Almost Time

The Harrow Fair entries have to be in to the fair on August 29.  That is only 17 days away.  So far I have 24 entries.  21 are completed, one is in knitting progress and 2 still need the finishing touches.  I have a list of 6 items I would still like to make.  If I don't, the world is not going to end.  There is always next year.  I have loaded my file for the entries here.

I completed a non-entry.

Paton's Kroy in Camo Colors, my sock recipe.  I just had to complete my "take everywhere"  socks  as I needed the needles for this.

I started a pair of children's socks.  I am making it up as I go.  Here is a close up of the patterning.

In keeping with the Christmas theme I am adding evergreen trees to both the front and back.

I made myself felted slippers earlier so I made children's slippers for the slipper category.  They are green

to keep with the fair theme.  I also have pooches on my mind (see below).

The design is from one of my favourite pattern books for children and babies.  Cutest Ever Baby Knits by Val Pierce.  I have knit a number of the patterns in this book. My only complaint is that each pattern is only one size. 

These are also from the same book.

I started this Christmas Theme item below way back soon after the 2017 fair ended.  It stalled as I tried to decide what to put on it.  I recently decided it is done.  My friend A. agrees.  There is no pattern.  I just kept using patterns I had for the various components except the ring cover.  That I made up to fit the styrofoam ring I bought at Michael's.

It is done.

The little guy in the background is Hamlet.  He is the latest addition to our family. 

He is a cairn Terrier 9 going on 10 years old.  He is a rescue from the Ontario and Eastern Region of the Cairn Terrier Club of Canada.  He and Harley are getting along fine although there are times they are still working it out.  (Sometimes it means that they are peeing it out - males!!!).  It helps that Hamlet is a go with the flow kind of guy.

I am delighted with this baby blanket.

I could not find a pattern for what I wanted to make.  Instead I found this pattern for a wall hanging and added rows to the bottom and top and stitches to each side.  Somehow I halved the rows needed for the top and bottom twice and blanket was coming out wider than tall.  I had lunch with my friend A.  I was outlining my options for fixing this near fatal mistake.  I did not want to have to rip back and start over.  I was thinking of cutting off the garter stitch bottom border and picking up stitches to add rows going down.  A. suggested I simply add more sky and more snowflakes to that sky.  So I went home, charted it out and added sky.  The blanket came out square more or less which is just fine.

The yarn was a special purchase at Mary Maxim's a couple of years ago.  It is their Mary Maxim Baby DK Sport, 55% acrylic and 45% polyamide in white.

This baby will be winging its way to New Brunswick after the fair to warm my great grand baby.  I became a great grandmother as of a few hours ago.  Its a boy, no name given yet.

I have wanted to make this one for many years now.  It is a vest.

Under the tree is a pocket for the battery pack for the lights.  They light up!  I found a chart for the tree on a pattern for some other sweater I found at Len's Mill Store in London.  The presents are from a chart in one of my stitch pattern books.  I used a basic vest pattern also picked up at Len's Mill Store with some modifications.  My friend A. is getting this after the fair.  She has been my Christmas consultant for the last year and her enthusiasm for this theme has kept me going.  She has chosen the decorations to be added to the tree.  It is one of my works that still needs to be finished.

All the yarn is Paton's Classic Wool Superwash DK although some is their former discontinued same yarn different name from my stash.

I am heading to the Listowel tent sale on Thursday on a bus trip.  I always think of a trip to Listowel to the Spinrite factory outlet as a yarn orgy.  It is so much fun at the time.  Afterwards you feel a bit sick.  The only thought running through your head as you try to find space to store it all is, "What was I thinking?"  I can't wait!

Catching Up

It has been a long time since I posted.  My busy season at work hit and I was working 7 days a week until the end of April.  Any free time was for napping and knitting.

I went to part-time in May but ended up sleeping my days away and trying to catch up on bills, gardening and appointments.  I found I wanted to knit more than write about it.  June pretty much followed the pattern set in July.

I took some time to fly to Baltimore to visit my brother.  I spent most of the time sleeping.  He came down with a cold and wanted to sleep.  Suited me fine as that is exactly what I wanted to do too.

Hubby and I welcomed Harley into our lives.  He is nine years old and is a mixed breed.  I mixture of what we can only guess at.  His personality is all terrier.

