sweetgeorgia

Phoenix Rising Shawl

When I first decided to move into the studio at the Watershed Building, I remembered thinking, “it’s so wonderful, there’s a little garden in the courtyard where you can go knit in the afternoons… and there’s a rooftop garden where you can see the entire city… ohh, I’ll definitely be spending time there…” After all these months of working at the studio, I’ve had very little time or cause to actually wander around the courtyard garden, but yesterday, I had a lovely visit from Sivia Harding and we had good cause to visit the garden. She brought me her Phoenix Rising shawl (also here on Ravelry) that she knit up in my CashSilk Lace yarn (Boysenberry, for those who want to know) and I got to hold it for photos!

I was immediately smitten with the top portion of the lace. The wandering lines snaking back and forth down the shawl until you reach the weighty, beaded edging. Sivia is well-known for her exquisite and unique beaded lace designs and while this gorgeous shawl pattern was only available previously through the 2008 Year of Lace club, it is now available through Sivia’s website. She explained that this Phoenix Rising redux includes new beading instructions as well as a new lace edging. I was just looking at it, thinking, “I’m so honoured to be wearing this amazing shawl … on my first day in the courtyard garden, no less.”

Automatic Knitting

Recently, I had the opportunity to work with a fashion designer who referred to stockinette stitch as “jersey”. For whatever reason, that word seemed so 80’s. Not sure why. It’s the same thing, just different terminology from a different field. Whatever you call it, I love my plain knitting. No need to look down and watch my stitches, I am pleased that I can form these stitches relatively quickly and completely in the dark. Sometimes, I knit in bed and actually fall half asleep while still knitting stockinette. A particularly bad thing that I sometimes do is knit at stoplights. This is NOT recommended. But knitting at stoplights prevents the other evil that is road rage.

I love that I can knit on a stockinette sleeve in the movie theatre and not lose my place… good thing, since I managed to spend all of Friday night at the Twilight Drive In theatre in Langely… If you haven’t been, you must try it! It’s kind of a trek, but super relaxing to be able to sit in your own car and talk and knit through the entire movie(s) (they show three features in one night). During those six hours, I think I may have eaten my body weight in gummy bears and Pringles.

This knitting is so simple and so soothing. It’s automatic and doesn’t require much angst or thinking. I knit this sleeve of the Whisper Cardigan on much of the drive to Seattle for the Cheese Festival this past weekend. Rather than starting with 90 stitches as in the pattern, I followed the recommendation of a couple knitters on Ravelry and cast on for 76 stitches instead… so I wouldn’t have such a huge bell-shaped sleeve. Not that my arms are particularly tiny. But anyway.

A weekend full of automatic, plain old knitting has got me to the point of finishing this test sweater. I might find some time for doing the sewn bind off of that 1×1 rib tonight… or tomorrow. Finishing never seems as relaxing as knitting. Now that Dollhouse is finished and I’m still waiting for the return of TrueBlood, I’ve been given the first season of The Wire so that I have something to knit to.

It’s lovely that my mom finished knitting her first project too, last week. It’s a stockinette vest for my dad, knit in a Shetland Aran yarn, with 1×1 ribbing at the bottom edge, armholes and neckline. We adapted a pattern to fit my mom’s gauge on 5 mm needles and the size, pre-blocking, appears to be pretty darn good. She’s encouraged, I think, because she’s excited about starting a vest for herself this time. I like when people are happy about their knitting.

Nefertiti Wrap

Back in January, I had the delight and pleasure of meeting Miriam Felton, designer of the lovely Icarus shawl from Interweave. She told me that after TNNA she was going to embark on turning her knit design endeavours into her full time livelihood. I was so inspired and encouraged to hear this and wished her well. So when I got back from TNNA, I pinged her on Ravelry and said that I’d like to send her some yarn… see if she’d like something to play with. I ended up sending her a few skeins of CashSilk Lace and she ended up making this…

It’s called the Nefertiti Wrap and takes about 2 skeins of CashSilk Lace. I do love the diagonal design to it… and also how it’s not a single lace pattern throughout. One lace patterns flows and melds into the next. Very very lovely.

I’m thinking about Nefertiti this afternoon as I collect my things and thoughts, on my way to speaking tonight for the Coquitlam Weavers & Spinners Guild. Public speaking always makes me intensely nervous, so I hope I don’t lose my voice, insult anyone, or make any other major gaffs… I’ll be talking about natural dyeing among other things. We’re starting at about 7 pm at Place des Arts. Fingers crossed that everything goes well. Yay.

SOAR… I’m actually going.

I just finished registering for SOAR… It’ll be my first time attending… so far, feeling a little tingly. It took me 20 minutes of hemming and hawing to finally commit the credit card number and during that time, Judith MacKenzie McCuin’s sessions ALL filled up completely. Ahhh well. I am signed up for Amy King’s Dye Crazy, Abby Franquemont’s Drum Carding, Janel Laidman’s Spinning for Socks, and Deb Menz’s Colour class. The amount of combined wisdom in all the instructors is absolutely insane and I can’t wait to drown in fibre and colour during that Halloween weekend.

Now, time to start organizing the resort lodging and 8.5 hour drive from Vancouver to Oregon! Anyone else going? Did you get everything you wanted and more? Anyone ever been? Suggestions to someone going for the first time?

Saltwater. I finished a sweater.

It’s sunny. It’s Friday. And I have a new sweater.

… more, better photos will be coming… but these are just quick snapshots until then.

It’s knit in my worsted weight yarn (Saltwater colourway) from the top down and finished with a stretch of vine lace at the bottom. I’m pretty sure I knit the sleeves the same length… I measured and everything… but it still “appears” as if one sleeve is longer than the other. Hmm. Maybe my arms aren’t the same length.

The design is my own and I’m knitting up a second version of it in a sportweight yarn. The worsted weight version was so quick to knit, it practically knit itself… but with the sportweight version, I’m seeking a lighter quality to the lace bit and a finer fabric altogether. I’m looking forward to more knitting this weekend…