A Pattern I Like!

I showed you in a post the other day - one day is running into the next lately - the beautiful viscose that Jo sent me to encourage me (actually I wanted to put bribe with the dashes through the letters, but how do you do that, darned if I know) get started on my sweater for the Red Sweater KAL. Now I finally have a pattern that I think will be perfect with the beautiful yarn I have and here it is -

I found the pattern in a book I bought at the second hand book store and the book is called "Knit It Your Way" by Cynthia Yanok Wise. There are several patterns for sweaters that she has used two different yarns to make two very different sweaters. The interesting thing about the sweater I chose is that you knit two triangles - you know cast on 3 stitches, increase both sides until the triangle measures ? inches on the sides not on the needles and then hold the stitches on a stitch holder and knit the other triangle in the same way. Put all the stitches from both triangles on the needle and join in the middle while you increase on the sides and decrease in the middle. The back is the same as the front. To finish, you sew up the shoulder seams - measurement given for each size and also sew up the side seams, leaving an arm opening. In one version, she added beads and wore it as a summer top - it was done in variegated sherbet colours. The one I am knitting will not have beads - I do not think they would add anything to the sweater. I have a mid-calf length dressy dress that is sleeveless and black - this sweater will be something I can wear over the dress for the holiday season. I must also keep my eye out for a lovely black camisole and then I can wear it with a nice black skirt or pair of pants. Hate to knit something that maybe only gets worn once a year!

The nice thing about the book is that it costs $46.99 new and there was actually a sticker on it where the book store had charged $54.99 and I got it second hand for $14.49 I love a good bargain and the yarn was a gift - at least I am sure I will have more than a bit of difficulty getting Jo to accept money. Oh well, I am always happy to make a swap - I will send her what she cannot get in Ireland for what I can get here and send to her! I love to make up parcels for good friends and family!

Gifts from Ireland!

When I came home today after my Elder College classes, with nothing on my mind except a good hot cup of tea, there was a package for me from dear, Jo.Here is what the lovely parcel contained.



Sorry, but the photo does not do the yarn justice. It is a wonderful viscose - not an itch in a country mile - and the most beautiful 'jewel' tones of red; copper; blue; and the shades in between as they blend into each other.

Now, Jo, wanted me to join in the Red Sweater KAL and so she sent me the yarn - now all I want is for Jo to come here, bring her beautiful red yarn and her Alice Starmore pattern and we should be able to whip up our sweaters over many cups of tea, glasses of wine, laughter, tears and whatever two bloggers could get up to. The odd visit to LYSs would perhaps be needed, or else we could have carpal tunnel syndrome from so much continuous knitting. With the cost of airfare, the hazards of travel, the jet lag and time, perhaps we need to knit and email - we will encourage each other from afar, but Jo's sweater has 1,000+ stitches,is long sleeved and mine is short sleeved, a very simple pattern - viscose is delicious to knit with, but stitch definition is not great. I don't care, I love, love, love my yarn and I just might need a wee bit more! A small skein might accompany some bainin she is sending to me to make a vest - she gave me some as a gift when she visited and now I want a souvenir vest! I will send any number of things to Ireland to make sure we stay good friends, but my love for this dear woman is a pure joy. I am trying to see if we can meet in Toronto for a fibre festival in Spring and we are off to Germany to visit out DD and family next year, so perhaps a short visit to Cork would be possible. I want to go to the SHED - you know the one with all the wonderful treasurers!!

I have been knitting since Tilia, and finally I got something that fit - it did go to the frog pond a few times, but here is a little vest from some Berroco Ultra Alpaca I had in my stash. I love the little vest, in fact, I wore it today! I am now knitting one in a beautiful red from Sandnes Smart! This vest will be the same, but an inch or more longer in the body and perhaps a bit of a pattern down the centre front.


Even my colour is not great in this photo! Never mind, I was just so pleased to make something that I could wear, as after the episode with Tilia I had lost some of my knitting esteem! All it took was one vest to make me a happy knitter.