We are still getting to know each other.  We have given him two nicknames so far.  Squirt and Mr. Crankypants.  Only he knows what he calls us.

The problem with taking this much time between posts is that I can't remember what items I have posted about.  I have put items away in the drawer and don't know if I took photos first or blogged about it.

I will try and catch up.

The dishcloth category:

This was a pattern on the Lily Sugar'n Cream website.  Too bad for them I used Bernat Handicrafter.  I swear everytime I made a trip to the city, I stopped at Michaels for more of this cotton.  I was having brain farts and could not remember what colours I needed so I would pick up different colours.  I have enough yarn for this category for the next few years now.

The fingering weight shawl category:

The pattern is Rayna.  It uses one skein of fingering weight yarn, approximately 400 yards.  I used a skein of Yarn Indulgences, yarn from and indie dyer, I picked up in Picton.  Oh yeah, in May my friend C and I went to the Picton Fibre Fest.  We spent the weekend in Picton in a house we rented and had just a lovely time.  I got a lot of sleep including an afternoon nap on Saturday.

I find I like to wear a small shawl to work rather than jewellery and this shawl is a perfect size for that.

The felted category:

These are elf slippers from the Patons book Next Steps Four.  Ignore the price at Amazon.  This booklet is widely available.  I think is is $6.99 at Len's Mill Store.  I used Patons Classic Wool from my stash.  I made the extra large size and ran it through my washing machine twice to make sure the fabric was fully felted.  These are for me.  I wore out my last pair this spring.

The Single Baby item category:

I am expecting a great grandson at the end of July, beginning of August.  This pattern is the jacket on the cover of a King Cole booklet 623 I have had for years.  I can't find a link for this booklet and I put the booklet away and can't find it either!  I used Patons Classic Superwash DK in Denim for this project.  I went to visit my Mom the first week in July.  We seached all over Niagara Falls and St. Catharines looking for the right buttons.  I found them at Len's Mill Store in London on my way home.

Novelty Yarn category:

This is the Jewel Wrap.  It is a triangle shawl.  I picked up the pattern and yarn as a kit at the Picton Fibre Fest.  It was a quick knit.  Again I plan to wear this in place of jewellery.  I also plan to knit more from similar yarn in my stash.

The Child's Vest category:

I am quite proud of this little number.  I used a basic vest pattern from Little Sweet Peas published by Sirdar.  I added the tree from a chart I found on Ravelry.  I finished it off with various buttons I had acquired along the way and some jingle bells I had in my sewing supplies.

The yarn is more of the Paton's Classic Superwash DK.

I may have missed some projects.  I know I knit some socks along the way.  I suspect I gave them away before I got out my camera.

Current project:

I plan to send this one to the great grand baby after the fair.

I found a pattern for a wall hanging for a tree.  I took the pattern and worked out how to add extra width and length for a baby blanket.  I am using Mary Maxim DK.  The yarn is 100% acrylic.  The colour is Aran but my camera wants to make it blue.  I am 3/4 done.  I keep knitting on it instead of working on other things I should be doing.

Oh I did forget one project that is finished.  The novelty purse category:

The purse is a mixture of patterns I put together.  The yarn is Patons Country Garden superwash DK (alas, now discontinued) and Patons Classic Superwash DK.  The bag is lined with cotton from the Sewing Store in Essex.

Hopefully I will have an epiphany on what to write about next week while I am walking Harley.

Serendipity

I wanted to knit a boy's sweater.  In keeping with the Christmas theme I thought a sweater with snowflakes on it would be fine.  Dark blue background and snowflakes across the shoulders.  I was absolutely sure I had such a pattern.  I searched my books and booklets.  I searched my library on Ravelry.  I could not find what I was sure I had. 

Time for plan B.  I searched my library on Ravelry for a child's sweater and colour work.  I found something suitable but not what I had in mind.

Now I love the library search feature in Ravelry.  I have entered as many of my patterns as possible in Ravelry.  If I can't it is usually because my book or booklet or leaflet is so old that it is not listed in Ravelry.  One feature I would love to see added to the library on Ravelry is a box for "where the heck did I store the damn thing in my house".  According to Ravelry, I have 10,324 patterns in my library.  That is a lot of patterns to manage, store and locate when I need them.  I also know that I have more patterns than that.

