end though, it will be warmer and safer too, so that's a bonus!

Our temporary kitchen is inside of a first floor powder room, which will eventually be a half-bath again.  It was originally part of a servants' staircase and was seriously under-insulated.  This meant the pipes froze there too with some frequency.  We're revisiting that lack of insulation now while we wash dishes.  Glad it is only November and not too cold yet.  It's really good news that this old house was built in a sturdy way in the beginning, it's lived through some badly done renovations in the past, and now we get to help fix it all.

In the midst of all this, I'm juggling some new part-time work, some older freelance commitments, and of course, the care and feeding of my twins, who are very busy being in grade 6. Just today, I started volunteering at my kids'  elementary school with grade 1 kids in the bilingual program, too. It was a fun afternoon. 

So of course, I wasn't busy enough? ...so I signed up for an event!  I am participating again as a designer in the Fasten Off Yarn-a-long.  What's this?  Well, it's a way to buy lots of knitting patterns, on sale, from November 25th until December 8th.  It's also a way to participate in a yarn-along (knitting and crochet) event, even if you can't participate on Ravelry.  My patterns on Payhip and my Ravelry patterns are all on sale for 25% off with the coupon code: FO2022.

There are also games to participate in, a Discord channel, and more.  The good news is that it's a sale with over 100 designers participating!  Lots of exciting designs to explore and enjoy.  Learn more at www.fastenoffyal.com and have fun!

Sale!!

 Big sale!  All my patterns on  Ravelry and on Payhip are on sale!

The sale starts today, November 30th, at 9pm ET and ends at midnight ET on December 6th.  Use this coupon code to get 25% off!

FO2021

Also, please feel free to join in with the Fasten Off YAL to chat on discord, earn prizes, and more!  This is an accessible event, which is why you can gain access to the whole sale and event without using Ravelry, it offers lots of accessible patterns and web options, too.

Enjoy! (And I would be so grateful if you wanted to check out my designs, we just replaced our boiler cause uhh, the old one died, we needed heat and winter is here!  Every download counts!)

Here comes 2020!

In 2019, I designed and published 4 knitting patterns: worrybear, strippymcstrippit, deirhart and thestayputkippah.

 I also wrote and had published more than 65 articles, helped edit a diabetes health book, and returned to sewing—since October, I have made myself 4 dresses, 1 pair of pants, a vest, some dish towels and a summer tunic! Whoa. My boss is reasonably satisfied with my output....
(I am a freelancer.  The boss is me!)

To celebrate 2020 and my upcoming birthday, I am offering 20% off all my Ravelry patterns (including Three Ply, which was featured in Vogue Knitting Magazine this fall!). This ends January 5th at midnight, CT. Thanks for celebrating with me! Have a wonderful new year!
Use this 20% off coupon code on Ravelry:
2020


Psst!  I sent a new pattern off to the tech editor...Stay tuned!  Here's something new for 2020...I can't wait to share it with you!

Back to School Sale!

The first day of school went smoothly around here, thank goodness...and I am finally getting back to my work life.  All the work (writing, etc.) has to happen when kids are asleep, guests have left, and this makes for one very tired freelancer.

I recently had an article come out here--but I need to avoid commenting on details to protect the privacy of some vulnerable minors.  It's a bad situation, but that's all I can say for now.  It fits under the category of 'something has gone really wrong with protecting kids.' I used to teach in inner-city environments like DC and Buffalo, NY, I know when something should be reported, but I'm worried that no one will look into this, despite my best efforts to report the info safely.

In happier news:

I'm having an article come out in the next issue of PLY Magazine!  It's called "The Mad Felter" and I'm excited to see how it looks in print.

In other happy news...

I am running a sale over on Ravelry!

Use the coupon code:
backtoschool2019

and get 20% off all my Rav patterns until September 12th.  (ends midnight, CT, US & Canada)

This is your chance to get my new pattern, Strippy McStrippit, on sale, too!

I'm giving blog readers a special opportunity to get the sale a little bit ahead of everyone else, too...if you read this, feel free to share the promotion! Thanks for checking out my work!  Happy September!

A sale! An article! A finished object

Let's celebrate summer!  Every year for maybe five years now, I've participated in the Canada KAL (Knit Along) by offering a discount on all my Ravelry patterns!  This year, I'm also offering four free patterns to folks who participate in knit along.  To find out more, check out the Designed in Canada Ravelry group here.

To cut right to the chase, my patterns are all on sale until midnight (ends CT, Canada and the US, on Canada Day, July 1st.  To get 25% off, just use the coupon code:
Cankal2019

Hint: You can use this discount even if you don't want to knit along with anyone else!
In other news...This past week or two has been a bit rocky.  I described some of it in this column I wrote for the Jewish Independent.  It's called Being positive can be hard.