I also started to do a little felting from the book, One Skein, which I had shown before. I have some left over bits of Galway and a thrift store purchase of Lopi, so I made a small bowl. Below are the before and after photos of the bowl. I put my tea mug beside the bowl so you could see the size of the 'furry' bowl. I think it will get a bit of a trim when it is dry! I think these little bowls would make great gifts, but next time, I will make sure to cast on much looser!

My Life In The Frog Pond!

In case you think I have gone off to Rhinebeck - noooooooooooo, DARN! I have spent so much time in the frog pond this week that I am all 'pruney'! It seemed that I knit 2 frogged 1, and so on and so on.



Remember the scarf I was knitting in the rose and mauve, well I realized that I would not have enough yarn to have a scarf of any size, so I frogged it. Here is the new scarf -
This is a simple garter lace pattern. The pattern is on 4 + 2. Both rows are the same. I CO 30 stitches - *K2, yrn, P2tog* continue to last 2 st and K2. I will continue until I run out of yarn. This silk and mohair does not frog well - it does not give up easily!!





I am still working on my lacy Sirdar cardigan. Not much progress, as you can see, but that has something to do with stubborness of a knitter who thinks she is just good enough at lace to not require life lines. See those red life lines? That tells the story - humbled knitter will always use life lines with lace, well almost always.




Now what could I do with 2+ skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca? I had wanted a vest for sometime, so I started looking in my pattern books. You know you buy those old knitting magazines and stash them away and forget that there were a few good patterns in them - this vest came from one of my old magazines. It was not a simple knit - well actually it is simple, but I complicated it. I learned on this knit to measure, measure, measure as I knit, even if my gauge swatch is okay! The back was knit twice and part of the front was also knit twice. It is'dry' blocking. I have to sew up one shoulder seam, pick up around the neck and knit 8 rows of garter stitch and then cast off. Sew up the remaining shoulder seam and neck band. Pick up and knit 8 rows of garter stitch around both arm openings and sew up side seams and arms 'bands'. Give it all a little blocking - let dry - put on and pray! Surely it will fit - I have measured more than I ever did before. You know we all should check our measurements from time to time - somewhere I have lost two inches on my chest. Nor for me, I could easily change this by adding more fiberfil to my 'tit bits', but I don't want to! I always wanted to be small busted, go figure, I was large busted. If I had to give them up on the war on breast cancer, I could then be whatever size I wanted to!! Every cloud does have a silver lining!

I guess you wonder what I mean by 'dry' blocking. You know, this is probably the way that you all block, but I read somewhere that you need to wet - like drench - the garment and then block. This does not work for me, at least it did not on Tilia. That darn yarn got very 'stretchy' when you wet it and I was not taking a chance on this one. I carefully pinned the vest onto the towel, measuring as I went and then I took a mister bottle of water and gave it a good mist. Tomorrow, I will unpin the beauty and finish it off. Is this the correct way to do it? For me it seems better, as working with wet wool is not easy - at least for me.

I am involved in a little exchange with Ms. Knitingale and a few others, and here are the questions I had to answer for my secret pal! Even you, if you are not in the exchange, will get to know a bit more about me!

The questions:

1. What is your favorite color?
It is usually red, but lately I have started to love teal/turquoise!

2. Is there a color you dislike?
It is not so much that I don't like them, but I cannot wear burgundy or orange reds. I am beginning to love solid colours more and more, although you will see lots of variegated yarns on my blog.

3. Do you have any pets? What kind?
We have two Cairn Terriers, Isla and Tibbie!

4. Is there any knitting-related item you’re longing to have?
I cannot think of anything!

5. Are you a sock knitter?
Yes I am and I knit them on 2.25mm dpns that used to be my grandmother's.

6. Do have any online wish lists?
No!

7. Do you collect anything that isn’t terribly expensive?
Not really, but I have a bathroom with angels everywhere!

8. What would make you smile or giggle with delight to find it in your gift box?
Anything can bring a smile to my face, if it is chosen by someone just for me!