Once I found my alternate pattern choice  I had to start searching my physical library for it.  I could not find it.  I searched high and low but nope no where.  However, I did find a Paton's Classic Colors booklet for the Classic Wool DK Superwash I have been stocking my stash with.  I could not remember any of its patterns coming up in my Ravelry library search.  So I opened it and thought that pattern number 2 would be a fun knit.  No snowflakes but it was stranded.

Next step, search my inventory listing for suitable yarns.  I started pulling up the various colours I have in the yarn the pattern called for.  The Pattern called for Gold, Cork, Deep Olive and Pumpkin.  Pretty soon I realized that I had Gold, Cork and Pumpkin in my stash.  No Deep Olive but I had brown.  I had the inventory records all in front of me and started to laugh.  Hubby had brought all of the yarns back from the Listowel Tent Sale in 2016.  He brought me back the sweater.  Knitting it now was serendipity.

I cast on the sweater Sunday night so I had something to knit on Monday night at the game in Dresden.  Essex lost 1-0.  Essex was leading the best of seven series 3-1 at that point.  Knitted on the sweater again Tuesday night at the next game.  This one Essex won and finished the series with Dresden.  I had finished the body and one sleeve.  The second sleeve was done before the hydro came back on Thursday night.  All that was left was to join the sleeves to the body and knit the yoke.  The fun part really.

I had Friday off work.  I woke up early and starting knitting.  I could not put it down.  I had so many other things I should have been doing but my knitting mojo was finally back and I was really enjoying myself.  The sweater was done by dinner time.  All that is left is the blocking.

I like the dark brown in the sweater.  Also somehow I mixed up contrast B and Contast A.  It was totally accidental.  I misread the pattern.  I also like that better too.

Here is the original in the pattern for the Child's Sunny Yoke Sweater.

With the knitting juices flowing and a hockey game tonight, I started a new project this morning.  I just intended to knit the ribbing so I could just work on stockinette at the game.  I could not stop knitting on it.

 
The pattern is Berrylicious Baby knit in Paton's Classic Wool DK Superwash.  I know, I know, I have a lot of it in my stash.  This time the yarn is from purchases I made a Len's Mill Store some time ago.

While my mojo was taking a snooze I have been working on socks at the hockey games.  The first sock is done and I am on the gusset of the second. 

Kroy sock yarn, my recipe.

Tonight's game will be exciting.  It is the first game in best of seven for the division final.  Essex plays Lakeshore so we stay close to home.

Just to reinforce that knitting the yoke sweater was fate - I found the second choice pattern when I was putting Classic Colors booklet away.  Turns out that I had not even entered the Classic Colors booklet in Ravelry.  Sheesh!

Flu Season

Back in February of 1996 I came down with the flu.  I was sick for weeks.  It was just awful.  I swore I would never get the flu again and have faithfully gotten the flu shot each and every year since.  I made a point of visiting a local pharmacy in November of 2017 to make sure I got my flu shot for this season.  Despite my precaution, I got the flu.  While I have been quite sick, it has not nearly been as bad as '96.  I am getting better but this bug has left me weak, tired and still coughing.

I missed some hockey games, missed two and half days of work and did not feel much like knitting.  I just keep going to bed earlier and sleeping as much as I can.

I wanted to post to bring you up to date on what I have accomplished in the last few weeks.

I finished the Christmas sweater.

I used the chart from Santa on Bike by BlondeMoments69 available on Ravelry.  However, I made the body of the sweater to my own specifications.  All yarn was Paton's Classic Superwash DK.

I finished a child's hat and mittens.

I used the children's mitten pattern from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.  The hat is also from the same book but with modifications.  I love the fake fur pompoms and I keep buying various keychains just to obtain them.  The yarn is Paton's Classic Wool DK Superwash in Autumn Spice.  Hubby brought it back for me from the Listowel sale in August.

I am still working on the Christmas wreath.  It still needs more decoration.

I started a new pair of socks.

I am still on the first sock of the pair.

Paton's Kroy sock yarn in Grey Brown Marl colourway.