Cause, yes, it has been a bit difficult to be positive.  My car still has two broken windows. We have had more than two weeks of sidewalk and street construction right beside our house.  Last, but not least, before we knew that the construction was happening, we scheduled a renovation job....and had insulation shot into the walls of our house.

On the good side, getting insulation into our 100 year old, empty walls, will be amazing in the winter time now.  Hopefully, when you stand by an outer wall inside our house this winter, it will not feel like the dementors from Harry Potter are sucking out your soul!  On the bad side, there was a lot of drilling, blowing, and other construction sounds to add to the jack hammering on the street.  It was a long few days.  (And we still have more renos happening in July.)  We've been hoping to do this work for a long time, so now I just have to grin and bear it!

I've also been doing a big editing job so haven't had a chance to write up a knitting pattern for a while...or frankly, think much beyond what we would have for dinner.  As a little palette cleanser, I took a ball of Japanese cellulose yarn that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law brought me back from Japan and I turned into this little crocheted pouch.  That wasn't enough though, I had to make a lining and a zipper, too.  It turned out ok, too!  Here it is, blocking, with a plastic bin inside to make it stand upright. Sometimes making something, from start to finish, and ending up with a useful item helps combat the feeling of chaos all around me...

Right as the insulation job was starting, we found out that they would not be able to drill all the holes on the outside of the house.  So, the professor and one of my twins worked all last weekend to move anything fragile or delicate out of the way.  This is what my office looks like right now.  There's just a bit of room on the edge of the futon, between the wheels and the loom bench, for me to sit while working, and if Sadie the dog is careful, she can sleep near me on the futon, or on my foot.  It's cramped.  (And it will all be moved again, after the walls are spackled and repainted.  It might be a while...)  Happy summer projects!

New article, new design and a sale!

The Jewish Independent has just published my article, "A need for order in our lives."  If I had to come up with a theme for the last few weeks, it would be "please help me make order, everything feels out of control over here!"

We had a big surprise right before Louis Riel weekend (Family Day in other provinces, or Presidents' Day in the US.)  A water main break happened right across the street from our house. The whole next block was a skating rink, but had no water to drink.  We were very lucky, we didn't lose water, although it was a bit brownish for about a day.  It was safe for flushing and washing, but we did use bottled water and I took a whole Shabbat dinner, pre-cooked, right out of the freezer rather than try to cook under those conditions.  It's good to be prepared.

And yes, it is loud when the utilities folk are jack hammering outside and it's -30 out.  Did I mention we had a relative visiting from the US?!  I was so frazzled that I lost my parking ticket from the airport parkade and had to pay the full day's worth of parking-- for 45 minutes. (Yes, I am not over that one yet!)  Some days are like that.  We've had a few sick days and this other chaos here, too. (Pause here and feel comforted by a bear or two...)

But meanwhile, I have finally (after many years of being told to do it) published this pattern.  What pattern?  It's
Worry Bear.  For now it's available on Ravelry, and I hope it will become available on Loveknitting.com soon.

This is a special design for me.  It's a pocket sized bear, and it comes in two sizes.  One fits a kid's hand, and the larger size fits an adult's hand.  It's an ideal fidget tool for someone with ADHD, SPD, Autism, dementia, Alzheimer's, anxiety--or anybody who is worried.  It's a private hug in your pocket that helps you know someone loves you.  I've made these for family and friends for years.
In order to celebrate FINALLY getting it published, I'm having a sale.  Until March 5th (ends midnight, CT, US & Canada), get 20% off all my Ravelry patterns  with the coupon code:
Worry Bear

...Because everybody gets worried sometimes. It might be great to make extras if you have time, and donate them to a school, hospital, ambulance service, or anyplace where people might feel stressed.  I have dear ones who carry these around every day.  (Heck, even I sometimes need a Worry Bear or two.  Like, when the water main broke, and I lost my parking ticket....)

Take care!  We all worry.  Consider knitting a Worry Bear instead.

Sale & Freestyle

This fall has been intense--lots of stuff on the homefront to sort out and fix.  This past week, Sally the dog (now, age 14!) had a bad tummy ache and we were worried things were all over for her.  She seems to be on the mend...with a lot of antibiotics, anti-nausea pills, and more.  Meanwhile, things haven't been quiet elsewhere either.