9. Is there anything that would make you cringe if you found it in your gift box?
Nothing I can think of!

10. Do you have a favorite edible treat?
I love ginger!

11. Do you drink coffee, tea, cocoa, or….?
I love tea - black, green, herbal - all kinds!

12. Are there any dietary restrictions your pal should know about?
I do not eat things with added sugar. I am lucky enough to get sugar-free chocolates here where I live!

13. Do you celebrate a winter holiday of any kind and, if so, would you like to receive anything holiday themed?
We celebrate Christmas and a little ornament means a lot to me. I enjoy decorating the tree and reminiscing over all the ornaments from my children, friends, etc. I also have an Advent story that I read to myself each Christmas. I guess I am a child at heart!

Now that wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. This should be fun and I look forward to finding out about my secret pal! I have already got a few things in mind. You know this blogging is just the best. I get to learn about other countries, other gals who love to knit and they get to know about my part of the world and me. Of course, meeting Jo and Lisa, two fellow bloggers is just the very best. On Friday, Lisa and I went to our two local LYSs. The newest one had a new shipment in of Handmaiden yarns - lots of Sea Silk, Jo.

If you want to see some beautiful winter landscape photos go to Lene's blog, Dances With Wool. Just look at those beautiful frost flowers!

Knitting, Gardening and Reading!

Today was a day of doing all three things. I finished reading 'Medea' by Euripides for my Great Books course. I have to be up on this reading, as I am the facilitator.

I have been delaying really starting to tidy up the garden for winter, but yesterday's rains made me think that I would rather do it now before the heavy rains come. I have well over 40 hostas, and you know they can get to be a real mess when they are soaked with rain - they came out and I made a nice big jug full of their leaves. I have some very large-leaf hostas, as you can see one hanging down the front of the jug.





I also picked some of the last roses of summer and cut back my red geraniums or pelargoniums to be exact. I will put the pelargoniums in the greenhouse for winter, but I always cut them back hard - I will get lots of growth in the spring. I only grow the geraniums in old canners - used to use them for dyeing wool for rug hooking!

I have had these particular red geraniums for many years and they have always given me great colour and never let me down!





I picked a few roses to enjoy in the house - just now I have lots of blooms in the house, but I try year round to have something in the way of flowers, even if it is only a few little violets from the garden. Flowers are good for the soul!






I have done a bit of knitting today as well. This is a 'somewhat' scarf - at least I think that is the title. I saw it on someone's blog when I was surfing, and I thought my Fleece Artist Silk Merino would look nice with this pattern. What do you think?



Now that I have managed to get the writing beside the appropriate picture - have been trying to figure that out for quite some time. I really want to put the Red Sweater KAL button on my sidebar. I did the others, but that was so long ago. If anyone who reads this blog knows how to do that, could you email me the answer to johnpegc@telus.net

Beautiful Saturday Sky!

I got up early this morning and then thought, oh yes Saturday Sky day and went for the camera. I am not getting up any earlier, but the sun is getting up later than I am, so thus I get to see this beauty before breakfast. Now the powers that be, will change all this in a few more weeks, and we will probably get up together for a bit.



This sky did get cloudier and we got a very light shower. Showery weather makes for good knitting time - the girl is looking for silver linings in clouds these days! Tilia makes me do it!

My dear Irish lass, Jo, has made me an offer of some red viscose to knit a red sweater for the Red Sweater KAL. If you go to Jo's blog, you can see a site on the right side of the blog to go to and join. Now I have to join and for that I am truly glad! Jo is sending me some beautiful (at least as much as I can see on the blog) red variegated viscose - not an ITCH to be found in a country mile! Well, I now have a little package to send to Jo and what can you send a gal who has everything (and most of it accumulated in the past month) in the way of delicious fibres that a girl could desire? Oh, I found a few little things!