This flu has an unexpected side effect.  I can't seem to eat very much and everything I do eat turns to gas.  I need to end this post so I can leave the room and breathe again.

Moving On

I want to thank you for your condolences made in the comments and emails to us.  Hubby and I appreciate your thoughts and kind regards.  We are still grieving but continuing to carry on.  We miss Reba.  I still hear her.  I hear her soft snoring. ( I think it is Hubby).  I hear her toenails on the sides of her crate while I lie in bed.  (This is truly remarkable since her crate is two floors below in the basement stuffed with her dog beds.)  I hear her dog tags tinkling as I sit knitting in the chair she used to claim as her own.

I know I am not hallucinating.  The sounds are real.  It is just my brain  falsely interpreting the sounds to help me remember my girlie.

After her passing I gathered all her stuff to pack away.  I was amazed.  I found 7 knitted sweaters, 2 knitted blankets, 9 dog beds (we ended binning two that could not be saved by washing) one dog towel, 5 dog crates of assorted varieties, 3 fabric cone collars  and a large assortment of dog bowls.

Almost everything reminds me of her.  I look at the squirrels sitting on their haunches on our back deck stuffing themselves with sunflower seeds, the alert ears and bent front paws - so Reba.  She loved to eat.  If you told her to sit pretty up on her haunches she went front paws curled close to her chest.  I see paw prints in the snow and remember how much Reba loved to go for walks.

 I finished the front of the green sweater (no picture yet).  I delayed blocking the green sweater.  I was just too emotional to touch it.

I  knitted it over Christmas while Hubby and I discussed her condition.  I tried to block it before now but I turned into Niagara Falls.  I could have generated electricity from the stream of tears flowing over my cheeks.  I armed myself with tissue today took a deep breath and plunged the bits and pieces into the sink.  Now it is spread out to dry on the spare bed.

Just before Christmas, our office had a gift exchange.  Turns out booze is the most popular gift item.  It is what I came home with.

I knit a hat to bring.  It was the first one opened (I did a lovely job of wrapping).  No one stole it or traded it.  It stayed with the original giftee.  Turns out my co-worker's daughter's favourite colour is purple. It was on her head 30 seconds after it came home.



Knit with Paton's Classic Superwash DK wool.  The pattern is from Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.  I made the brim double in lilac to keep the ears warm.



I don't know why there are spots in the photos.  They were not on the hat.

After we lost Reba, I needed a diversion from grief so I set up my rigid heddle loom in the basement and wove a scarf.

Then for fun I threw it into the washing machine and felted it.

Made with Paton's Classic Wool that Hubby picked up at the Listowel tent sale for me.  I can't tell you how soft and thick and warm this scarf is.  I love the striping pattern.  I just love everything about it.  I just can't wear it.  It is like wrapping myself in my grief .

Back in the fall when I went to Little Red Mitten while Reba was in treatment in London (seems so long ago now), I bought two balls of the Mally Locks Sockwool in the Christmas colourway.  I knit one into the socks for the 2018 Fair.  I made the other into this.

After all I already had the loom set up.

I finished these socks.  They are in the drawer for the nieces. 

It is Regia 4 fadig Color.  I bought it a couple of years ago on sale at our local fabric store.  (I have yarn for the next pair ready.  I really need to stop with the socks and focus on the Fair projects.  Maybe I should seek therapy.)

I finally settled on a wreath for the Fair Theme category.   I could not find a pattern I wanted to knit so I am going without an overall pattern or plan.   I got the styrofoam ring covered.

This little guy, when completed along with some other stuff will be attached to it.  I am winging it as I go so the end result will be a surprise to you and me.

Somehow I acquired a couple of booklets of patterns by Alan Dart. This is a Swedish Yuletide Gnome.  I really want to knit both books  in their entirety and use up everything in my stash.  Do you think they will all fit on the ring?  Even Noah's Ark?  Will I live long enough?

Irresistable Gifts to Knit
Advent Tree

PS  While I am coping with our loss by knitting.  Hubby is coping by buying bird seed and feeding the birds, squirrels, mice and rabbits that are populating our back yard.  We assume there are mice  but have not actually seen any.  Why else would we be hearing an owl in the oak tree.  We also assume that there is a hawk.  We haven't seen one of them either but we have seen scattered bird feathers.