I wrote about some of it in this article that came out last Friday:
Sorting out playground fights

The short version is that untangling what's happening in my twins' lives can take a while. Lots of appointments and drama. Sometimes, it's a lot easier to fix a sweater!  Stripe Freestyle had a major blow-out this past weekend.  This is one of the cuffs, and suddenly, I saw my kid's thumb going through the cuff like a thumb hole...where I hadn't made one when designing the sweater!

He loves this sweater.

So, first I got it off his body. (not easy, actually.)
I waited until all seven year olds were asleep....
I put a piece of white paper behind the enormous hole so I could really see it.

I picked up stitches substantially below the beginning of the hole, using a double pointed needle one size below what's called for in the pattern.  Then, I began recreating the cuff, picking up whatever weak stitches and edges I could on either side of the hole.
When I was finished, it did not look perfect or untouched.  In fact, I even took a tapestry needle and stitched over many weak stitches I'd spied around the hole--after this was knit up.

And making this, and RE-making this, felt good.  He loves this sweater and has worn it just about every other day for the last year, and I have no intention of trying to either knit a whole new one or shop for anything right now.  Instead, I fixed what I'd made previously, and that was the kind of "reduce, reuse, recycle" mantra that I'd like to have more of in my life.

After the big mending job, it needed a bath, and then it dried on a towel on the radiator over night, and is now good to go.  I am, however, encouraging my lovely boy to consider rotating his sweaters a bit more, because this one will not last forever.

THE SALE
If you too are a "maker" sort?
I'd like to invite you to download a pattern from Ravelry, at 25% off, with this coupon code:
Making

The sale lasts until midnight, CT, on November 30th.  Please share this "Making Sale" with friends!

Stay warm.  Happy knitting, cooking, reading, resting on the couch, and enjoying this hibernating season. :)

A new design for the trains

I'll preface this by saying that the tragic events in Pittsburgh last Saturday have really thrown me for a loop...and many things have taken a back seat to this tragedy.  I've already had to write a column on deadline about it, and well, maybe I'll be able to write more here later.

However, I've got little kids, so we need to find things to celebrate and talk about to counterbalance this grief.

The big news in Manitoba is the return of the train to Churchill!    In fact, our prime minister even visited Churchill to celebrate.
In honor of this event, I've released a new sweater pattern.  Well, no, actually, I'd designed this train-themed sweater with my twins previous to the announcement, but what a great coincidence, huh?!

On Track is now available on both Ravelry and on Loveknitting.com.  It's a kid sweater (good for boys & girls, truly unisex) in sizes 2-10.

It's also available for sale on Ravelry for 50% off until Sunday, November 4th, at midnight CT (US & Canada) with the coupon code:

Churchill

The day of the photo shoot, we played outside.  This is what twins, one dog, and two handknit sweaters look in action. (Other dog was hiding under the porch, and two parents were trying to keep from being run over...)

sale! Making shade...

 To celebrate the launch of Fissure, my new pattern, I decided to have a sale. 

Save 20% off all my Ravelry patterns!

Use the coupon code:

Fissure

The sale ends July 31st at midnight (CT, US & Canada).

While I've been away from the blog, I've been busy.  The Professor travelled to Ottawa for a second conference, the boys had summer camp, and Sadie the dog has needed an endless supply of walks, kongs filled with peanut butter, and other entertainment.

Also, it's been warmer than usual here, and we don't have air conditioning.  We don't feel we need it, but our living room was heating up.  I used an old sheet, some masking tape, and made a big curtain, and voila!  Shade.  However, it wasn't terribly elegant.  I missed seeing the dappled sun through the leaves, but also?  Our bank of windows cooked the room.  So, I spent $20 on curtain rods at Corydon Hardware Store.

I got out a bolt of muslin I bought years ago.  I made curtains. It was easy to hang them.  Old houses mean someone has done this before; we just used the holes they left on the window frames. We think we may take them down at the end of August, when it gets cool around here...but I didn't spend much on the effort, and it sure is cooler in our living room now. (I've purposely made this a small photo so you can't see the mess, right?!)

Don't forget the 20% off pattern sale!  The coupon code is: 

Responsibilities and Sale

Today is the last day of 25% off sale for all my Rav patterns.  The sale ends tonight, Monday night at midnight, Central Time, US &Canada.
 Use this coupon code: Thanks 
to get 25% off all my patterns!  

(I'll be honest, very few people have taken advantage of this sale as of yet.  I haven't been the best at marketing it either--both my twins had a stomach bug this weekend.  We did a lot of laundry Saturday night--it was an all-night event. --Not much sleep for this mommy! Things seem better now.  I heard 17 kids had to go home from their school on Friday with the same virus, so it's not just us...but it sure is yucky!)

This leads me to other news.  On Saturday, the CBC Manitoba webpage ran my article:  (Note, I do not choose or write the headlines.)