She is sending me some bainin from Kerry Woolen Mills and I plan to knit a beautiful vest - it will be pure wool, but with a shirt under, I will be fine.

Went to another of my LYSs last evening and tried to find some non-wool, but certainly non-acrylic, yarn! This is not as easy as I thought it might be. Why is it that I can wear Superwash Merino socks and I have happy relaxed feet? Can anyone explain that to me?

Thank You for all the support from blogland!

Well, I cannot thank all of you enough for your kind words. Last night I felt sick and that is not putting it too strongly, but with a good night's sleep and some exercise, I have thought the problem out and here is my decision.

Tilia is taking a trip to the frog pond. All of you, like me, think she is a beautiful colour and one that I can use in my wardrobe! I will not be changing my hair colour - like our mothers were known to say, "Everything goes well with white!" She was right and Tilia does go well with my white hair! You see, you can find some good in all situations, no matter how bad you think they are - and last night I thought this one was pretty bad!

Tilia is not taking any hot baths! If the wool is itchy on me, shrinking it is not going to make it less itchy.

Tilia will turn into a beautiful cardigan. I have other sweaters that itch, but with a blouse and camisole underneath, no itchiness!

I loved the feel of the Silky Wool as I knit. I had wrapped it about my arms, no itch, but when I put Tilia on in all her glory, she was ITCHY!!

I think I might just knit her on smaller needles - she seems loose to me - it is not her morals am I speaking about here, just her behaviour when knitted up! I will, again, knit another gauge swatch and give it another go.

Will all this be done real soon - NO! Tilia and I need time to grieve for what might have been! Could this be what I was speaking about a few days ago - the reason we have lots of UFOs is because we cherish the potential and are not always ready to be disappointed and thrown into the frog pond! Gulp! Isn't it wonderful that I can swim?

I thought all this out this morning as I swam 64 lengths at the pool. I do count, but a lot of problem solving is done as I swim! I also water walked and ran for another 40 minutes, so Tilia had lots of thoughts of the possibilities of saving her and a cardigan is the best of all choices I think.

I have four more sweaters in the queue - actually make that five! I am currently knitting a lace cardigan in viscose and acrylic - now lest you get faint, viscose is made from wood fibre, so it is okay by me! Probably love it as I spent the first three winters of my life in a logging camp - my Mom was the cook and my Dad owned the logging business! Funny how things come back to us!

My next sweater on the needles will be a pullover from Sally Melville's Book 2 Purl Stitch I am knitting one pullover in Patons Katrina which is 92% Rayon and 8% polyester! Not an itch to be found here. I also plan to make maybe two of this pullover in the same yarn - short, loose and easily lengthened - one in a beautiful deep mauve and one in a grey/cream! Now the fourth sweater is in Rowan 39 book and will be a black cardigan knit with cotton rope by Rowan and the sweater is called Antoinette - again no itch, but I will watch my neck! The fifth sweater is from Sally Melville's first book Knit 1, which I had shown in an earlier post. I am knitting with a KAL from London Wul Farm! It will be in Patons Katrina in a beautiful sage colour! Somewhere in there, Tilia will become a cardigan - she is all part of the process, as Margene often says and I think this was a bit more process than I wanted, Margene, but I am pleased to say it was a lesson learned and not soon forgotten.

The lesson I learned you ask - be very careful knitting with wool for me - there are lots of other wonderful fibres to choose!

Tilia's Debut!

Here she is - do you think the knitter is happy? NO, NO, NO!!!



I knit my gauge swatch, it was okay. I chose the size that I thought best represented my bust size - I am 41" and I chose the 41 3/4" size L. Does she itch - you bet! Could I cry - you bet I could. I measured a sweater I wear that fits me perfectly in the arms - what happened, these arms are far too long!

Is she headed for the frog pond? Well, before that, she is going for a soak and other measures will be tried. I loved the feel of the yarn as I worked, but I am sitting here typing this, wearing Tilia, and I could just scratch all over!! Would she be better as a cardigan - probably. However, as I say - tonight she will be folded up and carefully put away. Tomorrow or some day soon, she is going for a soak and I will try her with my silk underwear top and if none of that works - she is off to the frog pond!!!

Just about now, I feel completely defeated by a silly sweater. This cannot be right, there are larger things in life to worry about, so I will try a few things, as I mentioned, and if they don't work, then it is on to something else.

Seems to me I was the one who said something about what doesn't kill you will make you stronger. Would hate to have any of you read headlines about a knitter who died at the arms of a sweater that reached out of a tub and choked the said knitter!!

No Pictures Today!

I did not want to show you Tilia sitting in the corner sulking. She has all her seams sewn, but the neck, oh the *&$^ neck! I had to pick up 144 stitches around the neck. There were some stitches already on stitch holders, but lots to be picked up along the sides and I got frustrated with counting. I knit one 'neck hem' - even stitched it down! Then I frogged it - then I picked up stitches again and was a bit more pleased, but you know when you have seven skeins of Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool in a sweater, it is heavy and the neck bears a lot of the weight!! She needs her hem stitched down again, but when I started to call her 'Tilia Elsebeth Lavold' I knew it was time for a bit of space. She will get her neck fixed - I did not want to 'worry' the body pieces by frogging the neck again - plus we were soon going to part company in more ways than one. She will become more appealing as we both move on from the past day of experience.

I had cast on the Sirdar lace sweater shown in an earlier post and that was not my best cast on ever. I find with lace that the first few rows are the most 'trying'. Once you have the lace pattern established, you have some reference points. After five cast ons - you don't want to know why so many - I think we are starting to enjoy each other's company. One of the frogging sessions was when I just got too impressed with my skills and thought - "Lifelines, who needs lifelines?" I was soon told in no uncertain terms, that I did, in fact, need lifelines. Oh well, who said knitting would always go smoothly.

If there is anyone out there who enjoys - yes truly ENJOYS - stitching up hand knitted garments, please raise your hand? I admire your fortitude, but I question your sanity! I do NOT like stitching up hand knit garments. I don't mind weaving in the odd end or two, but stitching up is not for me. I was mentioning this in my LYS today - neither one of the gals like it! Also, Tilia has her shoulder seams Kitchener stitched together. Now, this is not all that difficult, but you know how you have those jogs from casting off X number of stitches about three times across the shoulder seam. One of the gals at the LYS said that she knows a gal who does not do this on the shoulder seam, but she does weave the live stitches together and has a beautiful shoulder seam that fits perfectly. Weaving the stitches in the jogs was not making for a perfectly smooth seam. Now I heard someone say - frog the seam, take out the jogs and then weave the seam together again. I will drape a beautiful scarf over her shoulders before I do that!! Other Tilia knitters might keep this in mind. She is a beauty, but she is a trying madam at times!

As they say, what won't kill you will make you stronger! Does something like this applying with knitting, frogging, knitting, frogging, etc.?

Bath Day for Tilia!

Today is the day to block Tilia. I cannot say this is a favourite past time of mine or Tilia's, but it has to be done. I worry that it may be too long - the length of the sleeves and body, but I did not want to 'worry' the sweater too much and so I am keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that she will be beautiful. Guess that proves the point of why we sometimes do not even start a UFO project. The thought of all that knitting and then it does NOT fit is too much for some of us! Will she fit - she had better!!


Here is Tilia relaxing in a warm bath. Will she behave when she gets out of the bath, sure hope so! She looks much darker when she is wet, but I love her true colours and let's hope she is a nice cooperative Tilia!





Now she is relaxing

on her beach towels.



I tried to block her without too much stress. The sleeves are a bit longer than when knit, but I did not want to push and shove her too much. I need to stitch her up and then pick up the stitches around the neckline, purl a row for the hem turn down, knit 3 rows, increase a stitch every 8 stitches and knit 3 more rows and then cast off and sew the hem down carefully.

Will she disappoint me or will I be thrilled? I will let you know in the fullness of time.