Premier Brian Pallister needs to give up risky solo hikes or job

As I cleaned up little boys in the middle of the night, I also got to watch the CBC Facebook feed fill up with comments.  Some thought I had a point...and others belittled me, my writing, my concerns about responsible parenting, and more.  It was an interesting thing--one wonders why people need to take time to say all the negative stuff...did I make points that bothered them?  Did they feel guilty? Were they truly interested in defending the privacy of our politicians' vacations?  

(My husband, the Professor, pointed out that he and his colleagues need to submit emergency phone numbers and ways they can always be reached when they go away, whether it's to visit relatives or off-grid.  The Premier apparently doesn't...)

I have heard of writers who never read public comments on their work, and others who read everything and respond.  I don't respond, for the most part, unless someone has written me privately.  I do read the comments when I can though--and it would seem this piece struck a nerve.

Please take advantage of the pattern sale while it lasts if you are knitter!  Who knows if you too will be stuck on the couch with sick kids...and need your knitting...?

A Sale, Slow Fashion and Fun

Thanks for all the kind thoughts about Harry-- we appreciate it and miss him very much.
And now, some knitting talk:
A while back, I wrote about my stash and a sweater I'd just made.  Here's the thing--I made the sweater, and the kid was happy wearing it.  Very happy.  However, I just didn't love the yarn, it felt droopy to me, so I gifted it to my mom in case she could use it.  It went to Virginia.

Time passed and my kid loved the heck out of this sweater, and it stayed in good shape.  However, this year, when he put it on, the sleeves were way too short, and so was the length of the sweater.  (This kid's one long string bean in shape!)
I dug in the stash but could not find the leftovers...as they no longer lived in Canada.  My mom came to the rescue and mailed the yarn back from Virginia...so re-fashioning this sweater cost a lot in international postage.  (Thanks, Mom!)  Here is a quick snapshot of the sweater, with it's new additions.  Note the stripes on the sleeves and two additional orange and blue stripes on the bottom.  I also ditched the seed stitch at the bottom in favor of ribbing, as the seed stitch made it look even more droopy.  Kid is back to wearing and enjoying this enormously.  I still find Rowan Felted Tweed DK a bit limp, but it knits up nicely and has worn very well.

This year, I realized it was not possible for me to be coming up with much to say about slow fashion in October, as I did last year, as I really live it all year round whenever I can.  This sweater remake is a great example.

Also a good example?  My twins were doing horse races in the yard a few days ago after school.  I made their race horses--they are hobby horses.  I doubled old Smart Wool socks with big holes to make those horse heads, and used bits of felt from felted sweaters (from diaper soakers when we cloth diapered) to make their eyes and other features.  The only costs were many hours of my time and the broom sticks from the hardware store.

In honour of Canadian Thanksgiving, I am running a little Ravelry sale on my patterns.  Until October 16th (ends midnight, CT US & Canada), my knitting patterns will all be on sale with the coupon code: Thanks

Also, I've learned recently that my local bookstore, McNally Robinson, has copies of all three of my books available online here, and actual print copies of my latest book, From the Outside In are now available there, too.  So, if you like to do things the old fashioned way and buy your books in person in Winnipeg, now you can!

Bandana goes live!

Do you remember how I was spinning Canadian grown and processed flax a while back?  Extolling the virtues of the whole thing?

That flax became yarn, which got simmered to wash it, and then it got balled up and knit into....this.  A new design.  It's called Bandana.  It's available on Ravelry as part of the Manitoba Fibre Festival's Flatlands Collection.  As a result of being part of the collection, the fabulous ash of sunflower knits did a photo shoot, and it was lovely.  Really artistic.  Beyond what I'd hoped.

 This accessory collection is launching August 1st, and to celebrate the Manitoba Fibre Festival KAL, everything in the Flatlands Collection will be 30% off (no need for a coupon) from now until August 6th at midnight, CT.

It's currently summertime warm in Manitoba. The true confessions part of this is that I wear a lot of linen in the summer. I wanted to design something that would hold up to our daily roughhousing.  This past weekend, for instance, we went cherry picking, had an impromptu trip to Gimli for lunch and ice cream. Back in Winnipeg,we played in both the yard wading pool and at a neighborhood one, and watered the lawn with the wading pool leftovers.  There were hands-on opportunities to be stained with cherries, ice cream, grass, soaked with water, covered with sidewalk chalk, and more...

 I'd like to pretend I'm wearing this bandana as an elegant shawl option....and not just folding it up "for good."  For now, it is being held for display at the festival, which happens September 15 and 16, 2017, at the Red River Ex in Winnipeg.