I started a gauge swatch for another sweater! I must be taking this knitting seriously, as I never before knit gauge swatches. Lest you worry, I did knit a gauge swatch for Tilia!~! If Tilia behaves, she will go out this Saturday to an Italian fund raising dinner for my DH's Rotary club. If not, she will languish at home and miss all the fun!

Beautiful Early Saturday Sky!



This is my sky at 7:00 am! This is also the first time I have taken the photo and then put it all on the computer - ALONE!! Mind you, I had to write every step down, but it is progress!

Why Do I Have UFOs?

I am reading a book by Katherine Gibson called "Unclutter Your Life". There is a section on clutter from UFOs. The author questioned a fung shui expert, Beth Skala and Ms. Skala says that unfinished projects are pure potential. They hold promises of what might be. Sometimes the vision of what might be is so grand that we feel we do not have the ability to accomplish the task. Also we are afraid that we will not be happy with the end result, so we try to find happiness in the potential of the UFO. Does this make sense to you? In some areas it does to me. I worry that it will NOT turn out the way I hope, so I do not begin - no start, no disappointment! I love some stash, but there is a point at which it starts to overwhelm me and I lose hope and courage to attack some UFOs. This is not a big problem, but one I recognize and try to control. Do I always win? No, No and No! Sometimes the old theory of 'out of sight, out of mind' works!

Anyway, I am working away on my UFO - Tilia - and here are the sleeves so far. The pattern calls for 17" of sleeve before decreasing for the armhole. I measured sweaters that fit, and I need 19". Luckily, I bought an extra skein and I still have two skeins in reserve at this point. Hopefully with a long weekend ahead - it is our Thanksgiving weekend in Canada - I can whip Tilia into shape. What do you think?



I was in my LYS today getting another ball of yarn to knit a pair of socks and there was another ball of Rowan Wool Cotton. I have been collecting these balls for a few months - all at $2.00 a ball for a yarn that was originally $11.49 a ball. I now have seven balls at a saving of $66.03 - WOW! I am in no hurry to knit this yarn up - in fact, I do not have a project in mind, so I will keep collecting. The balls look a little worse for wear, and the photographer was a bit shaky, but don't those 7 balls for $14.00 instead of 7 balls for $80.43 look GRAND! Enough to make any photographer a bit shaky!! I think I might just call my LYS and ask if there are any more of these in the back room. Wouldn't you love to get in the back room of your LYS? Any suggestions as to what I might make from this not cheap but truly inexpensive yarn??



I also am working on another Shape It Scarf from Sally Melville's Knit1 book using Judy McLean's hand painted merino mohair curlylocks. Another UFO under control.



I am taking a poetry course at Elder College and today this poem was read. I just have to share it with you. The poem was written by Linda Pastan, who is an American gal born in 1932.

Marks

My husband gives me an A
for last night's supper,
an incomplete for my ironing
a B plus in bed.
My son says I am average,
an average mother, but if
I put my mind to it
I could improve.
My daughter believes
in Pass/Fail and tells me
I pass. Wait 'til they learn
I'm dropping out.

Good Luck at the Sally Ann!

When I go to my library, I have to pass the Sally Ann (Salvation Army) Thrift Store and, if I have time, I usually pop in to see what is there - it changes daily! I was on the look out for a grapevine wreath, but today there was lots of yarn!!

How can I pass by bargains in yarn - even if I will probably give it away!

In these two balls, there are 2000 grams of mohair and acrylic. The colour is a fairly nice red, but I think I will probably give this to a friend for her church group to knit prayer shawls! It looks a bit 'squished' but it has been in a plastic bag for ??? long! I paid the princely sum of $6.58 for all of it - a nice cheery prayer shawl might just be the ticket for someone needing a bit of a boost!



I love the colour of this 'raspberry sherbet' mohair and wool, but I think it is a bit too 'hairy' for lace and so it will probably be another prayer shawl. I can just see some dear lady with snow white hair wrapped up in this beautiful colour, can't you? There are 275 gr and it cost $5.99! Again, I think the ladies at my friend's church will be pleased to knit a shawl from this yarn!




Now these two balls of pure unadultared Acrylic had to be bought!! You ask why, well they happened to be in with a large bag of LOPI - yes LOPI! The bag cost $7.98 and there are 5 full balls of Lopi, plus some already knit up - a couple of sleeves and the start of a back - I will frog that and wash and ball it. I want to knit some purses and bowls (from One Skein) for felting, and the oatmeal will blend with lots of other pure wool that I have in stock! Would they want a neon green for prayer shawls - probably not. It could make hats for charity, especially if toned down with some other colours!



I have seen on some blogs that people ask about answering comments. If I can find the person's blog or email, I try to thank them for coming by and also answering any questions. Christy, I tried to answer you, as we seem to have similar tastes, but I could not find your blog. I, like you, see some bloggers that have a taste much like my own, and I certainly do watch what they are knitting next. I am beginning to think from comments that I may be a faster knitter than I think, but also I am retired and have more time to knit than a young woman with a young family.

Today I have a very fond memory of knitting to share. Our son turned 45 today and when he was a little boy he was not really a cuddler - did not want to get up on your lap and be hugged - but he did want to be near you. He knew that when I knit I would sit still and he could snuggle in beside me. He would get so close that it was sometimes hard to move my arms to knit, but I loved the time I spent with him snuggled in beside me and his asking me about what I was making. Sometimes he would go and get my knitting for me, coming down the hallway, he would often have dropped a needle, stitches hanging loose, yarn dragging behind and with his dear little face looking at me and saying, "Knit Mom, knit!" I just melted. He is now 6'4" and his face can still make me melt. Happy Birthday, Son!

A Beautiful Scarf Made From Wood Fibre!



This scarf was made from the wonderful yarn that Jo brought to me from the Kerry Woolen Mills near her home. Like me, she did not have a high regard for viscose, but then she learned, and then told me, that viscose is made from wood fibre! Who knew? It has such beautiful drape and feel. It makes a beautiful Shape It Scarf from Sally Melville's book. It is the same pattern at the scarf I made from Goldilocks by Fleece Artist. I absolutely love the colour, feel and drape of the scarf. The fact that Jo gifted me the yarn makes the scarf even more special! The colour does not show up as I would like, especially as it is complimented by the mauves/purples and blues of the morning glories behind me. Thank you so much, Jo, I will wear it with many happy memories and think of my new Irish friend!

I have also been doing some knitting on Tilia by Elsebeth Lavold. Jo bought a book of Elsebeth's and I am betting she knits something from her book. I do love her patterns. I have shown you the book and pattern before, but here is the back and a partially completed front. The sweater is actually more of a jade colour than the blue it shows in the picture.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month - October!



As most of you who read my blog know, I am a breast cancer survivor of almost 10 years. I hooked this mat two years ago to work through the feelings of having survived cancer while younger women were dying and leaving young families behind! There is a group of women in Vancouver who were diagnosed with breast cancer before their 40th birthday. They call themselves "The Young and The Breastless" - a play on title of the soap opera. Anyway this woman's body is their logo, but she has dark hair. I changed her hair to white - which is the colour of mine - and I know I am not this shape, but I am a woman without either breast. No reconstructive surgery for me. I am happy with my body and am more than two breasts. However, I am happy for those who want reconstruction.

Forgive me that their is no knitting on this post, I do it to remind all of you to do breast self examination and if you are over 40, have a mammogram at least every other year. There is no cure yet, but early detection is the one thing that is in a woman's favour. I want no woman to die because she did not at least try to give herself a fighting chance with this disease by being pro-active about her breast health.

Oh yes, there is one bit of knitting to be mentioned. I knit my own prosthesis from a pattern from knitty in the whimsies section. First go to Archives and then to Whimsies and they are called 'tit-bits'.