 If I get a chance to wear Bandana, it's far more likely to be on my head, or being used to wipe off bits of ice cream from passing six year olds....but I'd like to dream of an elegant knitwear future.  (That's why I love those fancy photo shoots...)

 Bandana is available as a digital download on Ravelry right now, and will cost US$6---but it's 30% off until August 6th!  Please join me in a quick and cool summer knit.  I know I can't be the only person who needs a little textured hidden paisley or two to jazz up my summer wardrobe. :)

Summer knitting

Some people don't knit in the summertime.  Weird, huh?  I am of the opinion that there is no bad time for knitting, and further--I live in Winnipeg.  Winter is always coming.  My twins have outgrown nearly all their mitts, and we're a family that wears double layered mitts when it's cold.  In the last month, I've done 2 pairs of kid mittens and am on to #3.  (I'm aiming for a minimum of 4 pairs of kid mitts, but maybe more, we need back ups)

The ones pictured here are based on an old Penny Straker pattern I have altered significantly but used for over 20 years!  This project started around the time we travelled to Virginia in late June.  I am now working on a stranded pair of The hole inside mitts, in green and orange. (Stranded = warmer)  At home, the mitten project happens solely when we are listening to audio books before bedtime.  We're currently having a binge: the Henry Huggins Audio Collection.  It's something like 15 hours of listening, all doled out 20 minutes at a time before twins go to bed.

I also had a little grocery store experience (oops) where I spent more than I meant to--I was feeling relaxed in the air conditioning...it got out of control.  Little did I know that the store also was looking to give away a lot of Canadian blueberries for free, and I ended up with 8 lbs of blueberries, free upon (big) purchase.  So, lots of frozen fruit, 10 cups of jam, fruit salad and crumble later, we're making progress on that front, too.  Like a bear, I'm preparing for winter hibernation.

I'm swatching up a new design project: I want to see if I can come up with a sweater pattern done in strips or sections that are easy to carry around.  I am currently knitting a top down cardigan and I'm on the second sleeve.  That thing is so heavy and hot there is no way I will bring it anywhere!  Hence the strip idea.
After a lot of cooking, canning and cranking out a couple of articles, I felt the need to sit outside, and yesterday, I actually took one of my spinning wheels outdoors, sat on the back porch, drank some iced coffee, did some spinning and read (using my Ipad) at the same time.  It seemed remarkably indulgent and delicious.

If you're a summertime knitter like me, did you know that:
A) I also sell patterns on Loveknitting?

B) Loveknitting is having a BIG SUMMER SALE?
(I get nothing from telling you about the sale--nothing but the feeling that I am helping out friends, right?!)
Happy Summer!  (We're having a really fine weather, mosquito-free one here)
PS: Yarn choices...
White mitts: my handspun, unknown medium wool odds and ends
Blue mitts: Patons Wool Worsted and a strand of Kroy sock yarn (please don't felt these,my twin who felts mitts)
Brown Swatch: Lopi Einband, naturally colored brown, knit doubled

Sale!

For Knitters...(my fiber tribe!):
There's a great knit-along/crochet-along, once a year, to celebrate knitwear designers in Canada.  I'm thrilled to be a small part of it.  I've donated a few patterns as prizes--to be given away to lucky winners!  Also...
In celebration of the CANADA KAL/CAL 2017, It's 20% off on all my Ravelry patterns from now until June 1st.  (Ending at midnight, CT, US & Canada)  Please use the coupon code:
Cankal2017
to get 20% off.
This event offered me the chance to see what I've done, designing-wise, in the past year on Ravelry.
Here are some photos and links to what's new this time around:

 Undertow came out a year ago, and I wore it a lot this winter.  Soft, stretchy, and definitely warm...mine just got a wash so I could tuck it away.  Here's hoping I won't need it til October!

Gigadistal is a super bulky, fast knit, great for combining a couple (or three) strands of yarn.  It is a fun accessory for cooler spring/summer/fall days.  I've worn my sample quite a bit.

 Nanodistal, knit from laceweight linen, is Gigadistal's cousin.  Same rough shape and construction--very different effect!  I wore this even on the hottest day.  It really dresses up loose summer clothing, and I love the drape of linen.

 Plum Ribbed Cardigan is a new release of an older favorite--formerly a Knit Picks exclusive.  This cardigan took me a while to reknit, but once done?  It was so cozy I even wore it to sleep!

Last but not least, the Thump Thump Mittens--textured, stranded knitting with a little red, released in time for Valentine's Day, 2017.

I hope you find something special to enjoy and get 20% off during this sale.  

Thanks, as always, for checking out my designs!